Auburn baseball’s 2024 season has been nothing short of tumultuous, with the Tigers struggling to pick up any kind of momentum since the pre-SEC schedule ended in mid-February. That rockiness has caused head coach Butch Thompson to consistently tinker with his weekend rotation, as we’ve Auburn throw out different combinations in almost every SEC series thus far.
This weekend, sophomore [autotag]Dylan Watts[/autotag], senior [autotag]Tanner Bauman[/autotag], and junior [autotag]Carson Myers [/autotag] will get the call against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Watts earns the Friday nod after pitching exclusively in relief since his season debut in late February against UAB. The Washington State native has yet to throw more than 2 2/3 innings in a game this year but does own an impressive 19:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 16.2 innings pitched this season. His 5.94 era is high, but the sophomore could have a decent chance to slice it down with a longer outing.
Senior southpaw Tanner Bauman will toe the rubber on Saturday for the Tigers in an interesting move from Thompson. Bauman had a very solid outing against No. 5 Kentucky last Saturday, navigating his way through 4 innings of 1-run ball. Bauman’s second-straight inclusion in the weekend rotation isn’t surprising, but Thompson’s decision to pitch fellow left-hander Carson Myers directly behind him is.
The junior Myers has spent plenty of time in high leverage situations for the Tigers this season. After a mid-season scuttle, Myers has settled in as Auburn’s most reliable pitcher, most notably giving up just 4 runs over his last 12 SEC innings pitched.
𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Mississippi State 💪#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/F71y5cSx5R
— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) April 18, 2024
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