Baseball Preview: Alabama and Auburn Square Off in 7th Annual Capital City Classic

Things did not go to well for Alabama's baseball team on Sunday afternoon. The Crimson Tide fell to Louisiana-Lafayette, 14-2, allowing the Ragin' Cajuns to clinch the series. Now the Crimson Tide (7-4) must prepare to face Auburn on Tuesday in the 7th annual Capital City Classic, which is held yearly at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.

Head coach Mitch Gaspard will likely begin preparation by addressing the Tide's recent struggles in the pitching rotation. Alabama is dead last in the SEC in team ERA (4.08). The team also leads the SEC in most sacrifice bunts allowed (9) and batters hit by pitch (13).

Luckily, Gaspard does have trending positively at the plate with his lineup. Right fielder Casey Hughston still leads the SEC in batting average (.556), hits (25), and doubles (9). Shortstop Mikey White has 15 hits of his own, while second baseman Kyle Overstreet has 14 hits. Alabama has also seen improvement in players like freshman third baseman Chandler Avant who went 3-of-5 in Saturday's loss to ULL.

Meanwhile, Auburn (9-3) has had tremendous success against Alabama in previous Capital City Classic matchups. The Tigers have won five out of the last six meetings in Montgomery. They are confident they can continue that success on Tuesday night.

The Tigers, like the Tide, have one of the SEC's best hitters in center fielder Anfernee Grier, who has 23 hits and 15 runs scored this season. Their season batting statistics are very similar to Alabama's, which should make for an interesting matchup. On the mound, Auburn has stayed around the national average in regards to team ERA (3.20), but they have managed to strikeout 111 batters this season.

The first pitch between the two rivals will be at 6:30 pm CT.