03/25 at 12:03 AM

You can give Taylor Dugas’ cleat at least some of the credit for how well Casey McElroy has been hitting the ball lately.

Dugas, an Alabama outfielder, slid headfirst into second base during the fifth inning of the Capital City Classic on March 15, tagging the bag just after McElroy, Auburn’s shortstop, slapped a tag on him.

And just after one of Dugas’ cleats tagged McElroy on the chin.

“It was kind of a freak thing,” McElroy said. “It was not dirty at all. His back cleat just kind of came up and caught me.

“I hate the sight of my own blood, so that was something on top of it.”

McElroy took three stitches for his troubles and was back on the field for the weekend series against Arkansas.

He also took something else out of getting cleated.

“Growing up, after I’ve gotten hurt, I seemed to hit really well,” he said. “It kind of wasn’t all that bad, because I knew I was going to hit well after that.”

McElroy went 8-of-13 – a .615 average – with two home runs and six RBI against Arkansas last weekend, earning SEC Player of the week honors.

The junior from Orlando, Fla., holds a 16-game hit streak as No. 20 Auburn (14-7, 2-1 SEC) hits the road to take on Mississippi State (15-6, 1-2) this weekend, and during that streak he’s batting .448 (30-for-67) with four home runs and 18 RBI.

“I’d like to have guys hitting like that 1 through 9,” Pawlowski said. “He’s done a great job handling the way people have pitched to him. They’ve been very cautious, I think even more so now when you look at his numbers and look where he’s at.

“He understands what his role is, and he’s gone about it in a very professional manner.”

McElroy is a three-year starter in a relatively young lineup, a 3-hole hitter who is leading the Tigers or tied for the lead, in nine major offensive categories.

He leads Auburn in batting average (.409), on-base percentage (.459), slugging percentage (.636),  total bases (56), hits (36), runs (20), RBI (20), home runs (four) and is tied for the team lead with eight doubles.

And at 5-foot-8, 179 pounds, he’s doing it all as the smallest player in the lineup by far.

“Ever since I was a little kid, all the coaches would tell the outfielders to move in,” McElroy said. “It’s kind of a chip on my shoulder every day when I play. It makes me feel good when a guy my size can perform as good as anyone else.”

McElroy served as mostly a table-setter in his first two years at Auburn, getting on base so sluggers like Joseph Sanders, Hunter Morris and Brian Fletcher could bring him home.

With 69 home runs and 244 RBI leaving from last year’s team, it’s McElroy’s time to swing the heavy lumber.

“We knew coming into the season that those guys — Casey, Danny Gamache — were going to have to pick up a little bit of what was a part of last year,” Pawlowski said. “Nothing really bothers him. He’s just a ballplayer.”

Now that he’s off to such a good start, McElroy is reluctant to change anything that’s gotten him this far.

He wouldn’t call himself superstitious. Just cautious.

“I don’t really mess around with changing things if they’re going well for me,” McElroy said.

There’s another part of the silver lining from Dugas’ slide.

Doctors told McElroy he couldn’t shave for a couple of weeks with the stitches, so he’s got a little bit of scruff going.

“I’ll probably keep it,” he said. “At least until I start hitting bad.”

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No. 20 Auburn (14-7, 2-1) at Mississippi State (15-6, 1-2)

Friday, 6:30 p.m.

Radio: WKKR 97.7 FM
Probable Starters: RHP Devin Jones (Jr., 2-3, 3.03) vs. LHP Cory Luckie (Jr., 1-1, 4.50)

Saturday, 2 p.m.

Radio: WKKR 97.7 FM
Probable Starters: RHP Chris Stratton (So., 3-1, 2.38) vs. RHP Will Irvin (Jr., 3-0, 3.70)

Sunday, 1:30 p.m.

Radio: WKKR 97.7 FM
Probable Starters: TBA vs. RHP Derek Varnadore (Jr., 3-0, 3.09)