Baseball notebook: Catching on
AUBURN | Steven Williams was all settled in to a fourth consecutive season as Auburn’s starting right fielder.
Then he got an opportunity to catch in an intrasquad game. Then in another and another. Before he knew it, Williams was back as at least a part-time catcher for the first time since early in his freshman season.
He started Friday’s opener against Presbyterian at catcher, switched to designated hitter for game two and was back behind the plate for Sunday’s finale.
“I came here as a catcher and kinda made the transition to right field my freshman year and I’ve been there ever since, until really about a week, two weeks ago,” Williams said. “The outfield can definitely be boring at times and as a catcher, you’re really in control of the game. I love that feeling and it’s really been fun.”
Williams, who last played catcher in nine games in 2018, has thrived in his newish role back behind the plate.He has a perfect fielding percentage through three games with five assists. He threw out base runners at second base to end the first and second innings of Sunday’s game and threw out another base runner at third base in the seventh.
Williams batted .300 over the weekend with a team-best three walks and two runs scored. Auburn out-scored the Blue Hose 22-5 to sweep the three-game series.
“Steven Williams catching has been a super highlight for me,” said Auburn coach Butch Thompson. “It’s the blocking, it’s the receiving, the throwing. It’s in every aspect.”
Playing Williams at catcher allows Thompson to get another talented bat in the lineup. Both Bryson Ware, who leads the team with five RBI, and Josh Hall, who has a team-best .571 average, split time starting in right field and designated hitter.
LORDY, NO MORE FLIES: One of the biggest areas of improvement Auburn can make after the first three games is to cut down on the number of fly balls. The Tigers had 30 fly outs in the first three games.
“We’ll work on it and we know we’ve got to fix it,” said Williams. “You got to tip your cap to their pitching staff. They did a pretty good job on us. But we’re way better than that and we know it and we’ll make sure we get those problems fixed this week.”
POWERING UP: Auburn hit five home runs by five different players in its first two games. It took the 2020 team nine games to hit five home runs.
THE 100 CLUB: Rankin Woley and Ryan Bliss recorded their 100th hits in an Auburn uniform Friday joining Williams (143) and Judd Ward (118) in Auburn’s 100-hit club.
BULLISH ON THE BACKEND: Even with Cody ‘Bull’ Greenhill moving into the starting rotation, Auburn’s bullpen put up some impressive numbers this weekend. Nine relievers combined to go 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA. In 14.0 innings, the bullpen combined for 17 strikeouts and just three walks.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Bryson Ware
The sophomore JUCO transfer had a strong Auburn debut batting .417 with three runs scored, one double, one home run and five RBI. Ware’s three hits and four RBI in the opener are the most by a newcomer since Creede Simpson in 2010.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Seb Thomas
The sophomore right-hander appeared in two games out of the bullpen holding Presbyterian to two hits and no runs in 3.2 innings. He struck out three and didn’t issue a walk. Thomas pitched one inning Friday and then a career-high 2.2 innings Sunday.
NEXT UP: Auburn will host Alabama A&M Tuesday and Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT. Neither game will be televised or streamed. Sophomore right-hander Trace Bright will start for AU Tuesday and freshman right-hander Jack Sokol will make his debut Wednesday. Bright threw a shutout inning of relief against Presbyterian Friday.