Butch Thompson – Page 3 – Syndication Server

Auburn’s ‘snake-bitten’ season continues following Kentucky series

Auburn enters the second half of the SEC slate with a 2-13 record in conference play. Will they be able to turn it around before heading to Hoover next month?

Starting the SEC campaign with a 2-13 record is not what Auburn baseball and head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] had in mind. The Tigers were swept for the third time in conference play last week to No. 5 Kentucky, a series where the Wildcats outscored the Tigers by seven runs.

Although Kentucky completed the sweep, it was a series that could have gone the other way. Auburn had two runners on base with zero outs in game one on Thursday, but a strikeout and a double play ended the Tigers’ comeback efforts in a 6-5 loss. In Saturday’s finale, Auburn held a 7-0 lead before the Wildcats stormed back to win 13-8.

The sweep added to Auburn’s long losing streak, which currently stands at six games. Their recent string of bad luck appeared in this week’s SEC Baseball Vibes rankings by Joe Healy of D1Baseball. The “snake-bitten” Tigers check in at No. 14 this week.

There’s always at least one team in the SEC that goes through the season as a snakebitten team where very little seems to go right, and it’s looking increasingly like Auburn is that team in 2024. Its lineup has been good enough more often than not, but it has the highest ERA in the conference in league play and those struggles on the mound were on display Sunday when the Tigers led 7-0 over Kentucky in the third inning and went on to lose the game. Auburn will continue to be a tough out the rest of the way, but it might have just taken on too much water at this point.

The Tigers will look to change its luck as the stretch turns to the final 15 games. Auburn will face the likes of struggling teams such as Missouri and LSU over the final five weekends and will look to increase their seeding before next month’s SEC Tournament in Hoover.

The first series of the second half will be against Mississippi State this weekend at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville. The Bulldogs check in at No. 8 in this week’s vibes rankings after losing a tough series to rival Ole Miss.

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Auburn remains unranked in week 8 USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

The Auburn Tigers remain unranked in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll following a 2-2 week on the diamond.

The Auburn Tigers remain unranked in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll following a 2-2 week on the diamond. After starting the week 2-0 with a couple of impressive wins, head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag]’s squad fell apart, losing both weekend contests in 7-inning mercy rule fashion.

The two blowout losses came at the hands of No. 4 ranked Tennessee. After losing a back-and-forth series opener 9-5 on Friday, the Vols rallied to completely dismantle Auburn over the final two games in Plainsman Park.

The series loss was the Tigers fifth straight to open the SEC season. The streak could very well extend to a sixth straight series with surprise SEC contender No. 8 Kentucky heading to the Plains next weekend.

Auburn is now 18-13 on the season but just 2-10 in SEC play. The Tigers are also winless on the road, where they have dropped all six of their contests.

We’ll see if the Tigers can build some momentum off of Friday’s SEC win as they dip into the second half of the season.

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Butch Thompson issues apology for Auburn baseball’s recent struggles

The Tigers fell to 2-10 in SEC play last weekend by dropping a home series to Tennessee, its’ fourth-straight conference series.

Auburn baseball’s rotten start to SEC play continued over the weekend, as the Tigers dropped two of three games to No. 4 Tennessee at Plainsman Park.

After winning Friday’s opener, the Tigers fell in the final two games in run-rule fashion, being outscored 31-7 in 14 total innings. Allowing plenty of runs to score in SEC play is becoming common, as they have allowed opponents to score 9.4 runs each game, compared to the 5.4 runs they score in each SEC contest.

Following Sunday’s 19-5, seven inning loss to the Volunteers, head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] addressed the team’s recent struggles, especially on the mound. He took the time to apologize to fans and boosters for the team’s recent poor performance in SEC play.

“It’s my responsibility. We have a long way to go in this season. We knew this schedule was going to be a grind and test us. It has been a little more than that, especially on the mound. It’s my responsibility with us not being competitive on the mound or not being able to do some things. I just apologize to all the fans and stakeholders and everybody who loves, cares and supports our program. We’ll get with the guys and force them to figure out solutions and our staff to get better and meet expectations. We’ve worked hard from the time we got here to build something up and we’ve done this together. We’ll continue to try to get this group refocused. I’m intently asking for some ‘figure it out mentality’ from our coaches and players to show us a roadmap of how we can get better.”

The recent setbacks are not due to Thompson’s lack of coaching or scheming. Last weekend, Thompson attempted to shake up Auburn’s weekend pitching rotation by wiping the usual slate of [autotag]Chase Allsup[/autotag], [autotag]Joseph Gonzalez[/autotag], and [autotag]Conner McBride[/autotag] clean and electing to start [autotag]Dylan Watts[/autotag] in Friday’s game before making a game-time decision for Saturday’s and Sunday’s starters.

The plan fell through, as Auburn’s final two starters ([autotag]Conner McBride[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Cannon[/autotag]) combined to pitch three full innings, allowing 11 earned runs on seven hits while walking four batters. The pitching staff collectively boasts a 9.18 ERA against conference foes and allows opposing batters to hit .341 off of them.

As Thompson said, there is plenty of season left to figure things out. The Tigers have six SEC series’ remaining, beginning with No. 16 Kentucky this weekend at Plainsman Park.

Auburn remains unranked in week 7 USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

After falling out of the top 25 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll a few weeks ago, the Tigers continued to plummet in the rankings this week.

After falling out of the top 25 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll a few weeks ago, the Auburn Tigers continued to plummet in the rankings this week. Even though [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag]’s squad failed to receive a ranking in the poll the last few weeks, they did receive some votes to be included.

That was not the case in the newest addition to the poll, as the Tigers fell completely out of consideration for the first time this season. The result is not surprising considering Auburn was swept by No. 3 Texas A&M in College Station over the weekend.

The series loss was the Tigers fourth straight to open the SEC season. The streak has a solid chance of extending to 5-straight series losses when the No. 4 ranked Tennessee Volunteers head to the Plains on Friday for a three-game set.

Auburn is now 16-11 on the season but just 1-8 in SEC play. The Tigers are also winless on the road, where they have dropped all six of their contests.

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Recap: Auburn takes out weekend frustration on Jacksonville State with 13-3 win

Auburn’s SEC portion of the baseball schedule has not gone well, but the Tigers have continued to play good ball outside of the conference.

The Auburn Tigers have not had a great start to the SEC portion of the baseball schedule. [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag]’s squad had just one victory in six tries against SEC opponents but the Tigers have continued to play good ball outside of the conference.

That trend continued on Tuesday with Auburn hanging a 13-spot on Jacksonville State in a 7-inning, mercy rule, win at Plainsman Park.

Things weren’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Tigers on an overcast evening on the Plains. Senior Christian Herberholz (1-1) started on the bump for the Tigers and was immediately met with turbulence. The senior surrendered a 2-run home run to Gamecocks infielder Caleb Johnson in the opening inning but was able to calm the storm from there, working through four total frames while allowing just one more run. He struck out 7.

Star catcher [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag] was the first Tiger to pounce on Jacksonville State starter Colby Morse with a first inning solo shot. The sophomore now has 8 long balls on the campaign, leading all Tigers.

After things calmed down for the next couple innings, Jacksonville State infielder Brennen Norton drove home the final run of the day for the Gamecocks on an RBI double down the left field line to give JSU a 3-1 lead. From there, it was all Auburn.

Sophomore [autotag]Chris Stanfield[/autotag], senior [autotag]Mason Maners[/autotag], and junior [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag] all provided run home runs around two more RBIs from Ike Irish in a 7-run fourth inning and 5-run fifth.

Auburn’s bullpen shut the door from there, giving the Tigers their fourth mercy rule win of the season. The 13 runs are the most Auburn has scored since March 10. [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] will hope his teams’ bats stay hot with a tough road series against No. 4 ranked Texas A&M on the docket this weekend.

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Auburn falls out of USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll top 25

The Auburn Tigers have fallen out of this week’s USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll rankings following a 2-2 week against South Alabama and top-ranked Arkansas.

The Auburn Tigers have fallen out of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll top 25 rankings following a 2-2 week against South Alabama and No. 1-ranked Arkansas.

After a close 2-1 win over the Jaguars on Tuesday, Auburn lost back-to-back one-run games against the Razorbacks at Plainsman Park. The Tigers were able to win 8-6 in the series finale, but the lost series was ultimately enough to convince the voters to drop the Tigers from the top 25.

The 1-2 weekend series result dropped [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag]’s team to just 1-5 in SEC play to start the season. While the road has been difficult, the results are nonetheless disappointing for an Auburn team that started the season so hot.

The SEC remains one of the toughest conferences in the nation with 11 teams making this week’s rankings. Arkansas remains the country’s best team at No. 1, with Texas A&M, Tennessee, Florida, LSU, and Vanderbilt joining the Hogs in the top 10.

Auburn will have an opportunity to claw back into the top 25 when it travels to College Station to take on No. 4 Texas A&M this weekend after a Tuesday contest against Jacksonville State at Plainsman Park.

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Auburn snaps Hogs’ long win streak, wins series finale

An eventful 6th inning for Auburn led to a win over the No. 1 team in the land on Saturday.

The No. 24 Auburn Tigers (15-8, 1-5 SEC) earned its first SEC win of the season on Saturday by taking down the nation’s top team.

Trailing No. 1 Arkansas (19-3, 5-1 SEC) 5-1 heading to the bottom of the 6th inning, the Tigers rattled off six runs in the frame to go ahead, 7-5. Solid pitching over the final two innings, plus an insurance run in the 8th inning were enough to lift Auburn to an 8-6 win over the Razorbacks on Saturday afternoon at Plainsman Park in Auburn.

A record crowd of 5,087 fans watched the Tigers earn the win. A big crowd, plus great effort, led to the win says head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag].

“This is a group of guys that have done everything we have asked them to do the right way,” Thompson said postgame. “For us to come out being down 0-2 in a series at home and have more fans than we’ve ever had in the park’s history show up is pretty moving. For me personally it’s a big deal, and I know it means a lot to these players, but that’s Auburn. That’s the best version of us, and the fans were huge to provide some momentum in the ballpark today.”

The Tigers entered Saturday hoping to avoid a second-straight sweep to open SEC play. After three innings of scoreless play, Arkansas broke through in the 4th inning with a three-run home run and an RBI double to jump ahead, 4-0. [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag] responded by sending Ike Irish home on an RBI single to cut the Razorbacks’ lead to 4-1.

Arkansas’ Kendall Diggs, who scored a run in the 4th inning, sent another run across in the top half of the 6th inning to extend the deficit to 5-1. In danger of letting the game get away from them, Auburn responded by scoring six runs in the bottom frame to take the lead.

[autotag]Mason Maners[/autotag] led off the inning with a home run, which sent Razorbacks pitching into a downward spiral. The next five batters would reach base with zero outs in the inning, which allowed two runs to score. The big blow of the inning came off the bat of McMurray, who crushed a three-run blast to push Auburn ahead, 7-5.

Over the next three innings, [autotag]Parker Carlson[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Cannon[/autotag] combined to allow just one earned run with three strikeouts to limit Arkansas’ bats. Irish hit a solo home run in the 8th inning to deliver the final blow, and securing an Auburn win.

Auburn recorded 10 hits on the day, with McMurray, Irish, Maners, and [autotag]Chris Stanfield[/autotag] leading the way with two hits each. McMurray drove home four runs while Irish scored two. On the mound, Joseph Gonzalez allowed four earned runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings in his first SEC start of the season. Carlson earned the win by tossing a three-hit, one-run effort in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Cannon slammed the door by striking out two batters without allowing a hit over the final two innings to grab the save.

Auburn will host Jax State for a midweek tilt on Tuesday in an effort to prepare them for another tough road test next weekend at Texas A&M. The Tigers and Gamecocks will battle at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday at Plainsman Park.

	Runs	Hits	Errors	LOB
No. 1 Arkansas	6	10	1	11
No. 24 Auburn	8	10	0	8

Recap: Auburn surrenders late home run, drops game two to No. 1 Arkansas

For the second-straight game, the No. 24 Tigers lose to the nation’s top team by one run.

For the second game in a row, No. 24 Auburn fell short of its goal of earning a win over No. 1 Arkansas.

The Tigers and Razorbacks were tied 5-5 heading into the 9th inning. After recording the first out of the inning, Arkansas’ Ryder Helfrick crushed the first pitch of his at-bat over the left field wall to push the Hogs ahead. The solo home run would prove to be the decisive blow, as Arkansas earned the 6-5 win over Auburn on Friday night at Plainsman Park in Auburn.

It marks the second-straight game that Auburn has dropped a one-run decision to Arkansas, as they fell to the Razorbacks 1-0 in Thursday’s series opener.

Head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] hopes to see his team continue to give solid effort despite its recent string of tough losses.

“We don’t always have control over the result or outcome, but we do our effort,” Thompson said postgame. “That’s what I have to do the best job I possibly can of right now. Hopefully they’ll bust through and it’ll go their way.”

Friday’s game would see more production from the plate, but it was not enough for Auburn to earn the victory. Each team traded blows before Helfrick’s 9th-inning home run. The Tigers struck first in the bottom of the 1st inning when a groundout by [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag] allowed [autotag]Cooper Weiss[/autotag] to score, pushing Auburn ahead 1-0.

The Razorbacks answered in the top of the 2nd inning with a solo shot by Ben McLaughlin to tie the game at 1-1. Auburn responded by adding two more in the 3rd inning before the Hogs produced three runs in the 4th to take a 4-3 lead.

A throwing error in the 5th inning followed by a 6th inning RBI single by Weiss pushed Auburn ahead again, 5-4, but Arkansas would score the game’s final two runs to take the win.

Auburn got a solid outing from its pitching staff in Friday’s loss. Starter [autotag]Chase Allsup[/autotag] allowed five hits and three runs in six innings of work. [autotag]John Armstrong[/autotag] allowed three hits in 2 1/3 innings, and [autotag]Tanner Bauman[/autotag] closed the game by recording the final two outs of the game. The trio combined to strike out 11 batters.

At the plate, Cooper Weiss, [autotag]Mason Maners[/autotag], and [autotag]Carter Wright[/autotag] each recorded two hits.

Auburn looks to salvage a game in its series with Arkansas on Saturday. First pitch for the final game of the series is set for 1 p.m. CT, and can be seen on SEC Network+. [autotag]Joseph Gonzalez[/autotag] will battle Mason Molina on the mound.

	Runs	Hits	Errors	LOB
No. 1 Arkansas	6	8	2	6
No. 24 Auburn	5	10	2	10

WP: Cooper Dossett (1-0) | LP: John Armstrong (0-1) | S: Will McEntire (2)

Auburn announces weekend rotation for series against Arkansas

With the nation’s No. 1 team looming, Auburn’s coach has shaken up his weekend rotation for the second straight week.

The Auburn Tigers had a miserable opening SEC a week ago against Vanderbilt in Nashville. Things don’t get much easier for [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag]’s squad this weekend as the No. 1 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks are due to visit Plainsmark Park for a three-game set.

With the nation’s No. 1 team looming, Auburn’s coach has shaken up his weekend rotation for the second straight week, this time not only changing up the order but the personnel as well.

After starting every series opener for the Tigers so far this season, junior Chase Allsup will get the ball on Saturday, giving way to fellow junior Conner McBride for the series opener.

McBride has been the most consistent Auburn hurler this season in limited work. He most recently threw 5 innings of 1-run, 2-hit ball against Troy on March 12. The San Diego, CA native leads all Auburn starters with a 2.41 ERA this season.

Allsup will take the hill in game 2 of the series as he attempts to bounce back from giving up 7 earned runs over 4 innings his last time out.

Junior Joseph Gonzalez is set to start for the second-straight Sunday after surrendering 3 runs (1 earned) over 3 1/3 innings of work last time out. Despite his 6.92 ERA, Gonzalez has been able to hold onto a rotation spot because of the recent struggles of left-hander Carson Myers. The UAB transfer was bumped out of the weekend rotation this week in favor of McBride.

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Arkansas 💪#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/hlC513IPaL

— Auburn Baseball (@AuburnBaseball) March 20, 2024

McBride. Allsup, Gonzalez, and the Tigers open up their series against Arkansas Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6 PM central.

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Auburn baseball jumps one spot in week 4 USA TODAY Sports Poll

Auburn moves up one spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll ahead of this weekend’s SEC opener at Vanderbilt.

The Auburn Tigers had themselves quite the interesting series last weekend, winning two of three games against A-Sun opponent Austin Peay.

After picking up a normal-enough walk-off Friday Night win, the Tigers were routed 15-6 on Saturday before returning the favor by claiming a 25-6 7-inning win on Sunday.

The 2-1 series result along with a midweek win over Air Force was enough to vault the Tigers up to the No. 19 spot in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag]’s squad leapfrogged Texas Tech following the Red Raiders series loss against in-state rival Texas.

Despite the high ranking, Auburn is only the eighth-highest-ranked SEC program on the board.

Arkansas (1), LSU (2), Texas A&M (4), Tennessee (6), Vanderbilt (10), Florida (11), and Vanderbilt (12), all rank ahead of the Tigers.

Auburn will have a chance to improve on the No. 19 ranking this weekend when they travel to Nashville to take on No. 10 Vanderbilt. The Tigers will have one final pre-SEC tune up before the series on Tuesday against Troy.

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