No. 17 Baseball faces Alabama in MAX Capital City Classic

No. 17 Baseball faces Alabama in MAX Capital City ClassicNo. 17 Baseball faces Alabama in MAX Capital City Classic

March 27, 2017 LEADING OFF

  • No. 17 Auburn, winner of 10 of its last 11 games, takes on rival Alabama in the MAX Capital City Classic at Montgomery's Riverwalk Stadium.
  • The game will be broadcast at 7 pm CT on ESPNU with Dave Neal and former Tiger Gabe Gross on the call. Radio coverage from the Auburn Sports Network is available on Tiger 93.9 in the Auburn/Opelika area. The radio feed is also available on AuburnTigers.com, the TuneIn Radio app and the Auburn Athletics app on your smart phone. The Voice of the Tigers Rod Bramblett and longtime broadcast partner Andy Burcham will describe the action.

Capital City Classic



(20-6) vs. (12-12)







Tuesday Schedule

March 287 p.m.
RHP Christian Camacho (1-1, 2.51) vs. FR LHP Garret Rukes (2-1, 0.74)

QUICK HITTERS

  • Auburn has won 10 of its last 11 games and is 5-1 in SEC play for the first time since 2003. The Tigers have won 7 of the 8 Capital City Classic games dating back to 2009. Six of eight have been decided by 3 runs or less.
  • Auburn hitters rank 13th in NCAA and 2nd in SEC with 56 doubles including 17 in last seven games.
  • The Tigers have opened the season with six straight series wins for first time since 2003.
  • After opening with 22 straight at home, the Tigers posted a 3-1 record in four road games last week.
  • RHP Davis Daniel was named SEC Freshman of the Week after 6 shutout innings in Sunday win at UGA.
  • Auburn leads the SEC with a 2.21 ERA and .214 opponent batting avg. through two conference weekends.
  • Auburn has turned 12 double plays in the last 12 games and leads the SEC (13th/NCAA) with 26 on the year. Auburn is fielding .981 in the last 10 games with only seven errors. The Tigers are 9-1 over that period.
  • The Tigers are the toughest team to strikeout in the SEC with only 146 total.
  • Auburn lowered its team ERA from 4.37 to 3.22 over the last 11 games. It owns a 1.65 ERA in that stretch.
  • Luke Jarvis is batting .452 with two 2B, two 3B, one homer and five RBI in the last 10 games.
  • Auburn's 4-0 win over UAB on March 14 gave the Tigers their NCAA-leading seventh shutout.
  • Auburn starting pitchers combined for 17 IP (1.59 ERA) with three runs allowed and 14 K/2 BB at UGA.

SERIES HISTORY

Auburn has won seven of eight Capital City Classic meetings in Montgomery with the lone loss in 2014. Last year, the Tigers jumped out early thanks to homers by Anfernee Grier and Blake Logan and rolled to a 10-1 win. The nine-run margin in Auburn's 10-1 win in the 2016 game was the widest of the Classic's history. Alabama leads the all-time series 158-127 dating back to 1896.

LOOKING AHEAD

Auburn welcomes No. 6 South Carolina to Plainsman Park for a three-game SEC series in a battle between division leaders. The Gamecocks are 17-6 on the year and 5-1 in SEC play. USC is coming off a series win at home over Alabama last weekend. South Carolina hosts The Citadel on Tuesday.