With the 2025 College Baseball season just around the corner, KSR will be previewing all 15 SEC teams that will be competing with Kentucky for an SEC crown this season. Up next; the Auburn Tigers.
The 2024 season was a rough one for head coach Butch Thompson’s Auburn Tigers, which finished with a 27-26 (8-22) record. The Tigers, who missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021, lost their first eight SEC series before winning the final two on the road against Missouri and at home against No. 21 Alabama. In the eight conference series they lost last season however, five of the eight teams were ranked inside the top-eight of the Top 25 Rankings (No. 8 Vanderbilt, No. 1 Arkansas, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 8 Kentucky).
Although rumors run rampant that Thompson would be retiring over the offseason, he will return for his 10th season at Auburn. In nine seasons, the Tigers are 283-212-1 (104-134) under Butch. If he had retired, many had speculated that they would make a run at Nick Mingione as their head coach. Auburn’s Athletic Director is former Kentucky and Mississippi State (where Mingione was an assistant from 2009-2016) head coach John Cohen, who has a great relationship with Minge.
Returning Players:
- R-Sr. INF Cooper McMurray (2024: 52 G, .296 AVG, 13 2B, 14 HR, 56 RBI, .603 SLG%, .449 OBP%)
- Jr. C/OF Ike Irish (2024: 47 G, .319 AVG, 11 2B, 14 HR, 59 RBI, .627 SLG%, .403 OBP%)
- Sr. IF Deric Fabian (2024: 44 G, .268 AVG, 9 2B, 5 HR, 27 RBI, .463 SLG%, .372 OBP%)
- So. OF Cade Belyeu (2024: 38 G, .284 AVG, 5 2B, 8 HR, 20 RBI, .632 SLG%, .426 OBP%)
- So. IF Eric Guevara (2024: 21 G, .204 AVG, 2 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, .352 SLG%, .343 OBP%)
- So. C Cale Stricklin (2024: 14 G, .273 AVG, 1 2B, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .303 SLG%, .455 OBP%)
- So. OF Cole Edwards (2024: 10 G, .133 AVG, 0 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .133 SLG%, .235 OBP%)
- Sr. LHP Carson Myers (2024: 14 APP, 8 GS, 2-3, 4.94 ERA, 47 1/3 IP, 35 K, 26 BB)
- Sr. RHP Conner McBride (2024: 12 APP, 7 GS, 3-3, 5.89 ERA, 36 2/3 IP, 35 K, 19 BB)
- Sr. RHP John Armstrong (2024: 19 APP, 0 GS, 1-2, 4.01 ERA, 33 2/3 IP, 45 K, 19 BB)
- Jr. RHP Dylan Watts (2024: 15 APP, 5 GS, 0-4, 7.12 ERA, 30 1/3 IP, 33 K, 6 BB)
- So. RHP Cam Tilly (2024: 14 APP, 0 GS, 3-1, 6.29 ERA, 24 1/3 IP, 27 K, 14 BB)
- Sr. RHP Parker Carlson (2024: 22 APP, 0 GS, 3-2, 6.00 ERA, 24 IP, 23 K, 12 BB)
- Jr. RHP Hayden Murphy (2024: 14 APP, 0 GS, 1-0, 4.32 ERA, 16 2/3 IP, 17 K, 8 BB)
- So. RHP Alex Petrovic (2024: 7 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 5.73 ERA, 11 IP, 17 K, 3 BB)
- R-Sr. RHP Ben Schorr (2024: 10 APP, 0 GS, 1-1, 7.36 ERA, 7 1/3 IP, 3 K, 4 BB)
- So. LHP Griffin Graves (2024: 6 APP, 0 GS, 1-0, 10.12 ERA, 5 1/3 IP, 10 K, 6 BB)
Departing Players:
- Gr. IF Cooper Weiss (2024: 52 G, .291 AVG, 11 2B, 8 HR, 37 RBI, .487 SLG%, .403 OBP% – Graduated)
- So. OF Chris Stanfield (2024: 52 G, .276 AVG, 8 2B, 4 HR, 25 RBI, .395 SLG%, .365 OBP% – Transferred to LSU)
- Sr. OF Mason Maners (2024: 46 G, .296 AVG, 9 2B, 7 HR, 17 RBI, .549 SLG%, .426 OBP% – Graduated)
- Gr. IF Christian Hall (2024: 37 G, .226 AVG, 2 2B, 7 HR, 17 RBI, .500 SLG%, .404 OBP% – Graduated)
- Sr. IF Javon Hernandez (2024: 36 G, .171 AVG, 2 2B, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .220 SLG%, .266 OBP% – Graduated)
- Gr. IF Bobby Peirce (2024: 35 G, .224 AVG, 2 2B, 5 HR, 20 RBI, .421 SLG%, .352 OBP% – Graduated)
- Sr. IF Caden Green (2024: 33 G, .310 AVG, 5 2B, 3 HR, 18 RBI, .500 SLG%, .372 OBP% – Graduated)
- Sr. C Carter Wright (2024: 28 G, .341 AVG, 7 2B, 0 HR, 13 RBI, .424 SLG%, .400 OBP% – Graduated)
- So. IF Gavin Miller (2024: 26 G, .281 AVG, 5 2B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, .500 SLG%, .361 OBP% – Transferred to Houston)
- Jr. IF/C Kaleb Freeman (2024: 14 G, .200 AVG, 2 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, .400 SLG%, .300 OBP% – Transferred to Georgia State)
- Fr. IF Sam Robertson (2024: 6 G, .000 AVG, 0 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .000 SLG%, 1.000 OBP%)
- R-Jr. IF Ty Mauldin (2024: 3 G, .500 AVG, 0 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .500 SLG%, .500 OBP% – Transferred to UAB)
- Jr. RHP Chase Allsup (2024: 13 APP, 11 GS, 4-3, 5.63 ERA, 62 1/3 IP, 74 K, 16 BB – 4th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
- R-Sr. RHP Christian Herberholz (2024: 16 APP, 7 GS, 2-2, 5.40 ERA, 43 1/3 IP, 49 K, 16 BB – Graduated)
- Sr. LHP Tanner Bauman (2024: 20 APP, 6 GS, 3-2, 4.57 ERA, 41 1/3 IP, 47 K, 16 BB – 9th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
- R-Jr. RHP Joseph Gonzalez (2024: 9 APP, 8 GS, 2-1, 9.33 ERA, 27 IP, 13 K, 17 BB)
- Jr. RHP Will Cannon (2024: 17 APP, 1 GS, 0-1, 7.99 ERA, 23 2/3 IP, 26 K, 15 BB – 12th Round of 2024 MLB Draft)
- So. LHP Zach Crotchfelt (2024: 7 APP, 0 GS, 1-1, 6.14 ERA, 7 1/3 IP, 10 K, 6 BB – Transferred to Texas Tech)
- So. RHP Cameron Keshock (2024: 5 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 10.12 ERA, 5 1/3 IP, 7 K, 3 BB – Transferred to Samford)
- So. LHP Drew Nelson (2024: 3 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 IP, 4 K, 2 BB – Transferred to Troy)
- Fr. LHP Konner Keplinger (2024: 2 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 20.25 ERA, 1 1/3 IP, 0 K, 3 BB)
- Gr. LHP Konner Copeland (2024: 1 APP, 0 GS, 0-0, 18.00 ERA, 1 IP, 3 K, 2 BB – Graduated)
Incoming Transfers
- So. OF Bristol Carter (2024: 56 G, .346 AVG, 7 2B, 2 HR, 31 RBI, .440 SLG%, .406 OBP% – Transferred from East Carolina)
- Jr. C/OF Lucas Steele (2024: 56 G, .245 AVG, 10 2B, 13 HR, 61 RBI, .520 SLG%, .364 OBP% – Transferred from Samford)
- Gr. IF Andrew Dutton (2024: 49 G, .340 AVG, 12 2B, 7 HR, 42 RBI, .515 SLG%, .435 OBP% – Transferred from Birmingham-Southern)
- Jr. INF Eric Snow (2024: 35 G, .248 AVG, 6 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBI, .325 SLG%, .333 OBP% – Transferred from USF)
- So. UTIL Jett Johnston (2024: 13 G, .188 AVG, 1 2B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .250 SLG%, .381 OBP% – Transferred from Texas A&M)
- Jr. LHP Cade Fisher (2024: 26 APP, 9 GS, 4-3, 7.13 ERA, 59 1/3 IP, 76 K, 29 BB – Transferred from Florida)
- So. RHP Ryan Hetzler (2024: 25 APP, 0 GS, 5-1, 2.59 ERA, 41 2/3 IP, 38 K, 14 BB – Transferred from California Baptist)
- Jr. RHP Mason Koch (2024: 25 APP, 0 GS, 5-1, 3.29 ERA, 38 1/3 IP, 60 K, 17 BB – Transferred from Creighton)
- Sr. RHP Samuel Dutton (2024: 20 APP, 4 GS, 0-2, 5.86 ERA, 27 2/3 IP, 29 K, 6 BB – Transferred from LSU)
Auburn junior catcher Ike Irish enters the 2025 season as an expected First Team All-SEC selection after a stellar sophomore season in 2024. Irish, who is a projected First-Round Pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, was a Golden Spikes Award and Buster Posey Award Semifinalist last season. He’ll lead a Tiger squad that returns five offensive players who appeared in at least 20 games and six pitchers that threw at least 20 innings last season.
The Tigers brought in an experienced transfer class, led by junior left-handed pitcher Cade Fisher from Florida. Fisher burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2023, posting a 6-0 record with a 3.10 ERA in 49 1/3 innings en route to a Freshman All-SEC Team selection. He’ll look to bounce back from a rough 2024 campaign however, where his ERA rose to 7.13 in 59 1/3 innings.
Auburn’s pitching staff will need some major help from Fisher, Hetzler, Koch, Dutton, and rising freshmen as it lost three pitchers to the 2024 MLB Draft. Although they had three pitchers selected, the Tiger pitching staff struggled last season. In a combined 451 1/3 innings, the staff posted a 5.94 ERA.
Auburn is scheduled to face six SEC teams present in D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25 Rankings this season (No. 3 LSU, at No. 4 Tennessee, at No. 8 Georgia, No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Mississippi State, at No. 19 Texas). With the addition of Texas and Oklahoma this season, the Tigers could find themselves back near the bottom of the conference.
Kentucky will host Auburn this season from March 21-23 at Kentucky Proud Park. The two teams met last season, where the then No. 8 ranked Cats swept the Tigers at Plainsman Park. Auburn leads the all-time series against Kentucky 80-54.
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