Tigers pitching rotation set for road series against Mississippi State

The Tigers release their pitching rotation for the last SEC road series of the regular season against Mississippi State, starting on Thursday, May 7, and concluding on Saturday, May 9.

Auburn is set to play its last road series of the season heading into the weekend. The No. 6 Tigers head to Starkville to face off against the No. 11 Bulldogs. Marks the fourth top-10 opponent in a row for Auburn with an attempt at winning its sixth straight SEC series win. The last time the program accomplished this feat was back in 2010, closing out the season followed by opening the SEC play in 2011. For a single season, that came in the 1995 season for the Tigers.

Game one of the series is set for Thursday, May 7 at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The three pitchers expected to lead the way throughout the weekend are Jake Marciano, Andreas Alvarez, and Alex Petrovic. That makes it six straight weeks of that pitching rotation from head coach Butch Thompson; however, the rotation will be shuffled for the series in Starkville.

Taking to the mound in the series opener will be Marciano. So far this season, he has a 2.26 ERA with a 4-3 record. He will be matching up against the Bulldogs' left-handed pitcher Thomas, who had a 2.37 ERA and a 7-2 record. The last start for Marciano came in a victory over Texas A&M on Saturday, May 2. He finished with five strikeouts and four hits allowed. This weekend's series will mark the first time Marciano has begun a series since March 27's series opener at Alabama.

Up next will be Alvarez starting on Friday, May 8, at 7:30 p.m. CT for game two. His ERA is sitting at 2.56 with a record of 8-2. His last appearance came in game one of the Texas A&M series, where the Tigers throttled the Aggies to an 18-5 victory. Alvarez went the distance and finished the game with 11 strikeouts. The pitcher he will be facing is Mississippi State's right-handed pitcher Duke Stone. Stone is 6-1 this season and has an ERA of 4.40.

To close the series, the Tigers will be starting Petrovic. He currently has a record of 7-2 and an ERA of 3.14. Not been announced who will be making the start for the Bulldogs in the series finale. Petrovic's last start was the solo loss of the Texas A&M series in game three. He recorded six strikeouts and allowed five hits.

The series begins Thursday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2, with games two and three to be broadcast on the SEC Network. The Tigers attempt to continue their winning ways on the diamond against another tough opponent in the Bulldogs.