FPN Series of the Week: No. 9 Auburn at No. 15 Alabama
Game times are set and tickets are selling out quickly for one of the most anticipated rivalry series this season. Friday night’s game still has limited tickets remaining, Saturday and Sunday’s games are sold out.
The No. 9 Auburn Tigers (43-8, 15-6) are visiting the No. 15 Alabama Crimson Tide (39-13, 11-9) in this week’s edition of Series of the Week. If you don’t live nearby, you can watch Game 1 on SEC Network+/WatchESPN (7 p.m. CT), the other two games will be on ESPN (7 p.m.) and ESPN2 (noon).
In addition to this Series of the Week piece, FPN will be posting another preview of the series with a couple of interesting angles.
At the Plate:
Compared to 2016, senior Kasey Cooper is having a down year but that hasn’t stopped her from breaking more records. Last weekend, the senior broke the Southern Conference’s career RBI mark and moved up to ninth in the NCAA record book. Victoria Draper recently moved to the leadoff spot in the lineup and has been producing. Through all 51 games, she leads the Tigers with a .379 batting average. The surprise bat, everyone should keep an eye on is true freshman Alyssa Rivera. In SEC play, she leads the team in batting average with a .383 (16 games played, 14 games started). Over the course of the season, 41 games played, she is hitting .402 with a .576 slugging percentage.
Freshman Bailey Hemphill is the only Crimson Tide player to have played and started in all 51 games. She is hitting .325 with six homers, 35 RBI and a .545 slugging. Sophomore, Merris Schroder leads the team in average with 75 percent of the games played at .340. Peyton Grantham’s power could prove to be key in this series. Her team-high seven home runs and 39 RBI will play a huge role against the nation’s top double-play defense.
In the Circle:
SEC wins leader Kaylee Carlson will most likely get the ball at least twice (Friday and Sunday) this weekend. In 169 innings of work, she has allowed 42 runs, 30 earned runs, 36 walks and struck out 103. She has given up a few more home runs lately than she would like but that hasn’t stopped her from winning 24 games. After a six-game suspension, Makayla Martin returned to form last weekend against Mississippi State. The junior has a 2.12 ERA and a 17-5 record. She has given up 47 runs, 38 earned and 43 walks in 125.1 innings of work while striking out 91. Out of the bullpen will be freshman Ashlee Swindle who proved she can hang with the SEC during Martin’s suspension.
Alexis Osorio leads the SEC and is fifth nationally in strikeouts per seven innings. According to the NCAA website, she strikes 11.6 batters per game and has struck out 255 total in 153.2 innings. She is 19-7 on the year with a 1.37 ERA. Senior Sydney Littlejohn has appeared in 27 games and started 21. She has a 14-5 record and 1.11 ERA. She has only allowed 22 earned runs and 28 walks in 139.1 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen is Madi Moore. She has only thrown 50.2 innings but has proved to be somewhat of a lefty specialist this year.
Analysis & Prediction:
Alabama has lost six of its last nine games and there isn’t a better time to peak than now. The crowd is sure to be hostile and raucous which the Tide should use to their advantage. If Auburn wants to win this series, the Tigers need to be productive top to bottom and the defense needs to be sharp. A series win for the Tigers could clinch the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament and a series loss could drop them to No. 4.
Pick: Auburn
