The Tigers (27-24, 11-15 SEC) are currently tied for 10th place with Tennessee, over whom they hold a tiebreaker. They are two games out of the final spot for the conference tourney.

“Taylor obviously set the tone on the mound,” Auburn head coach Tom Slater said. “Every time we scored, Taylor went back out there and put up a zero.”

Thompson (3-5) was nearly flawless for the first 6 1/3 innings, allowing just two walks and striking out four before allowing his first hit, a line-drive single with one down in the seventh. For the game, Thompson surrendered just four hits and four walks, striking out six.

“I was able to spot my fastball and that was the main thing working for me today,” Thompson said. “It was good that I had my secondary pitches working for strikes and I felt like I had good command today.”

Auburn took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Hunter Morris’ RBI single that scored Trent Mummey,who had singled to lead off the inning, stole second and made a heads-up play to take third on Mike Bianucci’s strikeout in the dirt.

Brian Fletcher’s eighth home run of the season capped a three-run third inning for Auburn as the freshman outfielder put one into the Auburn bullpen in right-field to make it 4-0.

Mummey had walked to lead off the inning, stole his second base of the game (and 18th of the year), moved to third on a wild pitch and then scored when Morris reached on an error.

Fletcher then belted Auburn’s third home run of the weekend.

“It was real important for us to come out and get some runs on the board to make it easy on me and the team,” Thompson said.

Auburn broke the game open with a five-run fifth, highlighted by Joseph Sanders’ home run to center. The Tigers once again capitalized on poor defense by Ole Miss as three of the runs in the inning were unearned.

David Cunningham led off with a single and went over to third as Justin Hargett’s sacrifice bunt attempt ended up with a throw into right. Ryan Jenkins then doubled in Cunningham and Hargett.

Three batters later, Morris singled to right, bringing Sanders to the plate, who collected his third home run of the year.

Ole Miss (32-20, 13-13 SEC) starter Drew Pomeranz (4-2) was tagged for nine runs (three earned) on nine hits and a walk, striking out four in 3.2 innings.

Sanders’ first-inning single extended his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest of his career.

The two teams close out the series at 1:30 p.m. today.

Auburn will send junior rightie Luke Greinke (4-3, 4.09) to the hill, while Ole Miss will counter with another junior rightie in Cody Satterwhite (3-5, 5.13). 

With the win, Auburn moves on to the second round and will play No. 5 Georgia today. The second round match will begin at 1 p.m. at the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens, Ga.

Auburn advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in the program’s history. The Tigers are now 18-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and hold a 4-3 advantage in the series against Wake Forest.

“We just battled,” said Auburn head coach Eric Shore. “I thought we played well in doubles, but it was close again and we lost a very close doubles point. We didn’t hang our head and just battled and won a close one.”

Wake Forest jumped to the early lead in the match by winning No. 1 and 3 doubles. Seventh-ranked Cory Parr and Steven Forman teamed up to defeat Auburn’s Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent in No. 1 doubles, 8-4.

Mariusz Adamski and Carlos Salmon clinched the point for the Demon Deacons with an 8-6 win over AU’s Tim Puetz and Pawel Dilaj in No. 2 doubles. When doubles play was suspended, Auburn’s Lukas Marsoun and Milan Krnjetin held an 8-7 advantage over Jason Morganstern and Jonathan Wolff.

The loss of the doubles point put Auburn in a tough spot as it entered the match with a 0-10 record when losing the early point. The last time the Tigers won a match after losing doubles was on April 8, 2007 when Auburn pulled out a 4-3 win over LSU.

Juniors Marsoun and Krnjetin won the crucial singles points down the stretch to give Auburn the win. With Wake Forest holding a 3-2 lead, one point away from the win, Marsoun took his No. 3 singles match to three sets to earn the 2-6, 7-6 (0), 7-5 win over Adamski to tie the match at 3-3.

Krnjetin followed up with a three-set thriller of his own in No. 5 singles, clinching the match win for Auburn by defeating Jonathan Wolff, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2.

“You’ve got to give Lukas Marsoun a lot of credit there, losing the first set and he didn’t quit mentally,” said Shore. “Milan got down early in the first set and came back for a big win. He ended up going three sets, but he hung in there and that is what we have been trying to tell the team all year and they got it done today.”

No. 87 Puetz, a freshman playing in his first NCAA Tournament, put Auburn up on the board first, beating No. 68 Forman, 6-2, 6-2 in No. 2 singles. Dilaj, Auburn’s senior captain, followed up in No. 4 singles with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Morganstern.

Taking losses in singles were Tsyrenov, ranked 27th in the nation, and Nick Maurillo. Tsyrenov lost to No. 46 Parr, 6-3, 6-3, while Maurillo lost to Andrew Brasseaux, 6-4, 7-5.

Fans can follow all the action in today’s second round live by visiting the Tournament Central page at http://www.GeorgiaDogs.com. A free video Webcast is available along with live scoring.

Women’s tennis swept out of NCAAs by UF
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 29 Auburn women’s tennis team fell, 4-0, to the No. 6 Florida Gators in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Marrit Boonstra captured the first singles point for Florida when she defeated Auburn’s Jil Hastenrath 6-0, 6-1. Whitney Chappell fell to Whitney Benik of Florida shortly after, 6-3, 6-0.

Anastasia Revzina clinched the second round win for the Gators with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Dunja Djuranovic in the six spot.

The Tigers lost a tough doubles point to the Gators, but Alex Haney and Melissa Koning came away with a win defeating Boonstra and Megan Alexander 8-4.

Although the team is out of the tournament, three Tigers will continue on in the individual championships in Tulsa, Okla., beginning May 15.

Fani Chifchieva will represent Auburn in the singles bracket as a seeded player. Haney and Koning will represent Auburn in the doubles bracket.

But the big defensive end took a big step toward the start of his AU future on Friday, when he announced his plans to re-sign with Auburn as part of the 2009 recruiting class.

Journet was academically ineligible in 2007 after his senior year at Acadiana High in Scott, La. So he headed to Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Miss., to improve his academic standing.

The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Journet is on track to graduate from Copiah-Lincoln in the fall and enroll at AU in time to participate in spring practice. That’s the path followed by his former Copiah-Lincoln teammate Raven Gray, who arrived at Auburn in December after two seasons at junior college.

Journet, a former defensive player of the year in Louisiana’s Class 5A, is Auburn’s sixth verbal commitment for the 2009 signing class.

“When I get (to Auburn), I’m going to make the most of it,” Journet told Auburnsports.com.

“I’m going to let them know that they offered me a scholarship and I’m not going to let them regret that.”

This season, Journet will be playing with another former Auburn signee, defensive lineman Nick Fairley, at Copiah-Lincoln. Fairley, a former Williamson standout, redshirted last season. He is also being recruited by AU and could sign with the Tigers in February.

cmickle@oanow.com | 737-2561

Auburn (26-24, 10-15 SEC) stays in 11th place in the SEC, with five games left to play in the conference season.

Dayton went a career-long 7 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits without issuing a walk while fanning six before handing the ball over to Woodall, who was a perfect 11-for-11 in save opportunities coming into the night.

“Grant was outstanding. He did a super job of getting us deep into the ballgame; he really pitched well,” Auburn head coach Tom Slater said. “(Woodall) has been a stud all year and he’s our guy. We will run him back out there when we need to.”

Woodall (0-2) entered with two down and nobody on in the eighth, surrendered a single to the first man he faced in Logan Power (1-for-4) but then retired Cody Overbeck (2-for-4) to close out the inning.

Justin Hargett (0-for-2, BB, HBP, 2 R) was hit by a pitch to lead off the Auburn ninth with AU up 6-4. But the Tigers were unable to bring him home, stranding Hargett at third in what turned out to be a crucial run that never scored.

Matt Smith (1-for-4, 2 R) and Michael Guerrero (1-for-4) led off the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back singles before Woodall fanned Zach Miller to get the first out of the inning. Ferguson then took a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left-center to cap Ole Miss’ improbable comeback.

Ole Miss (32-19, 13-12 SEC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Overbeck cracked his 14th home run of the year, a two-run shot to left that plated Fuller Smith, who reached on a fielder’s choice.

Auburn got a run back in the top of the third on Trent Mummey’s (1-for-5, R, RBI) double to left-center that scored Hargett, who had reached on a throwing error by the Ole Miss third baseman Overbeck.

Mike Bianucci (1-for-5, 3 RBI) and Hunter Morris (2-for-4, 2 RBI) hit back-to-back home runs with two out in the top of the fifth to put Auburn up, 5-2. Bianucci’s blast was a three-run shot to left-center, giving him home runs in four straight games and 34 for his career. The last Tiger to hit a home run in four straight games was Karl Amonite, who did it over the course of two seasons.

Morris followed with his 11th home of the year, going deep to right-center to give Auburn its second set of back-to-back home runs of the season as the same pair had also done it at Vanderbilt on April 20.

Auburn extended its lead to four runs at 6-2 in the top of the seventh on Morris’ bloop double down the line in left, scoring Mummey, who had reached on an error.

Ole Miss got one back to make it 6-3 as Zach Miller doubled in Matt Smith, who had reached on an error.

Ole Miss starter Lance Lynn last 6 2/3 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits, striking out 11.

Jake Morgan (2-0) earned the win for Ole Miss, tossing the final 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out four.

The two teams will play again at 4 p.m. today with Auburn sending sophomore right-hander Taylor Thompson (2-5, 6.57) to the hill and Ole Miss sending freshman lefty Drew Pomeranz (4-1, 3.42).

The Tigers shot 14-over 302 and are four strokes away from third-place South Carolina. 

Auburn freshman led the away on Friday as both Cydney Clanton and Sarah Thead each shot 3-over 75. Despite leading the team today, Clanton dropped two places and is tied for seventh, while Thead leaped 19 positions and is tied for 33rd.

Clanton finished the front nine at 1-over after a birdie on three and back-to-back bogeys on five and six. She didn’t fare as well on the back stretch as she had three consecutive bogeys on 10 thru 13 before pulling back to 3-over with a birdie on 13. She went even par on the last five holes.

Thead had three bogeys on the front nine, but went even on 10 thru 14. A birdie on 15 put her at 2-over, but she finished with a bogey on 18. 

Women’s tennis tops Ohio State at NCAA Tourney
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The No. 29 Auburn women’s tennis team (17-9) defeated the No. 35 Ohio State Buckeyes (19-8) in the first round of NCAA Tournament on Friday.

“Today was good day for our team,” said Head Coach Tim Gray. “Overall, I am proud of how hard our team fought today.”

Junior Alex Haney won Auburn’s first singles point on court two. She defeated Angela Dispastina 6-2, 6-1. Whitney Chappell earned Auburn’s second singles point on court four with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Cami Hubbs.

Melissa Koning defeated Julie Blackmore 6-4, 6-3 to give Auburn its third point. No. 14 Fani Chifchieva clinched the match when she defeated Paloma Escobedo on court one 7-4, 6-1.

The Tigers advance to the NCAA Second Round for the second consecutive year.

Auburn will be back in action today to battle Florida at 3 p.m. 

Cielo wins another gold medal at Olympic Trials
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Auburn’s Cesar Cielo won his third gold medal in as many days on Friday as he won the 50m butterfly at the Brazilian Olympic Trials.

Cielo, a native of St. Barbara, Brazil, clocked a 24.02 in the 50m fly, beating out Guilherme Roth Dos Santos and his 24.13.

The win is the third of the week for Cielo and his second individual win of the meet.

Men’s tennis faces Wake Forest at NCAA Tourney
The 35th-ranked Auburn men’s tennis team opens the 2008 NCAA Tournament at 9 a.m. today against No. 38 Wake Forest in Athens, Ga.

For Auburn (10-12), it marks the team’s ninth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 16th overall. Fourteen of the Tigers’ 16 NCAA trips have come under current head coach Eric Shore, who is in his 17th season on the Plains.

“I think we are ready to go,” said Shore. “This is what you play all year for all season, going to the NCAAs, and after three weeks off we are definitely ready to play.”

Overall, Auburn has a 17-15 record in the NCAA Tournament and a 16-13 mark under Shore. This will be Auburn’s first matchup against Wake Forest in the NCAA Tournament, but the sixth trip for the Tigers to Athens, Ga. for NCAAs.

The Demon Deacons enter the match with a 17-10 record after falling to top-ranked Virginia in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

The win preserved Auburn’s shot at a spot in the Southeastern Conference Tournament. But it’s far from time to celebrate. With two weeks left in the SEC schedule, the Tigers must keep winning to stay in the hunt for the conference tournament.

The top eight finishers in the SEC standings qualify for the SEC tourney. Auburn (26-23, 10-14 SEC) is in 11th place, a game out of eighth.

To keep pace, Auburn likely needs a 4-2 record over the next two weeks, starting this weekend at Ole Miss.

It won’t be easy. The Rebels (31-19, 12-12 SEC) are second in the SEC in pitching and are 23-8 at home.

But Auburn coach Tom Slater believes his team can do it.

“We just need to go out and play to win,” Slater said. “Our kids have been doing that all year. They know the significance and the importance of trying to win series.

“We’ll go out there and try to win another series this weekend.”

The Tigers will be without freshman left-hander Cory Luckie, their No. 2 starter, this weekend. Luckie hasn’t pitched since injuring his forearm at Alabama on April 26.

Slater has juggled his pitching rotation since then. Sophomore Taylor Thompson has taken Luckie’s place as the Saturday starter.

The right-hander has been inconsistent this season, but pitched well last Saturday against Mississippi State.

“We weren’t surprised by his outing at all,” Slater said of Thompson. “He’s worked really hard. He’s gotten better.”

Junior Luke Greinke has entered the rotation as the Sunday starter, replacing freshman Bradley Hendrix. Greinke, who allowed one run in six innings last Sunday against MSU, looked fully recovered from shoulder tendonitis.

“When his arm’s healthy and feeling good, that’s what he looks like,” Slater said. “No surprises there.”

The series begins at 6:30 p.m. today at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss.

cmickle@oanow.com | 737-2561

The loss eliminated Auburn from the tournament. The Tigers dropped to 37-20 overall, while LSU improved to 42-15. Auburn will now await word on an NCAA bid, which will be announced live Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.

“You really have to give Trahan credit, she made us hit her pitch when she had to,” Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. “We had a few chances, but couldn’t get anything across.”
Auburn pitcher Anna Thompson took the loss to fall to 12-11. Thompson allowed four runs, all earned, on three hits in three innings of work. Brittany Day threw the final three innings, allowing one unearned run.

Trahan improved her record to 18-4 with the win. Trahan gave up a hit in the second and fifth innings. Trahan fanned eight and walked five in seven innings of work.

Auburn threatened in the second inning. Myesha Finney singled to left with one out and moved to second on Taryn Gray’s walk. Gray drew the walk after falling behind in the count 0-2. A passed ball moved Finney to third and Gray to second. But LSU ended the scoring threat when Starr Dorsey struck out looking to end the inning.

LSU got on the scoreboard the hard way in the bottom of third inning. With two outs, second baseman Shannon Stein hit a fly ball to left that hit off the head of a leaping Brittany Scott. The ball rolled away from Scott, allowing Stein to round the bases for an inside the park home run and a 1-0 LSU lead.

Still in the third, Rachel Mitchell walked and then stole second. Quinlan Duhon then hit a line drive to left that hit in Scott’s glove as she was sliding to make the catch. The ball rolled out and allowed Mitchell to score from second and give LSU a 2-0 lead.

LSU pushed its lead to 3-0 in the fourth when Tayl’r Hollis tripled to right-center to score Erika Sluss from first. Brittany Day, brought in to relieve Thompson, then threw a wild pitch to score Hollis from third and increase the LSU lead to 4-0.

Thompson named Academic-All-District
Sophomore pitcher Anna Thompson was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second Team. Thompson, a native of Huntsville, has a 3.39 GPA and is majoring in Finance.

To be nominated, the student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for her career.

In 2008, Thompson led the Tigers in wins (12), strikeouts (222) and innings pitched (149.2). She finished the regular season second in the SEC in strikeouts and was named to the All-SEC Second Team.

Sophomore Candace Schepperle completed the day with a 2-over 74. Senior Margaret Shirley shot a 3-over 75 for the day. Junior Mariana Macias and freshman Sarah Thead, both of which are competing in their first regional, shot 5-over 77 and are tied for 50th. 

No. 1 Duke leads the team race after shooting 3-under 285.  No. 5 Florida is in second at 2-over 290, followed by No. 32 South Carolina (291).

Auburn will tee off today at 12:20 p.m.

Denby, Hastrup honored by NCAA
Auburn senior swimmers Kara Denby and Kristen Hastrup have been named by the NCAA as two of 29 female student-athletes who participated in Division I, II or III winter sports to receive a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship award from the NCAA.

Denby, a native of Simi Valley, Calif., holds a 3.94 grade-point average while majoring in zoology and pre-med. Named an academic All-American by ESPN The Magazine and the College Swim Coaches Association of America, she is a four-time SEC Academic Honor Roll honoree and a four-time Top Tiger.

Hastrup, a senior from Fresno, Calif., has earned a 4.00 grade point average, majoring in Biomedical Sciences. She is a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and has earned Auburn University Academic Top Tiger honors four times. She earned first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors and is a CSCAA Academic All-American.

Hastrup won the Stanley Louis Sugar Memorial Award as an outstanding scholar-athlete at Auburn.

Cielo wins another gold at Brazilian Trials
RIO DE JANEIRO — One day after setting a meet record in the 50m freestyle, Auburn junior Cesar Cielo came right back with another record-setting performance during the second day of the Brazilian Olympic Trials.

Cielo, a native of St. Barbara, Brazil, swam the second leg on the winning 200m freestyle relay team that set a South American, Brazilian and meet record with a time of 1:28.19. 

The qualifying meet is a formality for Cielo, a 19-time All-American and 10-time NCAA champion, as he is already qualified for the Brazilian National Team that will travel to Beijing in August for the 2008 Olympics.

Morris selected for National Team Trials
Auburn freshman infielder Hunter Morris has accepted an invitation to USA Baseball’s 2008 National Team Trials, it was announced Thursday. Morris is one of the initial 12 players invited to try out for the team, which will be selected as trials are held June 11-23 throughout the northeastern and southeastern parts of the United States.

Morris, an SEC Freshman of the Year candidate, is one of four freshman in the initial 12. Entering this weekend’s series at Ole Miss, the Huntsville native is hitting .359 with 10 home runs and a team-best 42 RBI. His .614 slugging percentage is second the team while his .442 on-base percentage leads Auburn.

“This is a strong initial group of invitees, and we will continue to work with collegiate coaches to get the best 32 players available into this year’s National Team Trials,” National Team General Manager Eric Campbell said.

In all, 32 players will be invited to the National Team Trials, with 22 of those players being selected for the National Team roster.

Women’s tennis starts NCAA Championships
The No. 29 Auburn women’s tennis team will take on the No. 35 Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, hosted by the University of Florida, today. Auburn will play at 2 p.m. in Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.

“We are excited to make the field,” said Auburn head coach Tim Gray. “Ohio State is a very good team and they are very well coached. We hope that we can get past them and maybe have another crack at Florida, but first things first.”

The Tigers are 3-3 all-time against the Buckeyes. The last time the two met was in 2007. Auburn prevailed, 6-1.

Auburn makes its second consecutive run in the NCAA tournament. Last year, Auburn beat N.C. State in the first round, but fell to Georgia in the second.

Finney, Thompson honored by SEC
BATON ROUGE, La. — A pair of Auburn softball players took home postseason honors as junior outfielder Myesha Finney was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Defensive Team and sophomore pitcher Anna Thompson was named Second Team All-SEC, it was announced by the league office Wednesday night.

Finney, a native of Atlanta, has appeared in all 56 games and has started 55 games, splitting time between left field and center field. She is also the SEC career leader in hit-by-pitches with 44. Finney has been plunked a league-high 16 times this season and was hit 19 times in 2007.

Thompson, a native of Huntsville, led the Tigers in ERA (1.86), wins (12), innings pitched (146.2) and strikeouts (219) in 2008.

Thompson currently ranks second in the SEC in strikeouts and seventh in ERA. She has 510 career strikeouts, placing her third in the Auburn record books, and 27 career wins, putting her fifth in Auburn history.

Jones receives academic honor
Auburn outfielder Ben Jones has been named to the Academic All-District IV First Team, it was announced on Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Jones, from Decatur, carries a 3.92 GPA in mechanical engineering and is the top left-handed pinch hitter and the fourth outfielder for Auburn’s baseball team. This season, he is hitting .317 in 60 at-bats, stroking five doubles and a home run, driving in 10 and scoring 10.

Jones will now be placed on the national ballot for Academic All-America recognition.

It’s a good bet that Auburn’s season opener against Louisiana-Monroe will include at least one round of applause for the visiting Warhawks.

After all, ULM has occupied a special place in many Auburn fans’ hearts since Nov. 17 of last year, when the Warhawks beat Alabama, 21-14. But those fond memories are likely to be forgotten — or at least pushed aside temporarily — when the 2008 season begins in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

ULM finished 6-6 last year, the program’s first non-losing season since moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1994. The Warhawks return 15 starters from last year’s team, which won four of its final five games.

The offense features plenty of star power. Tailback Calvin Dawson — who scored 30 career touchdowns, including 12 last season — is gone. But his replacement, sophomore Frank Goodin, showed plenty of potential last season, when he ran for 596 yards and scored four touchdowns.

Goodin will get plenty of opportunities in head coach Charlie Weatherbie’s run-heavy offense. Top recruit Luther Ambrose, the reigning Louisiana state champion in the 100m dash, will also contribute as a backup.

The one-two punch of Ambrose and Dawson has plenty of potential. But for the ground game to be successful, senior quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster must continue to improve.

Lancaster showed plenty of play-making ability last season, throwing for 13 touchdowns and running for another. But he also threw 10 interceptions and frustrated coaches at times with his decision-making.

Lancaster’s improvement will depend in large part on the continued maturation of his receiving corps. Senior LaGregory Sapp and junior Darrell McNeal are reliable, experienced receivers with good speed, as is tight end Zeek Zacharie, last season’s second-leading receiver.

Three starters are gone on the offensive line, but the right side is strong, with right guard Aaron Schultz and right tackle Larry Shapley returning. Junior-college transfer Keating Helms, a juco All-America, will step in at center, while fellow juco transfer Ryan Dercher is the top left tackle. Sophomores Andrew Stout, Brett Thompson and A.J. DeGroot will compete at left guard.

ULM finished third in the Sun Belt Conference in total defense last season and returns eight starters, led by star safety Greg James. James and fellow safety Josh Thompson are the leaders of a deep and talented five-man secondary in the Warhawks’ 4-2-5 defense.

In addition to James and Thompson, the ULM secondary also includes safety James Truxillo, the team’s third-leading tackler last season, with 68 stops. Nate Brown, Otis Stamps and Tay Ogletree will compete for the top jobs at cornerback, while former LSU signee Troy Giddens will provide depth at safety.

Junior linebacker Cardia Jackson led the team with 79 tackles last season and earned second-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors. Junior Josh Thomas, undersized at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, was the team’s fourth-leading tackler last season, but could lose his job to powerful redshirt freshman Ken Dorsey or speedy sophomore Theo Smith.

The defensive line has plenty of potential: Ends Alaric Coleman and Aaron Morgan combined for 6 ½ sacks, but also had 19 quarterback hurries. Junior-college transfers Alex Ford and Aaron Williams aren’t known quantities at defensive tackle, but both have 300-pound bulk and solid juco numbers.

Depth is a question, with inexperienced redshirt freshman Brandon McCray and underachieving senior Kendall Mouton the top options at tackle. End Travis Eickman is productive, but undersized, while junior Jameson Jordan hasn’t lived up to expectations.

cmickle@oanow.com | 737-2561

A year later, the Tigers are making up for lost time.

Last season, the top eight teams in the Southeastern Conference gathered at Auburn’s home field to compete for an SEC championship. Auburn’s players, meanwhile, had the uncomfortable role of absentee hostesses: The SEC Tournament, held that year at Jane B. Moore Field, proceeded without AU.

“We had been there the last several years (before 2007), and missing it the year we hosted was very painful,” head coach Tina Deese said.

This year, the Tigers are in the thick of things in Baton Rouge, La., site of this season’s SEC tourney.

And Deese says the memories of last season helped her team get there.

“That was a motivational tool for us this year,” Deese said. “We have a strong class of juniors and seniors that have been to the conference tournament. They were able to tell the younger players what it was like and how important it is to get there.”

Auburn (37-19, 13-14 SEC) finished sixth in the regular-season standings. The Tigers face third-seeded LSU (41-15, 17-11), the host team, at 7:30 p.m. today.

The winner of today’s Auburn-LSU game plays the winner of today’s matchup between second-seeded Alabama and No. 7 seed Mississippi State at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“We’re the lucky ones who get to play LSU at night in their stadium,” Deese said. “We know that’ll be tough; they’re a tough team. … We have to play with heart and confidence and go in there ready to play.”

A win or two in the SEC Tournament could improve Auburn’s positioning in the NCAA Tournament. The 64-team NCAA field will be announced Sunday, and while Auburn’s status is far from guaranteed, Deese believes her team will be selected.

“I feel like we’re in decent shape,” Deese said of qualifying for the NCAA field. “We’ll see what the selection committee does, but I think we’ve proven ourselves against Top 25 teams and we’ve proven ourselves against the SEC.

“We’ve done all we can do and we’re hoping they look favorably upon us. “

For now, the Tigers will focus on what they can control, starting at 7:30 p.m. today.

cmickle@oanow.com | 737-2561