Auburn’s baseball players ventured into uncharted territory this week.

They went to class on time and turned their work in just like normal Auburn students.

The Tigers didn’t play baseball at all this week, as rain wiped away their only scheduled game, Tuesday’s road trip to South Alabama. So, instead, Auburn plugged away in the cages and did as much as it could to stay fresh heading into this weekend’s series at Mississippi State.

“That’s all part of the game,” coach John Pawlowski said. “It’s just one of those things where you’ve got to be prepared. We’ve played enough games now and hopefully they’ve had enough at-bats where they won’t be affected by it.”

Pawlowski said the five days off — Auburn’s longest stretch without baseball since the season began — was needed, in regards to getting his players back on track with schoolwork. It also benefited relievers such as Austin Hubbard and Bradley Hendrix, who have been taxed while the rest of Auburn’s bullpen has been largely ineffective.

But for everyone else, as far as baseball is concerned, Pawlowski will be eager to see the response for today’s 6:30 p.m. first pitch at Dudy Noble Field.

“It’s just a matter of accumulating at-bats and having a good approach,” Pawlowski said. “That approach at the plate, we’ve talked about it so many times, it just comes down to those things and we have to execute now.”

The Tigers and Bulldogs have both had their fair share of struggles this season, as they both are hanging in the bottom half of the SEC West and appear destined to a late-season tug-of-war for the last of eight tournament slots. Mississippi State has lost 10 of its last 13.

Though it’s tenuous at best for now, Auburn appears to have found some stability in its starting rotation.

Taylor Thompson didn’t have dazzling stuff Sunday, as he allowed four runs over five innings against Vanderbilt, but he was solid enough — especially with Auburn’s heavy hitting offense behind him — to garner a few more cracks at SEC hitters.

Thompson will pitch Sunday.

“His arm is healthy, he says it feels well, so we’ll put him out there and continue to give him opportunities,” Pawlowski said. “The thing about our staff is that, like our bullpen, we’ll continue to try to tweak it and try to put the best guys in the best situations out there.”

Auburn will face two lefthanders today and tomorrow in Tyler Whitney and Nick Routt and could perhaps see another Sunday.

Six of the Tigers’ nine regular hitters bat left-handed.

“When you have a lot of left-handed batters, a lot of teams think that’s the best way to go against you,” Pawlowski said. “It certainly won’t be no different this weekend.

“This is certainly a big series for us and we’re looking for it.”

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