His recently broken jaw shielded by a custom-made helmet fresh off the truck, Joseph Sanders stepped into the batter’s box and took live batting practice Tuesday for the first time in nearly a month.

The only setback coach John Pawlowski could find one day later dealt more with Sanders’ new piece of equipment.

“The problem is it goes down real low and hits the shoulder on his swing,” Pawlowski said. “They’re trying to change that up a little bit.”

Though Sanders’ first round of batting practice went well, his status remains uncertain heading into this weekend’s series with Alabama.
How he responded late Wednesday during batting practice against one of Auburn’s pitchers will dictate Pawlowski’s condition.

As of Wednesday morning, Pawlowski wouldn’t even go as far to say Sanders would be on the 25-man roster he submits before today’s
6 p.m. first pitch at Plainsman Park.

Sanders, a third baseman, has yet to take fielding practice, so Pawlowski said he doesn’t expect Sanders to do anything more than designated hit or pinch-hit this weekend — if he’s even able to play.

Sanders insisted last week in an interview with the Opelika-Auburn News that he’s not worried about perceivably rushing back too soon to play for a team whose postseason hopes are dismal at best.

He also insisted that he’s not afraid of the jitters that may involuntary come with stepping in the batter’s box for the first time since taking a fastball to his face.

“When you’re out, obviously an extended period of time but certainly when you have an injury like that, I think the fear factor of stepping into the box, the ball being thrown at you (are worries),” Pawlowski said. “How he’s going to react, we may not know until we actually
stick him in a game.“

Sanders’ presence in the Tigers’ lineup is certainly desired heading into a weekend where Auburn can keep its fleeting hopes of snagging an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament alive while subsequently preventing Alabama a chance to host a Regional.

After Tuesday’s win against highly-ranked Georgia Southern, Auburn sits at 34 in RPI, according to Boydsworld.com, a reputable projection Web site. Feasibly, if the Tigers can win, or even sweep, this weekend’s series against Alabama (RPI: 24) they could be in good shape in the eyes of the selection committee.

Or they may already be eliminated. No one knows, and Pawlowski said he’s not going to pretend he does.

“The unfortunate thing in my mind is you have that (conference) tournament where only eight get in, and certainly the committee could say, ‘Hey, they didn’t even make their