John Pawlowski said he didn’t think to mention Auburn’s four-game, home-and-home series with Florida State to his players until there were no more games left to play.

There was really no reason to further fuel an already blazing amount of motivation.

“Last year certainly has left a bitter taste in their mouth,” Pawlowski said. “They’ll certainly look forward to the challenge.”

Auburn and No. 5 FSU got together for a similar early-season get-together last season. Pawlowski, of course, wasn’t here to experience it, but the results were easy to look up.

The Seminoles won all four games.

The series opens today in Tallahassee when freshman Ty Kelley makes his collegiate debut on the hill for the Tigers. Sophomore Grant Dayton will get the start Friday before the series returns to Auburn for games on Saturday and Sunday.

“We are looking forward to the challenge of playing a team the caliber of Florida State this early in the season,” Pawlowski said. “It will be a great environment down there and we will have to play well.”

The Tigers (2-2) started the 2009 season poorly, losing two of three, but gathered a bit of momentum Tuesday with a 17-4 blowout of Lipscomb.

Auburn hit four home runs, three of which were solo shots, against the Bison. The Tigers have already amassed 10 home runs on the year, but only three have accounted for more than a run.

“Home runs, they come and go and certainly we didn’t have to expect to have this many at this point in the season,” Pawlowski said. “We would have loved to have some guys on base ahead of them. It’s certainly not something we preach about. We don’t talk about home runs a lot but they’re something we’ll take.”

Pawlowski said one of Auburn’s biggest power hitters, sophomore first baseman Hunter Morris, will be a game-time decision for tonight’s 5 p.m. start. Morris sat out Tuesday’s game with a sore back.

“You hate that these things happen, but we’re fortunate that we’re not in the middle of conference play yet,” Pawlowski said. “We want to make sure he’s healthy and ready to go. It sure would be nice to have a guy like that in the middle of the lineup.”

Senior righthander Paul Burnside, who missed most of 2008 with a broken collar bone, will start either Saturday or Sunday, depending on how he continues to respond from his first start in nearly a year, Pawlowski said.

Burnside went 4 1/3 innings and allowed three runs in a no-decision Sunday.

“I think the biggest things with injuries is that when guys come back, physically they’re usually over their injury before they are mentally,” Pawlowski said. “I think he had a little mental block to get over.

“He knows he’s healthy now.”

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