Derek Varnadore carried a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings and finished the afternoon by allowing just four base runners while striking out 13 in his complete game, 2-0, victory over Radford on Sunday afternoon at Plainsman Park. The 13 strikeouts were the most by an Auburn pitcher…

Auburn headed into the top of the ninth inning against Radford on Saturday in much the same situation the two teams found themselves in Friday.

One statistic stuck with Auburn coach John Pawlowski after his team’s 8-6, 13-inning loss to Radford on Friday — a game in which the Tigers held a 5-0 lead after four innings before allowing the Highlanders to creep back into it.

Four games into the new year, Auburn is entering a brave new world with its dulled new bats.

Auburn, a team that homered once every 17.9 at-bats last season, had yet to leave the yard in its first three games this year, going 98 full at-bats without one of those long, slow trots around the bases.

After opening its season with three games in three days, the Tigers will head back to the diamond after a 24-hour respite.

Coming into the season, Auburn’s starting rotation picture consisted of proven starters Slade Smith and Cory Luckie and a whole lot of question marks.

John Pawlowski wants his team to be challenged early and often this year to prepare itself for a postseason run.