Auburn Eyeing Third-Straight Win in Capital City Classic

(Photo: Auburn Athletics/Wade Rackley)

Auburn Baseball returns to the diamond Tuesday evening to face Alabama in a non-conference tilt in the MAX Capital City Classic at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium at 7 P.M. The Tigers enter the game with a 20-6 record, winners of 10 of their last 11 following a series win at Georgia over the weekend. This will also be the fifth consecutive game that Auburn will play away from Plainsman Park, after playing the first 22 games there. Auburn went 3-1 last week with stops at Georgia Tech and Georgia. Alabama, in year one of the Greg Goff era, is 12-12, 1-5 in SEC play on the season. Alabama took the series opener last Friday against South Carolina in Columbia but fell in the final two games including a 10th inning loss on Saturday. PITCHING MATCHUP Auburn will go with freshman Christian Camacho on Tuesday. In three previous mid-week starts, Camacho has struck out eight, walked three, and has allowed four earned runs in 13.1 total innings. Last time out, Camacho allowed three hits and an earned run in Auburn’s win over Georgia Tech. The Crimson Tide will start Garret Rukes, who is 2-1 with a 0.74 ERA in three starts. On a staff that has been known to strike out batters frequently this season, Rukes is sixth on the team with 16. Rukes most recent outing resulted in a win, as he struck out two and allowed two hits in 3.1 IP against UAB. The Crimson Tide won the game 4-1 on March 21. BATTING For Auburn, the hot bats to look for belong to Jonah Todd and Luke Jarvis. Over the weekend, Todd went 5-for-11 with two doubles against Georgia. Jarvis recorded three of Auburn’s five hits in Sunday’s series-clinching win over Georgia, knocking a home run and sending two home. Four players are hitting above .300, and seven with at least 20 hits on the season. Todd leads in average, batting .384, while Daniel Robert leads the team in RBI with 20. Alabama has six players batting over .300. Chandler Avant is the key player to watch for the Crimson Tide, as he has 31 hits and six stolen bases, the team leader in both categories. Hunter Alexander and Cobie Vance each lead with 17 RBI, and Chandler Taylor leads Alabama in home runs with seven. CAPITAL CITY CLASSIC This will be the ninth season that Auburn and Alabama have met in the Capital City Classic, with Auburn winning eight of them, including two in a row. Both teams will meet for a three-game set beginning May 5 at Plainsman Park in Auburn.