Auburn baseball regained its form in Southeastern Conference play this weekend, taking two out of three games from Mississippi State to improve to 30-14 overall and 11-10 in SEC play.
It did so by winning on Friday and Sunday, clinching the series with a 14-8 win in Game 3. The series win comes following a sweep at the hands of No. 1 Texas last weekend.
Auburn won the two games this weekend under differing circumstances, and there were plenty of positives and negatives to take from the weekend overall.
As the Tigers move on from Mississippi State to a top 10 SEC series against Tennessee, here are five takeaways from the series win over the Bulldogs.
Brought runners home
Throughout Auburn’s three losses to Texas and its 1-0 midweek win over Georgia Tech, one glaring problem was the inability to take advantage of opportunities with runners on base.
That in turn handcuffed the offense, leading to three losses in Austin and the staff pitching a shutout to beat the Yellow Jackets. Against Mississippi State, that was never an issue.
Chris Rembert’s double down the left field line in the fourth inning of Game 1 felt like a release after the opportunities squandered in recent games. That hit scored two, capping off an inning in which Auburn plated four runs and built a lead that was too much for Mississippi State.
Despite a loss in Game 2, it was hardly due to the offense. Auburn put itself in a hole early, but the offensive -- despite it primarily being carried by solo home runs -- kept the Tigers in the game and avoided a run rule.
Game 3 was the big offensive explosion, as Auburn scored 14 runs, hitting two home runs, neither of them being solo. That kind of production is often needed on Sundays, and Auburn’s bats delivered to take the series.
Chris Rembert’s big weekend
Rembert, a freshman infielder/designated hitter was one of Auburn’s best players across all three games this weekend.
He finished the series batting 7-for-13 with a home run and five RBI. That was bolstered by a 4-for-4 performance Friday night, reaching base five times in the game. Rembert is one of a few freshmen who have been major contributors for Auburn this season, but the Mississippi State series was particularly fruitful for him.
“Man, he’s just one of our best athletes, best players,” Thompson said after Game 3. “The other thing to watch with him is every time he puts the ball in play, how he runs to first. He just don’t give it away. He just absolutely gives you a hard 90 every time.”
Rembert is now batting .324 on the season with six home runs and 26 RBI. Along with his hot bat, Thompson praised his development defensively, a quality of his that may be underrated.
“I think he’s growing defensively too,” Thompson said. “Starting to show some range and going and getting the baseball. Even those pop ups, you’re like, ‘Man, those things are going to be over there.’ He has good straight away speed. It feels like his comfort and gamesmanship is coming defensively just like he’s been consistent offensively.”
Allow a snowball, prevent an avalanche
Head coach Butch Thompson used the metaphor of a snowball and an avalanche effect when talking about Auburn pitching following the win in Game 1.
“You can deal with the snowball. That other team over there is pretty good,” Thompson said. “You’re just trying to avoid the avalanche”
The win Friday night didn’t come without some adversity faced by the pitching staff. Sam Dutton, Auburn’s ace, has been mostly lights out all season, but allowed a two-run home run to give Mississippi State an early lead in the fourth inning.
He was nails from that point forward, finishing the night having pitched six innings and allowing just those two runs, four hits, one walk and striking out eight batters.
Auburn then gave up a three-run home run in the seventh inning, a shot that tied the game and seemed to suck some air out of the building after it felt like Auburn might have been cruising to a comfortable Friday night win.
But as Thompson described, that home run was just another snowball, not an avalanche. When the lineup is producing like Auburn’s did this weekend, snowballs are affordable. Avalanches aren’t, and that’s what happened in Game 2.
The Bulldogs put six runs on the board in the fourth inning, a big difference from the two the night prior. That saw Mississippi State leading 10-1 going into the fifth, all but ending the game right there.
Saturday night’s dismantling was something Auburn saw a lot of last season and has done well to avoid this year. Being able to hold things together like in Game 1 was something Thompson described as a major difference between this season and last.
“That’s where I think we’ve grown a little bit, especially from last year,” Thompson said. “The snowball last year, would turn into an avalanche. I feel like the snowball is a snowball now, when we’re operating properly.”
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports forAL.com. You can follow him on X at@peter_rauterkusor email him atprauterkus@al.com
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