04/28 at 12:27 AM

The Auburn baseball team will attempt to break a five-game losing streak tonight when it plays host to Troy at 6 p.m. at Plainsman Park.

The game is the first of a home-and-home series between the two teams.

Auburn will send Taylor Thompson (2-3, 8.64 ERA) to the hill tonight at home and Paul Burnside (1-3, 6.69) to the mound on Wednesday at Riddle-Pace Field. Troy is expected to counter with Tim Wheeler (2-3, 9.67) on Tuesday and Steven Morelock (0-0, 12.00).

All tickets to tonight’s game are two dollars.

Women’s golf chosen for East Regional
The No. 6-ranked Auburn women’s golf team received a bid to the NCAA East Region, which will be held at the University of Florida’s Mark Bostick Golf Course on May 7-9, the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship Committee announced Monday.

The Tigers receive the Southeastern Conference’s automatic bid after winning the SEC Championship on April 19.

The Tigers, ranked No. 6 in the latest GolfWorld Coaches’ poll and No. 7 in the latest GolfWeek poll, are coming off a come-from-behind victory at the SEC Championship two weeks ago in Blythewood, S.C. The Tigers came from three strokes down on the final day to win by eight with an 18-over-par 870.

Four Tigers finished in the top 12 at the tournament with All-SEC first team selection Cydney Clanton leading the way in a tie for fourth with a 3-over 216. Freshman Patricia Sanz followed in a tie for sixth at 4-over-par 217 while SEC Golfer of the Year Candace Schepperle made it three Tigers in the top 10 with a tie for 10th at 5-over 218. Freshman Haley Wilson also made the top 12, carding a 6-over-par 219 in her first SEC Championship.

For her efforts in leading the team to the SEC title, head coach Kim Evans was named the SEC’s Coach of the Year. Heading into the team’s 16th NCAA Regional Championship, Evans is optimistic about her team’s chances.

“The East Region is traditionally the toughest region to advance out of, but we are looking forward to the challenge,” said Evans. “We just want to get the show on the road. We finally know where we are playing so it is time to start preparing for the golf course and the tournament.”

Since the completion of the SEC Championship, Evans said her team had been counting down the days to selection Monday to find out where they were going.

“I was really happy with the attitude the girls had, they were ready to go anywhere,” said Evans. “They had heard a lot about the other courses, but they were excited about going to Florida since they know the course, they were just eager to find out.“

Auburn enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed, following top-seed Virginia. The Tigers are one of 10 teams in the field ranked in the GolfWeek top-30. Others are: No. 5 Virginia, No. 8 Alabama, No. 11 Duke, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 14 Denver, No. 15 Georgia, No. 21 Vanderbilt, No. 26 Tennessee and No. 28 Florida.

Of the 21 teams in the East Regional field, eight are from the SEC. In all, 11 of the 12 SEC teams advanced to a NCAA Regional Championship with Kentucky going to the Central Region and LSU and Arkansas going to the West Regional.

AU has faced all but four of the teams in the regional field and holds a 53-13-1 head-to-head record against them for a .799 winning percentage.

Central Region competition will be held at the Scarlet Golf Course at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, and the West Region will take place at the Arizona State Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. For a complete list of all teams competing at each regional, please visit http://www.ncaa.com.

A total of 324 participants have been selected for regional competition. Of these players, 126 will advance to the championships finals.

Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each regional. The championships finals will be held May 19-22 at the Caves Valley Golf Club and will be hosted by Georgetown University.

For live coverage of the East Regional please visit http://www.golfstat.com or follow daily updates of the Tigers on http://www.auburntigers.com.

Former Tiger Bousquet breaks world record
MONTPELLIER, France — Former Auburn sprinter Fred Bousquet became the first man in history to swim the 50-meter freestyle in under 21 seconds, hitting the new world record time of 20.94 Sunday at the 2009 French Nationals. As a Tiger, Bousquet was the first man to swim the 50-yard freestyle in under 19 seconds.

“Fred Bousquet is just a freak,” said Auburn co-head men’s coach Brett Hawke who arrived in France on Thursday. “The place went absolutely crazy when he touched in. He’s worked very hard to be where he is right now and we’re all incredibly happy for him.”

Just two days after winning the 100 free in an upset of world-record holder Alain Bernard, Bousquet made history as he shattered the previous 50 free record held by Australian Eamon Sullivan. The Aussie Olympian set the old mark at 21.28 in March 2008 during Olympic Trials.

Bousquet’s performence earned him a lane during 50 free competition at the 2009 World championships in Rome. Amaury Leveaux, who was also selected to represent the French at the championships, placed third behind Bousquet and Bernard. Bernard’s time of 21.23 also fell under the previous world record.

Bousquet returned to Auburn prior to the 2008 Beijing Games to train under Auburn co-head men’s coach Brett Hawke. Also training on The Plains are former Tigers Alexei Puninski, George Bovell, Bryan Lundquist and 2008 50 free Olympic Gold Medalist Cesar Cielo .

“For Auburn to have both the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist and now the world-record holder in the 50 free is an amazing thing,” said Hawke. “It’s a great thing for the university and says a lot for the swimming and diving program so many people have worked so hard for. It’s a huge statement.”

Bousquet accumulated six NCAA and 15 SEC titles while swimming collegiately for the Tigers.