No. 13 Auburn heads to Knoxville for key SEC series

No. 13 Auburn heads to Knoxville for key SEC seriesNo. 13 Auburn heads to Knoxville for key SEC series
Cat Wofford/Auburn Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – As the Southeastern Conference race heats up, No. 13 Auburn (30-7, 6-3) travels to No. 5 Tennessee (28-6, 6-3) for a key three-game series as both teams are tied for third in the conference standings.

The series will start on Saturday, April 6 at 1 p.m. CST/2 p.m. EST with the game being broadcasted on SEC Network + and heard on 99.9 FM WQNR. Sunday's game, which starts at 5 p.m. CST/6 p.m. EST, and Monday's game at 6 p.m. CST/7 p.m. EST can be seen on SEC Network and heard on 95.9 WQSR.

Both teams will have .400 hitters heading into the weekend as Casey McCrackin (.402) paces the Tigers with Aubrey Leach (.440) topping the stat line for Tennessee.

"The atmosphere there is a lot like ours — the crowd is very loud," said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean. "Their playing surface is a little harder, so we are preparing for that. They also have great speed."

QUICK HITTERS:

- Sisters Tannon and Taylon Snow will have an opportunity to join Alyssa Rivera (125), Kendall Veach (118) and Casey McCrackin (118) with 100 career hits. Tannon enters the weekend needing five hits, while Taylon needs eight.

- Auburn head coach Mickey Dean, after winning two games last week, sits at 549 career wins. Dean is  71-24 during his time as Tigers head coach.

- A year after hitting 43 home runs, Auburn has accounted for 50 (49 over the fence, 1 inside the park) through 37 games this season. That total is already the sixth most in program history and one off fifth place.

SERIES HISTORY:

- Tennessee leads the all-time series 37-24 and has a 21-7 advantage in Knoxville, Tenn. However, Auburn has won the last two games — back-to-back shutouts (2-0, 6-0) — to take two of three games against the Volunteers last season.