Tag: Konnor Copeland

Butch Thompson to enhance pitching staff this offseason

Auburn baseball ranked near the bottom in several categories this season. Thompson looks to change that by any means necessary.

Auburn baseball experienced a disappointing season in 2024 by finishing with a 27-26 record and missing this week’s SEC Tournament with an 8-22 mark in conference play.

Pitching played a major role in Auburn’s struggles this season as the team finished near the bottom in several categories within the SEC including ERA (5.94), opposing average (.286), strikeouts (466), and hits allowed (517). Head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag], who is known for his success as a pitching coach, understands that his team needs enhancements to perform at a higher level, and will do whatever it takes to make it happen.

“(Pitching) our biggest challenge and it continued to be one all the way until our last ball game,” Thompson said during his final regular season press conference. “It’s learn and grow. I have to figure out the solutions on what I can do to help in that area that I have spent a lot of time in my career doing.”

How does Auburn go about correcting its issues on the mound? The two obvious choices are through NIL and the Transfer Portal. Thompson looks to utilize both tools this offseason.

Thompson hopes his program will become more competitive within the SEC in the NIL game and on the field.

“NIL, that space, whether I hit the mark or fell short on that of the estimation, trying to find a commitment there that matches the peers in our league,” Thompson said. “We finished fifth in this league the last two years and I thought once we got to a certain level of depth in our pitching staff, there’s a watermark or a level of acceptability in our league. I thought we threw too many innings in our league beneath that from a talent standpoint.”

Outside of NIL and stadium upgrades which will feature an expanded locker room, new weight room, and a new pitching lab, Thompson says there are a few perks he will use in his recruiting pitches to transfer targets.

“I think we’re pretty attractive because we play in the Southeastern Conference. We’re trying to take a trip to the Dominican with the club over Thanksgiving. We play a series in Arlington, Texas back in the dome in February in addition to those 10 SEC weekends. There’s huge opportunity,” Thompson said. “We’re hopeful that when we get to the first of June that we have our ducks in a row. That’s our singular focus is on this roster that we can put all of our attention to that and see if we can attract some guys that help us get ready quick.”

Outside of seniors [autotag]Tanner Bauman[/autotag], [autotag]Christian Herberholtz[/autotag], and [autotag]Konnor Copeland[/autotag] it is unclear how many pitchers will depart from the program this offseason. [autotag]Chase Allsup[/autotag] is a name to watch for ahead of this summer’s MLB draft and notable pitchers such as [autotag]Carson Myers[/autotag], [autotag]Dylan Watts[/autotag], [autotag]Will Cannon[/autotag], and [autotag]Conner McBride[/autotag] are eligible to return to the program next season.

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Auburn reveals challenging SEC schedule for 2024

Which SEC series are you most excited to watch?

We are in the heart of football season, but it is never too early to look ahead to what the spring will bring us.

The SEC released the 2024 conference schedule for each of its programs, and the Auburn Tigers will play one of the toughest in the league.

The ten-weekend slate features six series’ against teams who won 40 or more games in 2023, with four of those series’ being played at home. Auburn welcomes Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Alabama to Plainsman Park while traveling to Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Missouri, and defending College World Series champion, LSU.

Several contributors from last season’s return to next season’s roster, such as pitchers [autotag]Christian Herberholz[/autotag], [autotag]Konnor Copeland[/autotag], and [autotag]Tanner Bauman[/autotag]. Key bats such as [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag], [autotag]Chris Stanfield[/autotag], [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag], and [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag] will also grace the 2024 roster.

Here’s a look at Auburn’s 2024 SEC slate.

March 15-17 at Vanderbilt
March 22-24 vs. Arkansas
March 28-30 at Texas A&M
April 5-7 vs. Tennessee
April 12-14 vs. Kentucky
April 19-21 at Mississippi State
April 26-28 at LSU
May 3-5 vs. Ole Miss
May 10-12 at Missouri
May 16-18 vs. Alabama

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Offensive struggles plague Auburn in season-ending loss to Southern Miss

Auburn recorded nine hits and stranded 11, but only collected two runs in the season finale.

After recording the hottest second half in the SEC this season, the Auburn Tigers played their way into the NCAA Tournament as a regional host for the second-straight season.

Unfortunately, the Tigers’ splendid run came to a screeching halt on Saturday afternoon. Behind four home runs and a strong outing on the mound, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles defeated Auburn, 7-2, to eliminate the hosts from the Auburn Regional at Plainsman Park.

Both teams found themselves in the loser’s bracket after dropping their opening-round games on Friday. Auburn tallied just four hits in Friday’s loss to Penn and hoped to revive the bats in an effort to stay alive. However, it would be Southern Miss that grabbed momentum early and would ride it until the final out.

With two runners on, and one out, Southern Miss’ Christopher Sargent crushed a home run to right field to put the Golden Eagles up, 3-0 before Auburn could grab a bat.

Dustin Dickerson would be responsible for the Golden Eagles’ next two runs, as he would hit home runs in back-to-back at-bats in the 3rd and 5th innings to give Southern Miss a comfortable 5-0 advantage. Rodrigo Montenegro hit a sacrifice fly in the 6th inning to extend Southern Miss’ lead to 6-0 before Auburn would strike.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, two singles by [autotag]Chris Stanfield[/autotag] and [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag] would bring life back to the Auburn lineup and cut Southern Miss’ lead to 6-2. The Tigers would leave six runners on base in the final three innings but failed to send another run across to score.

Southern Miss’ dagger came in the 8th inning on a solo home run by Danny Lynch to bring the lead to 7-2.

“The responsibility lies on me,” Auburn coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] said following Saturday’s loss. “Our team made a good run. This group put us in position after a really tough start and stayed in the fight the entire season to get us to this point to host a regional. We didn’t link it up enough in these two days to have success against two really good opponents.”

Eight batters recorded hits for Auburn in the game, with [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag] being the lone Tiger to pick up two hits. Auburn would also fail to record a multi-base hit in its second consecutive game.

“We pride ourselves on getting timely hits the past month or so,” senior [autotag]Bryson Ware[/autotag] said. “The past few games, for whatever reason, it hasn’t been falling our way. Hats off to Southern Miss, they played a great game. I couldn’t be happier to be a part of this team.”

[autotag]Tommy Vail[/autotag] took the loss for Auburn. After becoming the team’s ace on the backend of the schedule, Vail ran into a stretch of bad luck on Saturday by allowing four earned runs on four hits while recording four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.

“He’s a fighter for us,” Thompson said of Vail. “We would not have been able to be here without Tommy Vail.”

In relief, [autotag]Konnor Copeland[/autotag] and [autotag]Chase Isbell[/autotag] worked 4.2 innings and allowed five hits and two runs. Isbell struck out four batters in his 3.2 innings of relief.

Auburn’s season ends with a 34-21-1 record. Southern Miss will face the loser of Penn/Samford on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT in another elimination game.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

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Auburn baseball clinches series at South Carolina with huge Saturday win

For the second straight game, Auburn used a big, early lead to cruise to victory.

Auburn baseball found themselves on the outside looking in of D1Baseball’s Field of 64 projections this week and continued to fall in the RPI ahead of a challenging series against the RPI’s top team in South Carolina.

The Tigers apparently used that as motivation, as they followed up Friday’s performance by scoring nine more runs on Saturday to take down South Carolina, 9-5, to clinch the series at Founders Park in Columbia.

For the second game in a row, Auburn jumped out to a comfortable lead in the first inning, which ended up paying off in the late innings. [autotag]Cole Foster[/autotag] and [autotag]Kason Howell[/autotag] each scored two runs with singles in the first inning to put Auburn ahead, 4-0, before the Gamecocks stepped to the plate.

“Two days in a row we scored in the first inning and really set a tone,” head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] said. “It got us into the ballgame, and we did even more today in the first. You knew they’d make a rally, so we had to keep playing.”

Auburn tacked on two more runs in the 2nd inning on solo home runs by [autotag]Nate Larue[/autotag] and [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] to extend the Tigers’ lead to 6-0. South Carolina got on the board in the bottom half of the inning on a single by Jonathan French.

Auburn’s hottest hitter, [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag], continued his stroke of luck by smacking two more home runs in the game. His first home run of the game was a two-run shot to center field and bumped Auburn’s lead to 8-1. He would score Auburn’s final run of the game in the top of the 9th inning with a solo home run.

McMurray has now hit seven home runs in seven straight games, and has now recorded three multi-home run games of the season.

“To open the day with a four-spot in the first is always big,” McMurray said Saturday. “Our pitching staff has come out and been really good for us and making it easy on the offense. On that side of the ball, we think we can score however many runs at any given time. It’s just about playing a full game of clean baseball.”

The Gamecocks began a rally in the middle innings, led by Cole Messina. Messina picked up four RBI on a 5th inning double and a two-run home run home run in the 7th inning. The rally would not be enough for South Carolina to earn the comeback, as they would fall to Auburn for the second straight game.

Auburn’s series win over South Carolina is the first time that the Gamecocks have dropped a series at home. Heading into the series, South Carolina had a 24-1 record at home, and have since dropped two straight.

“Players are allowed to get better, and this is a good step forward for us this weekend, but we have to keep playing,” Thompson said.

Pitching was also valuable in Saturday’s win. [autotag]Christian Herberholz[/autotag], [autotag]Chase Isbell[/autotag], and [autotag]Konnor Copeland[/autotag] combined to strike out 11 batters and allowing just six hits.

Game three of the series between Auburn and South Carolina is set for 2 p.m. CT on Sunday. The game will be broadcasted on SEC Network+ as well as the Auburn Sports Network.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

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Auburn baseball’s pitching woes highlight D1Baseball’s ‘SEC Weekend Dish’

Auburn’s struggles on the mound were instrumental in a series loss to Texas A&M last weekend.

The Auburn Tigers had a rather agonizing week on the diamond last week, as they went 1-3 with losses at UAB and a series falter at home to Texas A&M.

In those three losses to the Blazers and Aggies, there was one constant: pitching.

In Tuesday’s midweek game at UAB, Auburn starter [autotag]Konnor Copeland[/autotag] managed to just grab 0.2 innings of work while allowing four runs on four hits. Auburn went on to use seven pitchers in the 6-5 loss that ended in walk-off fashion.

Then, in the weekend opener, Texas A&M chipped away at Auburn’s 5-2 lead by scoring seven runs over the final six innings to win, 9-5. Due to the weather forecast on Saturday, Auburn and Texas A&M was forced to play a doubleheader on Friday. The Tigers managed to win the middle game of the series before dropping the finale, 12-6.

Mark Etheridge of D1Baseball highlighted Auburn’s pitching in his weekly series titled SEC Weekend Dish, where he highlighted a note from Auburn’s doubleheader on Friday.

Over the 18 innings, Auburn walked 25 Texas A&M batters and threw 433 pitches. Add that on top of the final two games of last weekend’s series, where it walked nine and 13, and there’s a scarcity of strikes being thrown for Auburn.

Etheridge also shared Auburn’s starter’s distances and says that Auburn’s bullpen is not deep enough to handle more than seven innings of work. He also points out that the Tigers are now 1-6-1 in series finales this season to this point.

The Tigers will hit the road this weekend to face the Alabama Crimson Tide in a pivotal SEC weekend series for both teams. Alabama recently dropped a series to Mississippi State at home and has yet to win an SEC series this season.

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Auburn ace Joseph Gonzalez to miss more time on the mound

Gonzalez has dealt with shoulder discomfort this season, which has caused him to make just one start this season.

The projected ace of Auburn’s weekend rotation is expected to miss more time away from the mound.

[autotag]Joseph Gonzalez[/autotag], Auburn’s only returning piece from last season’s rotation, has dealt with shoulder discomfort since the preseason, which has limited him to making just one start this season. He tossed five innings in Auburn’s 6-1 series-sealing win over Indiana on Feb. 18 at Plainsman Park, where he allowed two hits and struck out a batter.

He has not taken the mound since.

Head coach Butch Thompson had hoped that Gonzalez would be healthy enough to return to the rotation for the Arkansas series, but last week’s practices suggested that he needs more time to get back to 100% throwing strength.

“We just asked the best doctor in the world to sit down with him face-to-face. So we’re probably going to take a few more weeks, maybe up to six weeks,” Thompson said Wednesday. “(Gonzalez) still feels something when he cranks it up to full speed. He still feels it a little bit.”

He was scratched from his scheduled start on Feb. 25 against USC due to shoulder tightness and had hoped to make a return last weekend against Arkansas. However, the TBA slot that was open for Gonzalez’s potential return was filled by [autotag]Konnor Copeland[/autotag] in Auburn’s 5-0 loss to the Razorbacks last Sunday.

This weekend, Auburn is expected to throw [autotag]Tommy Vail[/autotag] on Thursday, and [autotag]Zach Crotchfelt[/autotag] on Saturday in their home series with Georgia, with Saturday’s slot up for grabs. [autotag]Tanner Bauman[/autotag], Konnor Copeland, and [autotag]Christian Herberholz[/autotag] have the potential to fill game two’s need, as each of them has started in at least one weekend game this season.

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Auburn baseball ‘responds’ with come-from-behind win at Jax State

Cole Foster led the Tigers offensively with four hits in Auburn’s first true road win of the year.

For the second straight day, Auburn got into a tight defensive battle with an in-state foe. However, what made Wednesday’s game at Jax State different from Tuesday’s win over UAB on Tuesday was that Auburn needed to come from behind to get the win.

Trailing 1-0 heading to the 7th inning, a trio of hits from the top half of Auburn’s lineup made way for four runs to score. Two more insurance runs in the 9th inning would be enough to escape Jacksonville with a 6-3 win at Rudy Abbott Field.

“We responded. I thought that was the difference there in the ballgame,” head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] said following Wednesday’s game. “It’s neat to play some of these closer games and having to come from behind. Some teams can only win one way. I think we’re at least learning or gaining a little confidence that we can win more than one way.”

Both teams were held scoreless through the first five innings before Jax State broke open the tie by posting a run in their half of the 6th inning. The Gamecocks led off the inning with a base runner due to an error by Tiger shortstop Cole Foster. That run scored two at-bats later on a right-field double by Mason Maners to put Jax State up, 1-0.

Auburn responded by delivering a punch in the form of a four-run top of the 7th inning with two outs. Foster tied the game on a single to left field to score [autotag]Caden Green[/autotag] from third base. [autotag]Justin Kirby[/autotag] would give Auburn the lead on a ground-rule double that scored [autotag]Mike Bello[/autotag]. Finally, [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag] gave the Tigers added insurance on a two-run double to left field that scored Kirby and Foster to give Auburn the 4-1 lead.

Auburn added two more runs in the top of the 9th inning when [autotag]Chris Stanfield[/autotag] plated two on a single to left field to extend Auburn’s lead to 6-1. Those two runs would be considered the game’s most important for Auburn, as the Gamecocks fired back by scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to cut Auburn’s lead to 6-3.

It would be the second night in a row that Auburn allowed their opponent to bring the tying run to the plate, but [autotag]Will Cannon[/autotag] struck out Maners to close the game.

Three Tigers recorded multiple hits in the game, with Foster leading the way with a 4-for-4 night. Freshmen Stanfield and Irish each had two hits and two RBI. Starting pitcher [autotag]Konnor Copeland[/autotag] pitched five innings of two-hit baseball, striking out six batters. [autotag]Chase Isbell[/autotag] earned the win by allowing one hit in 1.0 innings of work, making way for Cannon to earn his third save of the season.

Auburn will welcome Southeastern Louisiana to Plainsman Park to begin a three-game series with the Lions on Friday at 6 p.m. CT. Southeastern is currently 9-4, and most recently won a midweek contest at Alabama A&M, 14-0 on Wednesday.

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Auburn Baseball crushes North Alabama in first midweek tilt

Bobby Peirce, Bryson Ware, and Ike Irish lead the way as Auburn earns a win at Toyota Field in Madison.

New rules were introduced within SEC baseball this season, and it did not take long for Auburn to use them.

In the first midweek game of the 2023 season, Auburn traveled to Madison to face the North Alabama Lions in a neutral site affair at Toyota Field, home of the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. Auburn jumped out to a 6-0 1st inning lead and would cruise to an easy 13-1 victory in seven innings.

Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag], got the Tigers on the board with a bases-loaded single to right field to score [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] from 3rd base to give Auburn the 1-0 lead. [autotag]Ryan Dyal[/autotag] and [autotag]Caden Hill[/autotag] followed Irish by also recording RBI singles in the inning. [autotag]Bryson Ware[/autotag] earned an RBI on a sacrifice fly while [autotag]Kason Howell[/autotag] plated a run on a fielder’s choice.

Peirce and [autotag]Brody Moss[/autotag] extended Auburn’s lead in the 3rd inning. Peirce scored two runs on a single down the left field line to push the Tigers’ lead to 8-0, and Moss scored Howell on a sacrifice fly with one out in the inning.

Auburn’s next three runs would come courtesy of the long ball. Peirce hit a solo shot in the 5th inning for his third RBI of the game to put Auburn ahead, 10-1. Ware joined the party in the 6th inning by hitting a two-run blast to extend Auburn’s lead to 12-1. Freshman [autotag]Chris Stanfield[/autotag] capped the scoring by singling home Foster in the 6th inning for his first collegiate RBI.

North Alabama’s lone run came in the 4th inning when Jackson Ferrigno hit a sacrifice fly to Kyle Machado from 3rd base to trim Auburn’s lead to 9-1 at that point in the game.

Peirce, Irish, and Ware each collected three hits on the night, with Peirce and Ware each plating three RBI. In his first start on the mound this season, senior [autotag]Konnor Copeland[/autotag] struck out six batters over 3.2 innings of work, allowing just three hits and one earned run. [autotag]John Armstrong[/autotag] and [autotag]Chase Isbell[/autotag] combined to strike out six batters over the final 3.1 innings to close the game.

Changes have been made to Auburn’s weekend schedule. It was announced late Tuesday night that Auburn’s weekend series against USC, which was originally scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, will now happen at Plainsman Park due to forecasted inclement weather expected in Southern California.

Game one of the series between the Tigers and Trojans is set for 6 p.m. CT on Friday.

Runs Hits Errors
AUBURN 13 15 0
NORTH ALABAMA 1 5 2

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