No. 11 Auburn set to square off with South Alabama in the Capital City

No. 11 Auburn set to square off with South Alabama in the Capital CityNo. 11 Auburn set to square off with South Alabama in the Capital City
David Gray

AUBURN, Ala. – Coming off its eighth straight winning weekend, No. 11 Auburn (19-5) heads to Montgomery to take on South Alabama (11-12) Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT at Riverwalk Stadium.

The game will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on Wings 94.3 FM. It will also be streamed exclusively on War Eagle+.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Tuesday – So. RHP Alex Petrovic (1-0, 4.60) vs. Jr. RHP Tyler Smith (2-0, 4.74)

QUICK HITTERS

Auburn enters the week having won eight straight weekends, marking the longest streak of winning weekends since 2003.

The team’s 4-2 start to SEC play is tied for the best since starting the 2017 SEC season 5-1.

The Tigers are 15-3 in non-conference play this season and 34-7 against non-conference opponents since the beginning of last season.

Auburn has outscored the opponent 157-77 and is hitting .332 with a 3.99 ERA in non-conference games this season.

The team is 5-1 in midweek games and 4-0 in neutral-site games this season.

The Tigers rank top 20 in the country walks allowed per 9.0 innings (3.29), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.05) and WHIP (1.25).

Alex Petrovic will make his third straight midweek start and fourth start this season Tuesday.

The Tigers are 15-1 when outhitting the opponent and 12-1 when recording 10 or more hits this year.

Auburn trails the all-time series against South Alabama 30-50 but is 4-1 in neutral-site games and 3-0 in games in Montgomery against the Jaguars.

The Tigers have won six straight games in the series.

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS

Led by 14th-year head coach Mark Calvi, South Alabama Jaguars enters the week with an 11-12 overall record and 1-5 mark in Sun Belt play. 

Offensively, the Jaguars are hitting .291 as a team with 222 hits and 142 runs scored. Junior Kyle Morrison leads the team with 15 extra-base hits and 25 RBI. Catcher Duncan Mathews leads South Alabama with a .392 batting average and a .563 on base percentage.

On the mound, South Alabama has turned in a 4.98 team ERA with 181 strikeouts and 107 walks 195.1 innings. Right hander Tyler Smith will make the start for South Alabama. Smith has a 4.74 ERA on the year and allowed four earned runs in 4.2 innings in his last start at Alabama.