College Baseball series of the week: No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 16 Auburn

The Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide have one of the best football rivalries in the country. Basketball has also gotten competitive between the two, with both teams making the Elite Eight.

Baseball is no exception to the competitiveness of this in-state rivalry either.

Both programs are nationally ranked inside the top 20, with Auburn occupying the No. 16 spot and Alabama sitting just ahead of the Tigers at No. 8.

Both teams also sit close to each other in the new 16-team SEC, with Alabama sixth and Auburn ninth, as the teams begin to see where they may be seeded when the conference tournament arrives in a month and a half.

This series is pivotal for these squads as the outcome will shake up the conference picture and the national one.

For Auburn, this series is an opportunity to get back on track. The Tigers have dropped four straight coming into this weekend after being swept by No. 2 Georgia the previous weekend and losing a nonconference game against UAB.

The Tide come into the plains having won four of their last five contests. They took two out of three against No. 9 Oklahoma last weekend, sandwiched between nonconference victories over North Alabama and Samford.

An explosive offense has powered Alabama to this point in the season, especially its ability to hit for power.

The team is 10th nationally with 52 home runs hit thus far on the season and 110 extra base hits.

Sophomore Justin Lebron also leads Division I with 52 RBIs on the season, while Kade Snell’s .421 batting average puts him third in the SEC and in the top 30 nationally.

The Tide also have a habit of getting on the basepaths with the team’s on-base percentage sitting at .433.

Alabama’s pitching staff has also worked this season, boasting a team ERA of 3.97. Zane Adams and Riley Quick have made a dangerous Friday-Saturday combination as the pair has pitched to a combined 8-1 record with each starter claiming an ERA under four.

Auburn may not have numbers as impressive as its rivals, but it has the 22nd toughest strength of schedule compared to the Crimson Tide’s 33rd ranking in that category.

The Tigers have impact players as well. Cooper McMurray is their offensive leader with a .358 batting average, 26 RBIs and seven home runs.

Samuel Dutton has been the Tigers’ best arm as well. He has pitched to a 3-2 record, but against tough competition. He has a 3.16 ERA and 45 strikeouts on the season.

He and the rest of the Tigers' pitching staff will be tasked with keeping Alabama’s offense in check over the weekend.

Alabama looks to continue stacking wins together while Auburn needs to break its losing slide.

The first pitch for game one of the series in Auburn is on Friday at 7 p.m.

Chase Fisher is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email ctf5198@psu.edu.