With expectations now higher than any other point during the 2025 season, Auburn baseball’s final home series could have major postseason implications.

The Tigers are set to play South Carolina, a team underperforming under legendary, but first-year head coach Paul Mainieri. The Gamecocks are second to last in the Southeastern Conference, currently sitting 5-19 in SEC play. Their two most recent losses came by a combined score of 31-3 against Florida.

South Carolina ranks 62nd in the RPI, making it a Quad IV series for Auburn, since the games are at home. That means losses would likely hurt the Tigers more than wins would help them.

Auburn comes into the series off the back of an impressive series win at Tennessee. The Tigers beat the Vols in games one and three, winning both games by five or more runs.

“We competed like we won all three, if I can keep them away from the result,” head coach Butch Thompson said after the series in a release. “What we’ve been through, it just seems like every challenge that can come our way, we’ve had it and have always just said ‘good’. If we just continue to keep our head down, we can gain something from two really well played games.”

With Auburn hovering right around the cut off line for a national seed in most projections, sweeping South Carolina — or at least winning the series — is important to keep its spot.

Auburn currently ranks fourth in the RPI, a metric powered in part by the Tigers’ No. 2 strength of schedule ranking. If Auburn takes care of business versus South Carolina, next weekend’s series against Ole Miss would all but solidify a national seed for the Tigers, if they don’t already do so this weekend.

It’s also an important series for seeding in the SEC Tournament, which is now just two weeks away. The top four seeds in the tournament get a double bye, something that’s more important than ever with the tournament shifting to a single-elimination format.

Auburn is two games out of the No. 4 spot at the moment, and a series with a relatively weak South Carolina team could be the best chance left to make up some ground on LSU and Georgia.

The importance of the SEC Tournament may be minimal in terms of NCAA Tournament placement, especially for a team in Auburn’s position. It’s hard to quantify the importance of having your name on that trophy, though, and a double bye puts that goal further within reach.

Auburn vs. South Carolina series info

Records

Auburn: 33-15 (13-11 SEC)

South Carolina: 26-23 (5-19 SEC)

Times/TV channels

Game 1: Thursday, 6 p.m., ESPN2

Game 2: Friday, 6 p.m., SEC Network+

Game 3: Saturday, 2:30 p.m., SEC Network

Starting pitchers

Game 1

Auburn: Cam Tilly (RHP) 2-1, 4.78 ERA, 32.0 IP, 20 BB, 41 SO

South Carolina: Brandon Stone (RHP) 2-5, 5.09 ERA, 53.0 IP, 11 BB, 39 SO

Game 2

Auburn: Sam Dutton (RHP) 6-2, 2.37 ERA, 68.1 IP, 13 BB, 81 SO

South Carolina: Jake McCoy (LHP) 4-4, 6.18 ERA, 51.0 IP, 31 BB, 69 SO

Game 3

Auburn: Christian Chatterton (RHP) 4-1, 3.69 ERA, 46.1 IP, 17 BB, 53 SO

South Carolina: TBD

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com