By Hunt Palmer
LSU’s seven-game road tour ends this weekend with a three-game set on The Plains.
Auburn (23-10, 6-6) has recently renovated Plainsman Park, and Butch Thompson’s Tigers are playing good baseball in their refurbished digs. Auburn took two-of-three from Vanderbilt to open league play and beat Alabama twice last weekend. Both the Tide and ‘Dores very much look like postseason teams with an eye on hosting.
Auburn could be, too.
Thompson guided the Tigers to Omaha in 2019 and 2022. Last season fell flat. Auburn limped to an 8-21 league record and missed the SEC Tournament.
This weekend marks the halfway point of SEC action, and LSU (31-3, 10-2) has a chance to flip its 3-12 record from a season ago by sweeping a second SEC series on the road. That will be a tall chore, but Jay Johnson’s Tigers have won four straight away from home. Six straight SEC home games await on the other side, and the Tigers play three of their final five SEC series at Alex Box Stadium.
Weather appears to be no issue at all, finally. All three games should be able to start on time without a hitch.
FAMILIAR FACES
Former LSU hurler Sam Dutton will take the ball for Auburn on Friday night. Dutton was in and out of the Game 3 starter role for a couple of seasons at LSU. He made nine SEC starts in 2022 and actually started two regional final games in 2022 and 2024. His last outing in purple and gold came on Monday of the Chapel Hill Regional in 2024. Unfortunately, he didn’t record an out in that one.
Dutton has found a fresh start on The Plains as Auburn’s lead arm. He’s 4-2 on the year with a 2.66 ERA over eight starts. He’s struck out 51 and walked just 10. Auburn is 3-1 in his four league starts.
What was true in Baton Rouge for Dutton has been true in Auburn. He throws a ton of strikes. The stuff is not excellent. It’s a fastball at 92-93 mph. It’s a short slider. But he’s in the zone and makes you hit it. Last week, a good Alabama offense couldn’t. Sutton worked seven shutout innings allowing just two hits with six strikeouts.
The two starts before that weren’t as good. Georgia and Kentucky knocked Dutton around for eight earned runs on 12 hits in a total of 9.1 innings.
On the other side, Chris Stanfield returns to Auburn after two seasons patrolling the outfield there. Like Dutton, Stanfield has excelled in his second college home. After two years as a .278 hitter at Auburn, Stanfield is hitting .327 in purple and gold. He’s played tremendous centerfield, as well.
Both players should have a little pep in their step on Friday night looking across the diamond at old teammates.
Conner Ware, the LSU left hander, has also seen plenty of games on The Plains. His brother, Bryson, set the Auburn home run record in 2023.
ANDERSON’S ARM
Let’s see how the left arm of Kade Anderson looks on Friday night. After 135 pitches, I’ll be looking at the radar gun throughout the night. He’ll likely be adrenalized early on. When that wears off, does he still have 92-94mph, or does that dip more quickly? He’s never thrown 135 before, so it’ll be worth monitoring.
LUCK ‘O THE IRISH
Auburn’s best two veteran bats–Ike Irish and Cooper McMurray–come with a bit of a theme. They can really hit, though. Both swing the bat from the left side, and they’ve had huge years. Irish is hitting .356 with seven homers and a .465 on base average. McMurray is hitting .344 with eight homers and a .468 on base.
They’ve played more than 300 games at Auburn and have totaled more than 1000 at bats. While a host of freshmen have really stepped forward for Auburn this year both on the mound and at the plate, Irish and McMurray have been the driving forces for the team.
BALLS IN PLAY
Defense will be paramount over the weekend. That’s because the ball figures to be in play. No team in the SEC strikes out less than Auburn, and LSU ranks third in that category. Vanderbilt strikes out the third most hitters in the SEC, and the Commodores only recorded 15 punchouts of Auburn in the SEC opening series.
LSU ranks second in strikeouts as a pitching staff. Anderson and Anthony Eyanson feast on Ks, but that may not be the gameplan this weekend. LSU will need to catch the ball.
AUBURN ARMS
After Dutton is done, expect a ton of arms from Auburn. Saturday’s starter Cade Fisher has totaled 20.1 innings in seven starts. His season high in innings is four. Auburn doesn’t have a projected Sunday starter. That means Thompson will have to use his bullpen early and often throughout the weekend.
Fisher was destined to be the next big thing at Florida after a really good freshman season in 2023. LSU saw him twice in the national title series. It didn’t work out in Gainesville, so Fisher has looked for a fresh start like Dutton has enjoyed. It hasn’t gone as well. He’s walked 17 hitters in 20.1 innings and hasn’t been able to work deep into games.
SERIES SCHEDULE
All three games will be streaming on ESPN+, and Baton Rouge listeners can tune in on WDGL 98.1 FM.
Friday: 6:00pm
Saturday: 6:00pm
Sunday: 2:00pm
