aubiefifty

saturdaydownsouth.com Cadillac Williams receives community award for his contributions as interim coach Keith Farner ~3 minutes Cadillac Williams gained plenty of support last season when he became Auburn’s interim coach after the firing of Bryan Harsin. For his efforts, Williams, who has since been promoted to associate head football coach, received the Spirit of Auburn award at the Auburn Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting Wednesday at the Gogue Performing Arts Center. The award was for his efforts in reviving the business community while serving as interim head coach. “It’s an honor and pleasure to stand before you and receive this award,” Williams said. “I’m very thankful. I’m honored to be part of this family. It’s forever life changing.” Williams received the award from Auburn Chamber of Commerce board chair Julie Melton. “The spirit of Auburn is demonstrated by leading by example, through serving, being disciplined and believing,” Melton said. “There is no way to deny the enormous boost that came to the Auburn community when Coach Cadillac inspired a team of players to work together as a family and to believe in themselves. “His leadership truly infused life back into this community. Winning coaches are good for our economy, but more than wins, we would be remiss if we didn’t recognize the great example you provided.” TRENDING 58,148 READS 51,772 READS 23,016 READS A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South. Follow on Twitter.

i am glad we are doing more like this. it always seemed that when it came to football lsu's receivers caught more balls and a brief clip of their receivers showed them with some kind of goggles on which i assume was to improve their pass catching skillz. we should always look for any advantage because the other teams are looking for an advantage as well.

yahoo.com Spring Preview: Projecting Auburn’s QB depth chart ahead of A-Day Taylor Jones 4–5 minutes As Auburn begins to prepare for its first spring practice under new head coach Hugh Freeze, Auburn Wire will begin examining each position group and predict who has the chance of seeing the most playing time. First up, we take a look at one of the most popular position groups on the field, quarterback. Auburn has five options heading into the spring, with both starters coming back to compete for the starting job. As he begins his evaluations, Freeze says that there are four qualities that he will look for in each quarterback. “At Auburn there’s no question in my mind, No. 1 is accuracy,” Freeze said in a recent interview with Keith Niebuhr of Auburn Live. “No. 2 is the ability to lead a football team and be the face and representation of the program. Three would be arm strength and the fourth, I would love for him to have some maneuverability. Some escapability.” Here are Auburn’s current options at quarterback heading into the 2023 season: Robby Ashford Hank Brown T.J. Finley Holden Geriner Sawyer Pate Here’s how we predict the quarterback depth chart to look like following spring practice: Robby Ashford Justin Ford/Getty Images Completions-Attempts Yards Touchdowns Interceptions 2022 PFF Grade 123-250 1,613 7 7 58.6 Ashford will enter the spring as the incumbent to the QB1 role. He took over last season as the full-time starter after T.J. Finley suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him after just three starts. Ashford showed signs of struggle last season by throwing seven interceptions and being sacked 25 times. However, under a new head coach and an improved offensive line, Ashford may be able to thrive. Ashford will not only the the QB to watch this spring, but maybe one of the top Auburn players to keep an eye on. Holden Geriner Jake Crandall/The Montgomery Advertiser Completions-Attempts Yards Touchdowns Interceptions 2022 PFF Grade 2-3 8 0 0 62.1 Geriner is a former four-star QB with plenty of potential. In High School, he was seen as a quick thrower with the ability to make great decisions in the pocket, which fits well with a typical Hugh Freeze system. I expect experience to win, early on at least. But if Ashford shows any signs of trouble, Geriner could be given the shot to earn the top spot. T.J. Finley Jake Crandall/ The Montgomery Advertiser Completions-Attempts Yards Touchdowns Interceptions 2022 PFF Grade 33-53 431 1 4 53.5 Finley is creeping into [autotag]Bo Nix[/autotag] territory in the regard of playing under his third different offensive coordinator in three seasons. Finley provided relief for Nix in 2021 after he suffered an ankle injury, and assumed the role of starter for three games in 2022 before a shoulder injury prevented him from hopping back on the saddle. There was speculation in the offseason regarding his potential of transferring away from the program, but has elected to stay in an effort to compete for the starting quarterback job. If Finley is satisfied with his spring results, he could be provide a great battle for the starting role that will be interesting to watch unfold over the summer. Hank Brown The Tennessean 247Sports On3 Rivals 3-star 3-star 3-star Hank Brown will be the youngest QB in the room heading into the fall after signing with the Tigers 2023 recruiting class. No matter if Ashford wins the battle, or Freeze elects to bring in a transfer during the May 1-15 transfer portal window, I see Brown redshirting this season and using this time to better his craft under his new head coach. Sawyer Pate The Montgomery Advertiser Completions-Attempts Yards Touchdowns Interceptions 2022 PFF Grade 0-0 0 0 0 0.0 Pate is a walk-on, but is vital to quarterback depth. I don’t see him earning a starting postition, but I do expect him to gain positive development during the spring. Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire

yahoo.com Auburn basketball vs. Kentucky: Our scouting report, score prediction Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser 4–5 minutes AUBURN — The last time the Tigers went into Rupp Arena and defeated Kentucky, Ronald Reagan was the president of the United States, coach Bruce Pearl was an assistant at Iowa and not a single player on Auburn basketball's roster was alive. But, hey, why not this year? The Tigers go on the road to take on the Wildcats on Saturday (3 p.m. CT, CBS). After starting the season 10-6, Kentucky (19-9, 10-5 SEC) has picked up some key wins, including season sweeps of Florida and Tennessee. Coach John Calipari has led his team to three straight victories, with the most recent being an eight-point road win over the Gators on Wednesday. Kentucky is ranked No. 32 in the country by KenPom with an adjusted offensive efficiency mark of 117.2, good for 14th-best in the nation. Adjusted offensive efficiency is a stat that estimates how many points a team would score against an average Division I defense per 100 possessions. Here's a scouting report for Auburn's (19-9, 9-6) game Saturday, and our score prediction. JOHN COHEN:Exclusive John Cohen Q&A: Auburn AD discusses Hugh Freeze, Butch Thompson, facilities upgrades BEATING OLE MISS:Ole Miss challenges Auburn basketball, but Tigers hang on late to avoid upset loss Oscar Tshiebwe Any discussion about the Wildcats must start with senior forward Oscar Tshiebwe, who is the reigning National Player of the Year. The 6-foot-9, 260-pound Tshiebwe is averaging 15.8 points and 13 rebounds per game on 54.5% shooting from the field this year. He leads the SEC in total rebounds (325), offensive rebounds (131) and his five win shares are good for second in the conference, behind only Alabama's Brandon Miller. Auburn got abused on the offensive glass against Ole Miss on Wednesday; the Rebels won that battle, 17-7, and cashed in 16 second-chance points. That won't cut it against Tshiebwe, and Pearl knows it: "(Ole Miss) is strong, but Kentucky is bigger, stronger and more athletic. ... If we rebound like we did tonight, we’ll get beat by 40," he said Wednesday. The backcourt Kentucky has two of the SEC's best playmakers in Shavir Wheeler and Cason Wallace. Wallace, a freshman, is a starter and averages 4.1 assists per game. The Wildcats are paced in assists, however, by Wheeler's 5.6. But the senior hasn't appeared in a game since Feb. 4. Wheeler is expected to return "sometime in the near future," according to the Courier Journal. CJ Fredrick, a 6-foot-3 guard who's averaging 7.3 points per game but hasn't played since Feb. 7, is also expected to rejoin the fold at some point. Feb 22, 2023; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Oscar Tshiebwe (34) dunks the ball during the first half against the Florida Gators at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports Good 3-point percentage, not many makes The Wildcats have five players with at least 40 attempts from 3-point range shooting above 33%. Two of those players − Wheeler (36.6%) and Frederick (33.3%) − have missed time. The other shooters include Antonio Reeves (41.6%), Chris Livingston (38.1%) and Wallace (35.4%). Despite the percentages, Kentucky ranks middle of the pack in total made triples, as nearly 70% of its field-goal attempts have come from inside the 3-point arc. Eight SEC teams have made more threes than the Wildcats, despite them leading the conference in 3-point percentage. Kentucky 72, Auburn 69: The Tigers are coming off a key victory over Ole Miss, a win that signified Auburn's ability to finish contests effectively. But Kentucky's home-court advantage will be too much for the Tigers to overcome. Johni Broome and Tshiebwe battle it out, but it's the latter's team that prevails. Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18. This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball vs. Kentucky: Our scouting report, score prediction

Auburn Baseball vs. USC: How to watch, stream, listen to this weekend’s series at Plainsman Park Taylor Jones 3–4 minutes The series that almost never was is set to take place at Plainsman Park beginning Friday night. Auburn welcomes USC to the Plains for a three-game set after cold weather and rain forced administration from both Auburn and USC to call an audible. The series originally planned for Los Angeles was changed in a matter of 6-8 hours according to Auburn head coach Butch Thompson. “I hate it for our guys not being able to make that trip (to Los Angeles), but I tip my hat to a lot of people in administration, our travel people, Southern Cal’s administrators,” Thompson said Thursday. “It’s tough to pick up a college baseball team and travel across country, so I tip my hat to both administrations for going, ‘This is the right thing to do. How do we get there?” USC has arrived, they have practiced at Plainsman Park, and they have their hotel. So now reality has set in that one of college baseball’s “blue bloods” is coming to Auburn for the first time in history. “We’re going to have a 12-time national champion at Plainsman Park for the first time. It keeps getting neater,” Thompson said. “I appreciate (USC). I appreciate our fans for how they’ve jumped on the tickets. I’m just thankful this series is about to be pulled off.” Auburn and Southern Cal each enter the series with 3-1 records. The Tigers took two-of-three from Indiana in last weekend’s season-opening series and defeated North Alabama, 13-1 on Tuesday in Madison. As for the Trojans, they swept Marist last weekend but dropped a midweek contest to UC-Irvine. Below, you will find everything you need to know ahead of this weekend’s series between Auburn and USC including a how-to-watch guide, pitching matchups, and key players to watch. RELATED: Auburn-USC baseball preview with Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire How to watch this weekend's series Here’s when you should tune in to see Friday’s game: Date: Friday, Feb. 24 Time: 6 p.m. CT TV Channel: None Here’s when you should tune in to see Saturday’s game: Date: Saturday, Feb. 25 Time: 2 p.m. CT TV Channel: SEC Network+ Here’s when you should tune in to see Sunday’s game: Date: Sunday, Feb. 26 Time: 12 p.m. CT TV Channel: SEC Network+ How to listen to the weekend's series Listen to Auburn Baseball all season long on the official Auburn Athletics app for Apple and Android, as well as your local Auburn Sports Network affiliate Auburn 93.9 FM Abbeville 98.7 FM Andalusia 93.7 FM Birmingham 100.5 FM Columbus, Ga. 94.7 FM Conway, Ark. 92.7 FM Florence 94.9 FM Gulf Shores 106.5 FM Huntsville 800 AM LaGrange, Ga. 96.9 FM Montgomery 740 AM Roanoke 94.7 FM Scottsboro 1050 AM Selma 1490 AM Tupelo, Miss. 99.9 FM Tuscaloosa 99.5 FM Vernon 106.5 FM Projected Pitching Matchup Friday [autotag]Chase Allsup[/autotag] (0-0, 9.00) vs. Tyler Stromsburg (0-0, 5.06) Saturday [autotag]Joseph Gonzalez[/autotag] (1-0, 0.00) vs. Jaden Agassi (1-0, 1.42) Sunday TBA vs. Eric Hammond (0-0, 3.00) Projected Starting Lineup 😄Nate LaRue 1B: [autotag]Cam Hill[/autotag] 2B: Caden Green 3B: [autotag]Bryson Ware[/autotag] SS: Cole Foster LF: [autotag]Bobby Peirce[/autotag] CF: Kason Howell RF: [autotag]Justin Kirby[/autotag] DH: Ike Irish Players to Watch AUBURN Ike Irish Justin Kirby Bryson Ware Bobby Peirce Joseph Gonzalez USC Nick Lopez Carson Wells Ryan Jackson Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek Jaden Agassi Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire

this was posted late in case folks wonder why..........

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Auburn baseball vs USC preview: A big non-con series for the Tigers Lindsay Crosby 6–8 minutes Auburn baseball sits at 3-1 after an opening weekend series win against Indiana and a midweek thrashing of UNA, and unexpectedly gets to sleep in their own beds for a weather-related relocation of a three-game series against Southern California (3-1). Here's what you need to know for the matchup: Probable Starters Friday: RHP Chase Allsup (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs RHP Tyler Stromsborg (0-0, 5.06 ERA) Saturday: RHP Joseph Gonzalez (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs RHP Jaden Agassi (1-0, 1.42 ERA) Sunday: TBA vs RHP Eric Hammond (0-0, 3.00 ERA) Statistical Leaders - Auburn Auburn's offense is currently led by 3B Bryson Ware, currently 10-15 with four doubles, a home run, 5 RBIs, and no walks to two strikeouts. A former junior college shortstop, the senior is now solidified at third base after two seasons in the outfield as a part-time starter and key defensive replacement. Ware batted only .234/.336/.394 last season, his second on The Plains, and was occasionally plagued offensively by poor performance against offspeed and breaking pitches. Eric Starling/Auburn Daily Ware attributed at least part of that success to a simpler approach, "Yeah, like Coach (Gabe) Gross says, I'm trying to be an athlete and kinda get lost in playing the game - not trying to hit, just trying to do all the things I can do to put our team in a position to win." I asked Ware specifically what he did to work on consistency at the plate, and he talked about the virtues of the Josh Donaldson Hitting Lab, "We're fortunate enough to have some 'spinball' machines down in the cage, so that's a huge benefit for us. That's as close as you're going to get to getting live looks without seeing an actual live arm. Also, we have Jason Selk, our mental coach, talk to us. So I've been trying to do my - we call them mental workouts, which is just kind of trying to visualize some things before they even happen. And another thing, trying to not do too much and cut down on my swings a little bit - be as short as possible and try to stay within myself." (The Spinball Pitching Machines are advanced pitching machines that can simulate not only a traditional fastball, but also impart spin to mimic sliders, curveballs, etc. The top of the line model, the iPitch Smart Pitching Machine, is controlled by a tablet and can take inputs of specific spin measurements to exactly recreate any pitcher's arsenal that there is Trackman/Rapsodo data for and then throw either pre-planned sequences, based on that pitcher's real-life usage, or random sequences. It has the ability to target nine different points of the strike zone and throw at velocities from 50mph all the way up to 100mph. It retails for a base price of $14,000, plus shipping and included options.) Head coach Butch Thompson couldn't be happier about the progress the senior from Mississippi has made: "I see comfort, I see confidence," Thompson told 247's Jason Caldwell. "At the plate it’s becoming more believable every game we play because that slider that’s two balls off the plate, the barrel’s not moving." Thompson reiterated the offensive contributions of Ware were a welcome sight for the coaching staff. "We have seen him play enough and be in the program enough that when he doesn’t recognize and goes for that pitch, it makes it more difficult for him to put at-bats together. He’s taking that pitch and seeing it and evaluating it. I think that has put him in much better counts and given him a chance to get balls over the plate to be able to perform.” Other statistical leaders of note: DH Ike Irish: 9-16 with three doubles, four RBIs, and two walks LF Bobby Pierce: 7-18 with one homerun, one double, six RBIs. RF Justin Kirby: 2-11 with two homeruns, three RBIs, and seven walks Statistical Leaders - Southern California Senior infielder Nick Lopez led the Trojans offensively through the opening week, 1st on the team in hits (9), home runs (3), and doubles (3), and tied for the team lead in runs (7) and RBI (7). His 3 homers are 5th in the NCAA and his 21 total bases are the 4th most in the NCAA. Senior outfielder Cole Gabrielson posted the first two-homer game of the season for USC on Sunday against Marist. Senior righty Blake Sodersten, entering in the 4th on Sunday against Marist, struck out nine batters in 5.0 innings. Redshirt freshman infielder Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek, a transfer from UCLA that did not appear in a game last year, had an immediate impact on this Trojans lineup with seven RBI on two doubles and a homer through his first four collegiate games. Martin-Grudzielanek hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the 6th inning of USC's season opener against Marist. Junior infielder Ryann Jackson is tied for the team lead with a .500 batting average, going 6-for-12 at the plate so far. Jackson has also drawn seven walks (15th in the NCAA) and owns a .700 OBP (25th in the NCAA). As a team, Southern California sports a .609 slugging percentage, tops in the Pac-12 and 17th in the NCAA. Their 29 walks through four games have them in the top 20 nationally for 2023. Thompson brought attention to their walks in comments to the media on Thursday: "A very patient-oriented ball club. [...] They're evaluating pitches very well. We need guys to shove it in the strike zone like we've been preaching to start this season." Expected Starters C Nate LaRue 1B Cooper McMurray OR Brody Wortham OR Cam Hill 2B Caden Green SS Cole Foster 3B Bryson Ware LF Bobby Pierce CF Kason Howell RF Justin Kirby DH Ike Irish Game Times and How to Watch Game times are 6PM on Friday, 2PM on Saturday, and noon on Sunday. Limited chairback and Tiger Terrace seating is still available - more information can be found at aubtix.com. Game one will not be available for broadcast owing to a previously scheduled women's gymnastics meet at Neville Arena, but games two and three will be available on SEC Network+. The radio call, with Brad Law and Paul Ellen (games one and two) and Andy Burcham (game three) will be available locally on 95.9FM and online at AuburnTigers.com. Engage with Auburn Daily on Socials!

Behind Enemy Lines: Auburn-USC Baseball preview with Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire Taylor Jones 6–7 minutes Auburn Baseball received a gift of sorts on Tuesday night, as it was announced that their upcoming weekend series with USC will now be played at Plainsman Park after an inclement weather forecast forced the series to change venues from Dedeaux Field in Los Angeles as originally planned. Sure, there is disappointment that the Tigers will have to wait another season to visit sunny Southern California, but it does help that they will play their second-straight Power Five opponent in front of the home crowd. Buy Tigers Tickets The Tigers opened the season by winning two-of-three games over Indiana last weekend at Plainsman Park behind great plate appearances by newcomers Ike Irish and Justin Kirby. Auburn’s hot streak continued on Tuesday night as the Tigers defeated North Alabama, 13-1 in seven innings at Toyota Field in Madison. The Trojans enter the weekend with a mirrored 3-1 record after sweeping Marist last weekend and falling to UC-Irvine in midweek action on Tuesday. USC got similar results on the mound as Auburn did last weekend by recording outs without many strikeouts. First baseman Nick Lopez has also shown power at the plate for the Trojans. What else do we need to know about USC before this weekend’s series? We called on Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire to help us out. Zemek talks about last weekend’s series against Marist, the importance of Nick Lopez, and just how important this series is to the 12-time national champions. Without further delay, here is the latest edition of Behind Enemy Lines with Matt Zemek of Trojans Wire. Katie Chin/USC Athletics The Trojans scored 34 runs in a three-game sweep of Marist to open the season. What was your biggest takeaway from the series? It’s hard to take away too much from a series against Marist. That said, this is the first season under new coach Andy Stankiewicz. The fact that USC got off to a roaring start can only help the team build confidence under a new leader who, like Lincoln Riley on the football field last season, is trying to create a new culture and revive a long-dormant program. Certain dynamics and realities can (and do) exist independent of the schedule or the quality of opponent. Building good habits contains value even against lower-tier opposition. The hope is that it can become something more. Whether it actually will is the real question. Lyn Golden/ USC Athletics Like Auburn, USC’s pitching limited hits in the first two games of the season without recording many strikeouts. How much of a challenge will USC’s defense provide Auburn’s offense? Going from Marist to the SEC is a Grand Canyon-level distance in terms of quality and the caliber of competition. Let’s put it this way: USC will have to earn the benefit of the doubt with its performance. USC is decades removed from being a baseball program which entered the season being feared and respected. The Trojans need to get that back, but they don’t have it now. They need to claim it. It’s a “prove it” series for USC, to be sure. Jenny Chuang/USC Athletics Nick Lopez has been stellar at the plate with a .500 average and three home runs. If Auburn finds a way to cool him off, does USC have other lineup threats that could keep them afloat? USC did get production up and down the batting order against Marist. It’s too early to look at this USC batting order and circle one guy and say, “This player (or this spot in the batting order) is the true hinge point in the whole offense.” What also has to be mentioned is that guys have to get on base for Lopez so that Auburn doesn’t have the luxury of being able to pitch around him. USC — like any other baseball team which has gone through an extended (nearly decade-long) period of bad play and poor results — needs an all-hands-on-deck approach more than one savior, and as any baseball fan knows, giving adequate protection to the one star is so essential to the creation of an elite team. The Yankees could feast on bad teams with Aaron Judge and eight other guys (maybe Anthony Rizzo stood out to an extent, but that’s it). The Astros ate them up. It takes a full team, and we’re going to learn about USC’s team in this series. CSUN Athletics Which starting pitcher has the most potential to shut Auburn’s bats down? Blake Sodersten (Cal-State Northridge transfer) struck out nine Marist hitters in the five innings he worked. He shows the punchout ability other USC starters haven’t displayed to the same extent. That has to be the first place to look for a pitcher who might be able to establish command of the strike zone and get Auburn hitters on the back foot. Jenny Chuang/ USC Athletics How much do you feel that the series being moved to Auburn will affect the Trojans? New head coach, new season, new everything — it’s a USC season with so many uncertainties. Now comes this plot twist. It is probably not conducive to good performance for USC, but then again, going to Auburn worked out pretty well for Pete Carroll in 2003. It could be that being on the road might knit this team together and also create a sense of having no pressure. Realistically, though, I don’t expect it to benefit USC. Jacob Taylor/Auburn Tigers How do you see this series shaking out? It starts with USC’s pitching. The starters went five to six innings against Marist. Some of the relief pitchers, such as Caden Connolly and Josh Blum, were electric out of the bullpen. Yet, that was Marist, not Auburn. The pitching has to measure up, but again, it’s hard to give USC the benefit of the doubt until the Trojans establish themselves as a real force. Auburn wins the series, 2-1. The Trojans would love to win the series, but the main point of emphasis is for the team to learn what it is capable of.

Auburn baseball prepares for visit from USC Jason Caldwell 4–5 minutes AUBURN, Alabama—Discipline and patience at the plate are trademarks of West Coast college baseball teams and Coach Butch Thompson said that’s exactly what the No. 17 Auburn Tigers are going to get when the USC Trojans (3-1) come to Plainsman Park for the first time ever for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. CST. Led by former Major League player and Grand Canyon coach Andy Stankiewicz, the Trojans are off to a strong start at the plate with a .316 team batting average, eight home runs and 44 runs scored in a sweep of Marist and a one-run loss to UC-Irvine this season. However, it’s another number that has Thompson’s attention. The Trojans have a .463 on-base percentage as a team because of 29 walks in four games and the leader of the bunch is junior infielder Ryan Jackson. Batting .500 on the year, Jackson has six hits in 12 at-bats, but he’s also walked seven times in four games. Throw in the power potential of 6-2, 215 infielder Nick Lopez and you have a challenging offense for the Tigers to face. This season the former teammate of Jack Owen at JSerra High in California, he’s 9-18 this season with three home runs and seven runs batted in. Another name to watch for the Trojans is redshirt freshman Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek. The son of former UCLA softball player Danielle Martin and MLB player Mark Grudzielanek, he transferred from UCLA and is batting .316 with a home run and seven runs batted in this season. Those are the challenges that Auburn’s pitching staff will face this weekend. The Tigers will again go with sophomore RHP Chase Allsup in the opener with junior RHP Joseph Gonzalez scheduled for Saturday’s game. Sunday the Tigers are listed as TBA with true freshman LHP Zach Crotchfelt a possibility for the role along with redshirt junior RHP Christian Herberholz. “I think from evaluating there would be an obvious choice for Sunday, but we’re going to sit TBA for now,” Thompson said. “We’ll keep working to try to figure it out on the weekend, but I think we paired it down. We’ve gotten 16 pitchers in the ball game in four games, now we’ll start pairing down from evaluations. I think it will end up being a new starter, but we’re going to hold on for a couple of days and get into this series. “We’re about to face a very patient-oriented ball club,” he added. “They are a very traditional West Coast look in these first four games. One of their best hitters is four games into it and has seven walks and zero strikeouts. They are evaluating pitches very well so we probably need to throw less guys, but we’re trying to win ball games. This isn’t spring training. We need guys to shove it in the strike zone like we’ve been preaching to start the season.” On the flip side, Auburn’s offense needs to get deeper with the trio of Bryson Ware, Ike Irish and Bobby Peirce combining for 26 of Auburn’s 42 hits this season and eight of the nine doubles for the team. With starters Justin Kirby, Cole Foster and Nate LaRue all under .200 after four games, Auburn’s offense will need to continue to improve, but it won’t be easy against a strong pitching staff led by Jaden Agassi. The son of tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, the 6-3 Agassi allowed eight hits and one run in six and one/thirds innings in his opening start against Marist last weekend. With a career record of 5-3 and an ERA of 4.51 in 11 career starts, Agassi will match up against Gonzalez on Saturday with junior RHP Tyler Stromsborg earning the Friday night role for the Trojans. On Sunday they will go with freshman RHP Eric Hammond. Game times for the weekend series are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday. Saturday and Sunday will be available via stream at SEC Network+. 2COMMENTS FRI | SO RHP Chase Allsup (0-0, 9.00) vs. JR RHP Tyler Stromsborg (0-0, 5.06) SAT | JR RHP Joseph Gonzalez (1-0, 0.00) vs. JR RHP Jaden Agassi (1-0, 1.42) SUN | TBA vs. R-FR RHP Eric Hammond (0-0, 3.00) *** Subscribe: Receive the latest Auburn intel and scoops***

si.com Chase Allsup has the tools to be a dominant starter for Auburn baseball Lindsay Crosby 5–7 minutes Chase Allsup, physically, might be one of the more impressive pitchers Auburn's had on The Plains in a while. With a fastball that can touch 97, effective breaking pitch options in the slider and curveball, and the makings of a changeup, Allsup's not hurting for options to throw. And with a 6'1, 240 frame, he's got the physical frame to carry that velocity deep into a start. Now it's a matter of putting it all together. After an abbreviated outing on Opening Day, where Allsup went two innings against Indiana with three hits, two runs, two walks, and four strikeouts on 48 pitches, there's some more work to be done against Southern California this Friday. Chase Allsup on Opening Day Eric Starling/Auburn Daily "We want to see Allsup again, see if he can get deeper into a ballgame. Be more efficient," remarked head coach Butch Thompson on Thursday, previewing the weekend matchup for the media. Auburn Daily went back and watched every at-bat of Allsup's start against Indiana; here's what we noticed. The first inning was two strikeouts, a walk, and a flyout. Three of the four hitters opened up with strikes (the final batter, DH Carter Mathison, swung on the first pitch - it would have been called a ball), and each of the first three hitters were in "pitcher's counts" - 0-2 or 1-2. Contrast that with the 2nd inning, where there was only one first-pitch strike to the seven hitters - that solitary first-pitch strike to 2B Evan Goforth resulted in a strikeout, on three straight pitches. Every other batter got a first-pitch ball, mostly via a breaking ball (slider) that missed high or low. The resulting counts were slanted in the hitter's favor in almost every situation - other than a 1-2 count to CF Bobby Whalen (which also resulted in a strikeout), most hitters saw a much more advantageous 1-0, 2-0, or even some 3-0 counts. Getting to two strikes is the key for any pitcher to have success; hitters are usually required to expand the zone to avoid a strikeout while getting to two strikes early can maximize the opportunities for a pitcher to get a hitter out on a "chase" pitch - a pitch that begins inside the zone and is caught by the catcher outside of the zone, designed to entice a swing and miss. It's also tougher to "sell out for power" when you have two strikes and need to cover more of the plate under an expanded strike zone. Thompson agrees that that's where the game has moved: "College baseball now, as a pitching coach: It's a race to two strikes instead of two balls. The swings are so different when you're in 2-0, 3-1 counts compared to when it's 0-1, 0-2, 1-2." The 2nd inning home run to catcher Matthew Ellis on Friday was hit on an 0-2 count. (For an idea of how much the count can affect a hitter's success, here's a handy chart from the end of last season for batting average per count, from our friends at 6-4-3 Charts The coaching staff's comments about Allsup bear this out; pitching coach Daren Schoenrock, before the season, called Allsup a "high pitch count guy" whose success would come down to "landing his stuff consistently." "I told him, 'look, I've never had the physical ability to throw a ball 97 miles per hour. It would be hard for me, if I could throw 97, not to try and throw it 99.' Sometimes that creeps into Chase. That high volume of velocity does lead to longer at-bats where he's still ahead and he's just got to learn to end some at-bats earlier - if he does, he'll be able to unfold lineups pretty quick." Thompson's comments on Thursday echoed Schoenrock's from before the season. "I can't tell Chase to throw harder; I think he threw 96 mph. But there's a packaging and a relaxing. Like "man, you really have a great arm. Just keep growing into efficiency.' I'd like to see him more efficient" Thompson continued, "So I want Chase just to go out and be more efficient. Try to get more barrels moving. I think they're (Southern California) going to evaluate pitchers better than the two teams that we played so far. If you're going to try and start pulling all this swing-and-miss up vertically and beneath the zone, or stretching the plate (horizontally), I think you're going to be in disadvantage counts." The key will be throwing early strikes for Allsup, especially to open the at-bat. "The worst thing Chase could do is go out and not try and find the zone early. [...] Your goal is to attack, and race to two strikes instead of two balls" said Thompson on Thursday. Allsup's stuff is legitimately good - a MLB scout, speaking to me last summer before the College World Series, said the key to getting a hit off of Allsup came down to waiting for your pitch. "Patience is key" with a guy like Allsup - waiting for him to make a mistake and/or "box himself in" to a hitter's count, where he had to throw a strike. Allsup knows all of this; he told us as much. The day before his Opening Day start, he met with the media and when asked about the key to his success? "Go in, throw strikes, get people out." Open with strikes, land the slider more consistently, and he'll be able to do just that.

247sports.com 'I'm glad they're tired of it': Auburn finally closes out a tight game Nathan King 4–5 minutes AUBURN, Alabama — Bruce Pearl sat in his chair, the first of 20 in the Auburn media room, on the second floor of Neville Arena. He let out a sigh, looked around at reporters, raised his eyebrows and shrugged. “Well, needed that,” he declared plainly. In more ways than one, Auburn sure did. Not only did the Tigers keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive by avoiding a disastrous loss and fending off Ole Miss 78-74 on Wednesday night, but they finally proved to themselves they could close out a close game after several consecutive defeats in tight games. Granted, it took a matchup against a team tied for last place in the SEC, but Auburn notched its first single-digit win in 11 games — since a 69-63 home win over Mississippi State on Jan. 14. After Ole Miss grabbed as large as a 4-point lead with 6:21 remaining, the Tigers — led by Wendell Green Jr. and Johni Broome — locked in and followed Pearl’s formula for victory: get stops, and get to the free-throw line. The Rebels shot just 2-for-10 from the floor the rest of the game, and Auburn, which made 22-of-24 free throws, went to the line four times in the final 80 seconds of the game. Green Jr. had 14 points over the final six minutes of the game, including 6-of-6 free throws in the final 30 seconds. “I mean, if you're sick of losing that much, you're going to try to do whatever it takes to win,” Green Jr. said. “That was my job in that moment. We just lost the last game. I'm personally sick of losing.” Broome, who absolutely packed the stat sheet with 19 points (8-of-13 shooting), eight rebounds, three assists, six blocks and a steal, was a complete stalwart inside after Ole Miss made its run to take the lead. Over the final nine minutes of action, Broome had five blocks, five rebounds and three baskets. "I'm glad they're tired of it but you have to do something about it," Pearl said. In its previous two wins — blowouts by 33 points over Missouri and 19 points over Georgia — Auburn hadn’t needed to make plays down the stretch and hold off the opposition; it simply kept its foot on the gas with the advantage of its home crowd. But the Tigers had also led well into the second half in their last three losses: at Texas A&M, Alabama at home and at Vanderbilt. Auburn didn’t find a way to extend those leads, and it ultimately crumbled because, as Pearl has harped on so many times, it didn’t string together defensive stops or get to the foul line enough. In the last five minutes of those three losses, Auburn shot an average of 2.0 free throws and allowed the opposition to score 14.3 points. Against Ole Miss, those numbers were eight and 12, respectively. “It just shows that we're learning,” Green Jr. said. “We ended up getting to the free-throw line a lot. That was the main thing coach told us — at the end of games, we've gotta stop fouling and get to the free-throw line more. Automatic two points. I think we improved on that. Hopefully we can keep improving on it down the road.” Auburn moved down three spots to No. 33 in the NET ratings after the narrow win in a Quadrant 3 game, but the Tigers are still an impressive 17-2 in non-Quad 1 games this season — which is a fact Pearl and Auburn will tout as they look to pick up a key quality win over their last three games and guarantee a trip to the NCAA Tournament. “It's hard to beat all the teams you're supposed to beat,” Pearl said. “And this team has come pretty close to that. Now, let's see if we can somehow play better down the stretch and beat some of the best teams on our schedule." 9COMMENTS *** Subscribe to Auburn Undercover for the latest news and intel, podcasts, recruiting coverage and more ***

247sports.com 'Just don't let them down:' Family comes first for Auburn's Wendell Green Jr. Nathan King 8–10 minutes In the early stages of this season, Wendell Green Sr. was privy to a conversation between his son and a former teammate, Devan Cambridge, who opted to transfer following the Tigers’ 2021-22 SEC championship campaign and landed at Arizona State, where he’s playing with his brother. The two were catching up on what things are like at Auburn, and how Cambridge is settling in the Pac-12. The athletic wing had high goals for himself this season, but there was one area of his game he knew wasn’t going to be as prolific as it was with the Tigers. “‘Hey, man, thanks for throwing me all those lobs,’” Green Sr. heard Cambridge joke on the phone. “‘I mean, maybe I get a few here or there. But they don’t throw ‘em up there like you did.’” Not many do. Wendell Green Jr.’s passing prowess and offensive orchestration, as Auburn’s now-veteran point guard, has been one of the major keys during his time with the program thus far. And it will continue to be this season, as the Tigers look to lock down an NCAA Tournament berth, faced with a daunting three-game stretch to close this season. But as locked in as Green Jr. gets, especially during a crucial ending to the regular season, he tries not to forget his blessings. “Now that I’m in this position, I just try to soak it in day by day," Green Jr. said in an sitdown with Auburn Undercover. “It’s crazy, but it’s something I’ve worked for my whole life.” *** It’s easy for the junior point guard to reflect and be grateful, because he remembers quite vividly the feeling of uneasiness and doubt when he wasn’t sure if he made the right decision to transfer from Eastern Kentucky. The Detroit native had a big freshman campaign in the Ohio Valley Conference — at 15.8 points per game and 5.0 assists — but after he entered his name in the portal April 1 of 2021, his phone was more silent than he expected. “My first couple weeks, I didn’t really get any big schools,” Green Jr. said. “Then it was a tough decision, too, because I didn’t get to visit Auburn during COVID.” By the end of the transfer process, though, Green Jr.’s father, Wendell Green Sr., told Auburn Undercover that around 35-40 Division-I schools had shown major interest in his son. Green Jr.’s favorites were Auburn, Indiana and Marquette. “It was all about fit,” Green Sr. said. “It was a lot of Zoom meetings, but it got to the point where Auburn just made a lot of sense.” For the better part of the past decade, if Green Jr. is on the court playing, you could find Green Sr. in the stands. Usually rocking his son’s NIL merch, it’s not difficult to pinpoint Green Jr.’s contingent at games. “You only have this experience one time, so we have to be there to support him,” Green Sr. said. (Courtesy: Wendell Green Sr.) After every road game, Green Jr. climbs the stands to find his supporters, which usually includes some of his extended family, as well. He’s had a small pocket of the arena cheering him on in SEC country, along with other stops across the map. “My dad has come to almost every game since he stopped coaching me in high school,” Green Jr. said. “It doesn’t matter where it is — USC, Washington, he always shows up. My mom works a lot behind the scenes. The support I get from those two, and my sister, my extended family, it’s amazing.” Whenever Green Jr. gets down after a bad game, or needs a bit of extra juice to get motivated on a given day, it’s his family and their unwavering support that he always circles back to in his mind. (Courtesy: Wendell Green Sr.) “Me being here is bigger than myself,” Green Jr. said. “One day I might wake up and not want to shoot as much that day or not want to work out as hard. But it’s not about me. It’s about everyone’s expectations of me and me needing to exceed that and represent my family. “I always say to myself, ‘Just don’t let them down.’ That’s the No. 1 thing.” *** Some of the passes that end up on Auburn’s highlight reels are just old tricks for Green Jr. “His vision was always there,” Green Sr. said. “He was throwing lobs when he was 8, 9, 10 years old.” As flashy as they appear, Green Jr.’s passing style is mostly out of necessity, he said. Whether it’s a no-look or a wrap-around, most of the time, Green Jr. said with a laugh, it’s because he has to account for the fact that he knows he won’t always be able to easily see his targets on the court. He’s listed at a generous 5-foot-11. “I’ve always been able to make those passes — they end up being highlight passes, but it’s not intentional,” Green Jr. said. “I’m a smaller guy, so if I see someone jumping in the air, I can’t get over them so I have to throw a baseball pass. It’s just about feel for the game. I feel like my patience in the paint has gotten better as the season has gone on.” Sitting at No. 4 in the SEC with 4.3 assists per game, Green Jr. said it isn’t as simple as tossing a lob up high for his teammates, and putting a pass ahead of them in transition. That’s why mistakes happen early in the season, and he attributed it to Auburn’s respectable turnover rate (10.7 per game in SEC competition) as the season has progressed. “Over time it’s just about figuring out how guys like the ball and where they want it,” Green Jr. said. “Johni (Broome) is very different from Walker (Kessler). Walker you could just throw it as high as you can, but Johni isn’t 7-1. That’s just chemistry. It looks like you can build it over the summer but it takes real games and real time for it to happen.” Green Jr. sometimes had an unstoppable connection with Kessler in their high ball-screen action, and his rapport with Broome has become highly productive, too. Another transplant from the Ohio Valley Conference — where Green Jr. was edged by Broome at Murray State for freshman of the year in the league in 2020-21 — Broome gives Auburn a consistent interior presence to complement Green Jr.’s play in the backcourt. The junior center remains the only player in the SEC who’s top 5 in the conference in field-goal percentage (52.8), rebounds (8.9) and blocks (2.5). As Auburn has faced one of the toughest schedules in college basketball, sometimes a good game from both Green Jr. and Broome still isn’t enough for a victory. But the Tigers rarely have much of a chance at all if they’re now playing well. “If we turn it over or it’s a bad play, we try to never get frustrated at each other,” Green Jr. said. “We just talk it through real quick, right there on the court. That’s just our maturity level. We try to talk about it during games, after games, before games and just try to make sure we’re always on the same page.” *** That mindset permeates to the rest of the team, who have kept their heads high and been able to impressively wipe the slate clean during a string of losses against their elite competition — six defeats in their last night games, to be exact, with three of their toughest matchups of the entire year still approaching. They know Green Jr. isn’t going to blink because of a bad game, or even a rough stretch during a game. That was evident Wednesday night against Ole Miss, when the point guard bounced back from a 2-of-18 shooting stretch over his previous two games and was the reason the Tigers avoided a disastrous loss, with 23 points, including 14 points and 8-of-8 shooting at the foul line over the last eight minutes of the game. (Zach Bland / Auburn Athletics) “Wen's a baller,” senior wing Allen Flanigan said Thursday. “You're going to miss shots, you're going to make shots. The best players in the world, they have games where they struggle and they shoot it worse. They come back the next night and they shoot it again. So him just trusting his stroke and trusting who he is as a player, just coming back out here and going at it again.” Auburn’s players repeated this week that they need another win before the regular season is up, with games at Kentucky this Saturday, at Alabama next Wednesday, and against Tennessee at home the following weekend. Green Jr. has to play well for them to get it. 1COMMENTS He and Auburn are more than okay with that. That’s what he envisioned when he took that leap of faith in the transfer portal. “I think Wendell is okay with as he goes, we go,” Bruce Pearl said this week. “That's a great compliment. I trust him. I have confidence in him.”

espn.com Vanderbilt vs. Auburn - Women's College Basketball Game Preview - February 26, 2023 | ESPN ByData Skrive8 hours agoFacebookFacebook MessengerTwitterEmail ~3 minutes The Vanderbilt Commodores (12-17, 3-12 SEC) try to stop a seven-game road losing streak in a matchup with the Auburn Tigers (14-13, 4-11 SEC) on Sunday, February 26, 2023 at Auburn Arena. The matchup is at 4:00 PM ET. Auburn fell to Georgia 70-59 in the team's last action on Thursday in spite of a team-high 20 points out of Aicha Coulibaly. Vanderbilt was taken down by LSU 82-63 in the team's last outing on Thursday. Ciaja Harbison's team-high 21 points were not enough in the loss. Watch live games this season for 25+ women’s college basketball conferences on ESPN+ and check out Division 1 Top 25 rankings here. Auburn Team Stats Auburn's 67.1 points per game this season is 3.5 fewer than the 70.6 Vanderbilt gives up per contest. The Tigers have gone 11-2 this season when they put up more than 71 points. The Tigers make 67.6 percent of their free throws as a team, the 11th-best mark in the SEC. Coulibaly hits 3.6 free throws per game to lead Auburn while knocking down 66 percent of her attempts at the line. Vanderbilt Team Stats The Commodores score 66.7 per game, 0.4 more than Auburn gives up per contest. When Vanderbilt reaches the 66-point mark, it is 11-5 on the year. This season, the Commodores have knocked down 6.7 shots per game from beyond the arc while limiting their opponents to six triples. Vanderbilt is 6-8 when it hits at least seven shots from downtown this season. Auburn Players to Watch Coulibaly has been productive for Auburn, leading the team in scoring (16.5 points per game), rebounding (6.4 rebounds per game) and assisting (2.5 assists per game). Honesty Scott-Grayson adds 13.1 points and two steals for the Tigers, and Kharyssa Richardson averages 7.1 points per game. Scott-Grayson has a 39 percent shooting percentage from deep and paces the squad in made threes per game, hitting 1.5 treys per contest. Player stats reflect 27 of 27 games this season. Vanderbilt Players to Watch Harbison leads Vanderbilt in points, scoring 19.2 a contest, and assists with 4.4 per game. Marnelle Garraud adds 14.1 points and 1.7 steals for the Commodores, while Washington averages 10.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. Garraud has a 39 percent shooting percentage from deep and paces the squad in made threes per game, making 2.8 three-pointers per contest. Player stats reflect 28 of 28 games this season. Powered By Data Skrive

Five-star WR in 2025 class set to visit Auburn JD McCarthy 1–2 minutes Hugh Freeze and Auburn already had the program’s biggest Junior Day but a second one is starting to come together. It is unlikely it will be as big as the first one, but there will be plenty of elite recruits. One of them is five-star wide receiver Caleb Cunningham who has scheduled a visit to the Plains on March 4, according to Christian Clemente of Auburn Undercover. Cunningham is a member of the 2025 recruiting cycle and was offered by Auburn on Feb. 22, his 11th offer already. Buy Tigers Tickets He is the No. 10 player and No. 2 wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite ranking. The Ackerman, Mississippi, product is also the No. 1 player from Mississippi. The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder looks the part of the big, physical receiver that has plenty of success in Freeze’s offenses. He caught 59 passes for 892 yards during his freshman and sophomore seasons at Choctaw County. 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 JD on Twitter @jdmccarthy15.