John Pawlowski’s first season as Auburn’s head baseball coach will have the usual tough Southeastern Conference schedule, plus a handful of intriguing non-conference games.
It will also have something entirely new: A “non-conference” matchup with archrival Alabama.
The two SEC teams will meet for one game at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery on March 10, 2009. The result won’t count in the SEC standings, but it’s not an exhibition: It will affect both teams’ overall records.
The newly christened Capital City Classic is one of several interesting early-season matchups for Auburn.
The Tigers also play a four-game home-and-home series against Florida State.
That series begins with two games in Tallahassee, Fla., Feb. 26 and 27. The two teams then head to Plainsman Park for games on Feb. 28 and March 1.
AU opens the season Feb. 20 at Plainsman Park, with the first game of a three-game series against Elon.
The Phoenix are a familiar opponent for Pawlowski, who spent the previous nine seasons at fellow Southern Conference member College of Charleston.
Auburn opens its SEC schedule at Tennessee, March 13-15. The SEC home opener is March 20 against Arkansas.
The 56-game schedule includes 34 games against teams that qualified for the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
“The schedule is tough,” Pawlowski said in a statement released by the school. “If you compare all conferences, the SEC is as tough as it’s going to get. We need to be playing our best baseball at the right time, and that is towards the end of the year.
“Our team has to get better from Day One all the way through the season and this schedule provides us that opportunity.”
Auburn went 28-28 last season, including an 11-19 record in SEC play. The Tigers finished 11th in the SEC standings and missed the SEC Tournament for the fifth consecutive season. AU hasn’t played in the SEC tourney since 2003 and hasn’t made an NCAA Tournament since 2005.
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