By the end of this weekend, Auburn won’t even be one-third of its way through the conference schedule.

John Pawlowski acknowledged that Thursday with a one-day-at-a-time attitude typical of a college baseball coach, but couldn’t underscore the significance of his teams’ next three games against Vanderbilt.

“You’re looking at the overall confidence,” Pawlowski said. “You’ve got a big weekend, you’ve got three games here, you’re sitting at 2-4, what does the future hold?”

First pitch tonight is set for 6 p.m. at Plainsman Park with a 3 p.m. start Saturday and a 1 p.m. start Sunday. With a sweep at the hands of Arkansas on its home field last weekend, anything short of a series victory could send Auburn’s confidence on an even further tailspin as the competition continues to amplify.

“This is the second best conference next to the American League East,” Pawlowski said. “It’s a long road, but you have to take advantage of opportunities that are ahead of you.”

Auburn hasn’t made the SEC Tournament in five years, and a 2-4 start — which puts the Tigers tied for last in the SEC West — isn’t exactly the way to drum up feelings that this season will be any different. But Pawlowski said those thoughts only swirl around his and his coaches’ heads at night — not the players.

Not even 15 minutes after a loss, Pawlowski said, the players will have moved on while he’s still “pulling his hair out.”

“Sometimes that’s a positive aspect that these kids have,” Pawlowski said. “So I think they know the importance of this weekend. I don’t think they know the overall significance of it.”

The Tigers’ penchant for the home run — the Tigers lead the SEC and rank second in the nation with 51 — may have gotten the best of them last weekend against Arkansas.

In situations where a simple bunt or well-placed groundball were needed, the Tigers repeatedly failed to execute, which translated into two tight losses and a blowout to conclude the three-game sweep.

“When you hit home runs, you can overlook a lot of little things,” Pawlowski said. “When you face the good pitching in this league, it’s about executing in those situations.”

As for Auburn’s pitching, Pawlowski is still searching for all-around execution.

Auburn will throw its ace Grant Dayton tonight and reliable redshirt freshman Jon Luke Jacobs on Saturday. Sunday remains a mystery, though, and Pawlowski said he wasn’t even going to think about it until right after Saturday’s game.

Paul Burnside, who pitched the previous two Sundays, remains an option, but the senior hasn’t had his usual command, which concerns Pawlowski. Right-handers Bradley Hendrix and Taylor Thompson, along with freshman Dexter Price are also in the running to start Sunday’s game, Pawlowski said.

“I’m not going to sit still here and wait and put a lot of patience into this thing, because we certainly want to win and we want to win now,” Pawlowski said. “I’m going to continue tweaking this thing and making adjustments needed, and if an adjustment needs to be made, we’re certainly going to make it.”

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