02/18 at 11:48 PM

John Pawlowski was a pitcher as a player and a pitching coach before he took over as the head coach at the College of Charleston 10 years ago.

The teams he’s been around, not coincidentally, have thrived on pitching. That was especially so during a three-year stretch with the Cougars, where he had three different pitchers win SoCon Pitcher of the Year from 2004-06.

His first year at Auburn, though, put a test to that resume.

That’s why Pawlowski, as he heads into his second year with the Tigers, has no problem falling back on a simple solution in hopes of improving his team’s performance on the mound, which, in turn, would strengthen the Tigers’ chances of making the SEC Tournament.

Strength in numbers.

“We didn’t have enough options on the pitching staff,” Pawlowski said. “The guys worked extremely hard last year, but in this league, you have to have depth and enough arms because it is such an offensive game.”

Pawlowski will have various new options in the bullpen and a fresh face getting his first career start Sunday, as the Tigers open the 2010 season today with a three-game series against Southeast Missouri State. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Plainsman Park.

“We’re excited,” Pawlowski said. “These guys are anxious and ready to play.”

Despite losing two relievers (Taylor Thompson, Scott Shuman) to the Major Leagues and another (Paul Burnside) to graduation, Pawlowski has a bevy of new arms to work with in both the starting rotation and bullpen, but will still rely heavily on the familiar faces from 2009.

Sophomore Jon Luke Jacobs (3-4, 5.74 ERA) will get the start today and junior Grant Dayton (2-6, 5.92) follows Saturday. Dayton regressed in 2009 after a sterling freshman season and Jacobs certainly took his fair share of lumps, but both are expected to anchor the rotation throughout
the season.

“Those guys have done a great job, and they will have their opportunities,” Pawlowski said, “right out of the gate.”

Junior-college transfers Cole Nelson, a 6-foot-7 lefthander, and Stephen Kohlschein will both get their chances to impress. The Tampa Bay Rays drafted Nelson, who is set to start Sunday, in the 45th round of the 2009 Draft and Kohlschein was selected in the 30th round by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Both stayed committed to Auburn, though, and both are expected to help improve an Auburn team ERA (6.12) that ranked 10th in the SEC last season.

“He’s a guy who is intimidating out there as a big, strong left-hander,” Pawlowski said of Nelson. “When you put the lights on and you start playing, we need to find out who can handle the competition in this league, and I think that he certainly merits the opportunity and the chance on Sundays.”

If not in the rotation, Kohlschein’s presence will certainly be welcomed in Auburn’s bullpen.

The closer position is locked down, with Austin Hubbard (3-3, 4.20, 12 saves) returning for his senior season. Bradley Hendrix (7-3, 5.09),
Michael Hurst (4-0, 4.94), Sean Ray (2-0, 1.59) and Cory Luckie also provide Pawlowski with experience. Luckie missed the entire 2009 season because of an arm injury, but was promising in 2008, when he went 4-4 with a 4.38 ERA.

“Cory is doing a great job,” Pawlowski said. “His arm has come back.”

Auburn’s 11-19 finish in conference play last season, which left it out of the SEC tournament for the sixth consecutive year, wasn’t all attributable to sloppy pitching.

While slugging their way to a program-record 103 home runs, the Tigers locked up when a simple single or a sacrifice bunt would suffice, especially during conference play. The Tigers hit just .262 and scored an SEC-worst 4.7 runs per game in their 30 conference games.

Pawlowski hired a new hitting coach during the offseason, Link Jarrett, and there is already a different feeling inside the Auburn batting cages, first baseman Hunter Morris said.

“We’ve kind of gone into it with a little more mature approach,” said Morris, a first-team, preseason All-American. “We try to be very professional about the way we go about our work as an offense. It’s not all about just putting up two-, three-, four-run innings, and trying to compile those all the time by hitting home runs. It’s about getting guys on base, bunting guys over, hitting line drives and trying to really boost that on-base
percentage.”

A few longballs certainly won’t hurt, though, especially for a pitching staff that appears to be much improved, but is still a work in progress.

“It’s always nice to play behind a lineup that’s going to put some runs up on the board for you and take some pressure off of you as a pitcher,” Kohlschein said. “Our pitching staff looks good this year, too.”

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Auburn (0-0) vs. Southeast Missouri State (0-0)
Where: Plainsman Park
When: Today-Saturday 3 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m.
TV/Radio: None/WKKR 97.7 FM (Today & Sun); WMXR 96.7 FM (Sat.)
Projected starters:
Today: (SEMO)  Sr. RHP Kyle Gumieny
(Auburn) LHP Jon Luke Jacobs (0-0, 0.00)
Saturday: (SEMO) Jr. LHP Logan Mahon
(Auburn) RHP Grant Dayton (0-0, 0.00)
Sunday: (SEMO)  Jr. LHP Jordan Underwood
(Auburn) LHP Cole Nelson (0-0, 0.00)

Projected starting lineup:
C – Ryan Jenkins (Senior)/Tony Caldwell (Junior) .281, 9, 24
1B – Hunter Morris (Junior) .282, 12, 33
2B – Justin Hargett (Junior) .330, 4, 31
SS – *Casey McElroy (Soph.) .286, 7, 35
3B – Wes Gilmer (Junior) .250, 1, 12/Dan Gamache (Soph.) .383, 3, 11
LF – Brian Fletcher (Junior) .301, 17, 54
CF – *Trent Mummey (Junior) .289, 15, 42
RF – Creede Simpson (Soph.) N/A
DH – Kevin Patterson (Junior) .231, 6, 18
*Denotes player will miss start of season because of injury

Starting Rotation:
LHP Grant Dayton (Junior) 2-6, 5.92
RHP Jon Luke Jacobs (Soph.) 3-4, 5.74
LHP Cole Nelson (Junior) N/A
RHP Stephen Kohlschein (Junior) N/A
RHP Dexter Price (Soph.) 4-3, 6.04

Bullpen:
RHP Austin Hubbard (Senior) 3-3, 4.20, 12 saves
RHP Bradley Hendrix (Junior) 7-3, 5.09
RHP Michael Hurst (Senior) 4-0, 4.94
LHP Sean Ray (Junior) 2-0, 1.59
RHP Zach Blatt (Soph.) 1-0, 7.36
LHP Cory Luckie (Soph.) N/A