Baseball Gameday: at Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. - Opening weekend of the college baseball season has arrived, as the Indiana baseball program travels to take on Aubrun in a three-game series at Samford Stadium-Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park. The series will kick off at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 17, in the fourth meeting all-time between the two programs.

Gameday Info
Friday, February 17, 2023
IU: Ben Seiler, LHP, Sr.+
AU: Chase Allsup, RHP, So.

Live Video: es.pn/3xsaDSe
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/3YBZudP

Saturday, February 18, 2023
IU: Ty Bothwell, LHP, R-Jr.
AU: Joseph Gonzalez, RHP, Jr.

Live Video: es.pn/3IuUcet
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/3YBZudP

Sunday, February 19, 2023
IU: TBA
AU: Drew Nelson, LHP, Fr.

Live Video: es.pn/3Z1lvTb
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/3YBZudP

Quick Hitters

Indiana and Auburn will meet for the fourth time in series history to open the 2023 season. The Tigers own a 2-1 edge in the all-time series.
MORE ON PAGE 4
Indiana placed four student-athletes on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team in 2022 and redshirt-junior Matthew Ellis was named third-team All-B1G by the conference coaches.
Freshman Carter Mathison became IU's freshman home run leader with 19 home runs in 2022, which was the second highest total in B1G history for a freshman.
MORE ON PAGE 6 & 15
Mathison and fellow freshman Josh Pyne finished 1-2 in the Big Ten among rookies in RBIs. Teammate Brock Tibbitts joined them in the 40 RBI club to form the top freshman trio in program history.
Redshirt-junior Matt Ellis finished tied for No. 8 in IU history with 18 homr runs. Of his 18 home runs, 13 traveled 400 feet or more in 2022.
MORE ON PAGE 6, 8 & 23
Indiana's pitching staff posted a program record 600 strikeouts in 2022. That mark ranks No. 2 in Big Ten history, behind Iowa's 602 punchouts in 2022, as well.
MORE ON PAGE 6
Head coach Jeff Mercer owns 99 victories as the Indiana frontman and is poised to become the eighth IU skipper to reach 100 victories in the cream and crimson.
FULL BIO ON PAGE 3

Scouting the Opponent

Auburn is coming off its third trip to the College World Series in its last four complete seasons. The Tigers finished 43-22 overall and 16-13 in the SEC, which was good for fourth in the SEC West.
The Auburn roster features 18 returners and 20 newcomers. The newcomers include 10 freshmen and 10 transfers (four four-year, six junior college).
The top four hitters in the Auburn lineup from a season ago have moved on, which leaves fifth-year senior Kason Howell as the top returning hitter at .287. He also had 50 runs scored and 11 stolen bases last season.
On the mound, Joseph Gonzalez is back after leading the staff in ERA (3.22) and victories (7) last season. Chase Allsup moves from the bullpen to the rotation this season after making 23 appearances in relief as a freshman in 2022.

Series Notes

Indiana and Auburn will meet for the fourth time in program history and first time since 1996.
Auburn holds the edge in the series at 2-1, with the last meeting coming in Troy, Alabama. The Tigers won that contest 6-3 in the opening game of a three-team event.
The first two meetings in the series came in 1941 when the two programs split a pair of games. The Hoosiers won , 11-7, on April 3 and Auburn took a 3-2 decision on April 4.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ty Bothwell

Matthew Ellis

Carter Mathison

Josh Pyne

Ben Seiler

Brock Tibbitts