HOOVER - For the second consecutive season, Auburn will put its season and its postseason hopes on the line in a Southeastern Conference Tournament showdown against Georgia at Regions Park.
Daniel Koger will get the start for Auburn today against Georgia.
After Auburn, the No. 10 seed, lost 6-1 to No. 3 seed Florida on Tuesday in the first round, No. 8 seed Georgia dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 5 seed Vanderbilt.
And as they did in last year's tournament, Auburn (30-27) and Georgia (31-25) will meet in an elimination game today at 4:30 p.m. The winner will remain in contention for an NCAA regional bid. The loser, while still eligible, could face an uphill battle.
Georgia won last season's game and advanced to a regional. Auburn, finishing with a 29-29 record, was not eligible. Teams must be better than .500 overall to qualify for regionals.
Senior Georgia second baseman Levi Hyams said his team will be ready to compete when it's game time.
“Backs against the wall," Hyams said. "That’s the same thing it was last year. We’re in the same situation. We lost the first one to Vanderbilt, and then we came back and won a few and got ourselves to regionals. It’s the same situation. We’re going to play like there’s no tomorrow and keep grinding and try to get better every day."
Junior right-hander Michael Palazzone (2-6, 4.89) will get the start on the mound for the Bulldogs against freshman left-hander Daniel Koger (3-5, 3.42).
Palazzone started against Auburn on May 5 and gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings as Georgia won 6-5 in 11 innings at Foley Field in Athens. The Bulldogs swept that series, winning 9-3 on Friday and 5-2 on Sunday despite getting only four hits.
In Thursday's first two tournament games, No. 4 seed Kentucky blanked No. 9 seed Ole Miss 4-0 and No. 7 seed Mississippi State beat No. 6 seed Arkansas 9-1.
- Phillip Marshall
- Auburn Insider - AuburnUndercover