Heading into the start of Southeastern Conference play, many observers wondered if the Auburn baseball team’s stable of freshmen could handle the rigors of the SEC schedule.

So far, the kids are all right.

Freshman center fielder Trent Mummey, AU’s leadoff hitter, is the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week after hitting .560 with eight runs scored and seven RBI last week. And he’s not the only youngster playing well for Auburn heading into this weekend’s series at Arkansas.

Three of Auburn’s top five hitters in conference play have been freshmen. In addition to Mummey, who is hitting .333 against SEC opponents, freshman first baseman Hunter Morris is hitting .514 and outfielder Brian Fletcher is hitting .370.

“I think our kids have handled themselves well,” Slater said. “I think almost to a man, all of them are maintaining or actually doing a little better in the league than they were overall.”

The rookies’ hot start to the SEC schedule is helping Auburn bounce back from a rough beginning to conference play.

Auburn (18-11, 4-5 SEC) has won consecutive SEC series since an 0-3 start to conference play. A series win this weekend would give AU a three-series win streak, the Tigers’ longest since 2003, when they won five consecutive.

But winning a series at Arkansas has been a tall order for Auburn ever since the Razorbacks joined the SEC in 1992. The Tigers are 10-14 all-time at Arkansas and haven’t won a series in Fayetteville since the 2000 season.

Auburn was swept in its only other trip to Arkansas under Slater, in 2006. The Razorbacks outscored AU 27-10 in the three-game series.

This year’s Razorbacks are off to a rough start: Arkansas is 16-11 overall, 2-6 in SEC play and a half-game out of last place in the Western Division. The Razorbacks are 11th in batting and 10th in pitching this season.

But Slater isn’t taking Arkansas for granted.

“I have the utmost respect for the Arkansas ballclub every year in the way they play,” Slater said. “We’ll have our hands full.

“I’ve yet to see an Arkansas team that doesn’t pitch extremely well and doesn’t get after it from an offensive standpoint with a combination of power and speed.”

Slater said junior Luke Greinke is “dealing with a deltoid issue” and tendonitis and wouldn’t be available to pitch this weekend.

Junior ace Paul Burnside will make the trip to Fayetteville. Burnside, who is recovering from a broken collarbone, threw one inning in his only appearance of the season so far, a mid-week game against Samford.

“We’re going to take him with us,” Slater said. “If the situation dictates and we can get him back on the mound, we certainly will.”

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