Despite rainstorms, multiple long delays and games having to be finished the day after they started, Auburn baseball had one of its best weekends of the season when it traveled to Knoxville.

The Tigers won the series over Tennessee, taking games one and three against the No. 12 Volunteers. Each of the wins were relatively lopsided too, and the one loss came in extra innings after the contest had to be suspended and resumed the next day.

Auburn is now 33-15 overall and 13-11 in Southeastern Conference play after winning the series, with just two more weekends left before the SEC Tournament.

Here are three takeaways from the Tigers’ triumph in Knoxville:

Unconventional but unbothered

Mother nature was not on Auburn or Tennessee’s side this weekend. A pair of heavy rainstorms affected games on both Friday and Saturday, causing delays and eventual postponements on both days.

Friday’s game caught the eye of many college baseball fans and observers, mainly for the matchup between ace pitchers Sam Dutton and Liam Doyle. However, that was cut short when the game was suspended in the first inning, with Doyle making his appearance and Dutton not even getting the chance to throw a pitch.

The game resumed Saturday morning, and Auburn had the advantage as Dutton was still able to start, while Doyle was burned for Game 1 and limited to just two innings in Game 2.

Dutton was dominant as usual, pitching six and two thirds innings while giving up just one run on four hits, helping Auburn to a comfortable 6-1 win.

“Dutton has been so consistent for us,” head coach Butch Thompson said in a release. “Not only did he do another amazing job, but he got us into the seventh inning and what it allowed us to do was go straight to (Ryan) Hetzler. You have a chance to win at the end of the first game with Dutton and Hetzler throwing against a top-10 team and you do not walk a batter.”

Game 2 was back and forth, and it felt like Auburn was going to clinch the series win when Chase Fralick hit an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning to give Auburn a 4-3 lead, but Tennessee’s Dalton Bargo answered with a solo home run to send the game into extra innings.

The bad weather struck again when Auburn was up to bat in the tenth, forcing another postponement and resumption the next day. Doyle returned for two innings when the game resumed Sunday afternoon, and Tennessee eventually won on a walk-off single in the 11th inning.

Auburn didn’t let the close loss in Game 2 linger, though, as it cruised to an 8-1 win in a shortened, seven-inning Game 3.

Rotation is coming together

Throughout the season, there has been one constant for Auburn’s pitching staff: Sam Dutton.

The LSU transfer is one of the top starting pitchers in the SEC, and is Auburn’s weekly Game 1 starter, a nod given to the staff’s ace. Behind Dutton, things have been shaky at times.

Florida transfer Cade Fisher has been No. 2 in the weekend rotation for most of the season, but some recent struggles caused him to lose that spot to Cam Tilly. Saturdays and Sundays often take require a team effort from Auburn’s bullpen, and it got that this weekend.

Tilly gave up two earned runs in two and two thirds innings in Game 2, but the rest of the bullpen gave up just three earned runs in Auburn’s 5-4 loss. However, the more impressive performance came in Game 3.

Christian Chatterton got the start, and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. He’s Auburn’s usual midweek starter, but Sunday’s performance was Chatterton’s fourth straight scoreless start.

Fisher relieved Chatterton to start the fourth inning, and was solid out of relief to finish the game. He pitched each of the remaining four innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits and one walk.

Getting consistent play from the bullpen late in series is difficult for most teams, but has been a struggle for Auburn in recent weekends. It got that and more against Tennessee, and that was the difference against a potent offense on the road.

Tigers in position

Auburn came into the Tennessee series as a comfortable contender to host a regional in the NCAA tournament. After taking two out of three games from the Vols, a national seed and potential chance to host a super regional isn’t out of the question for the Tigers.

The wins improve Auburn to 33-15 overall and 13-11 in SEC play and only add to its No. 3 RPI ranking and No. 2 strength of schedule.

Those metrics give Auburn a fighting chance to be a top eight seed in the NCAA tournament despite being near the middle of the pack in the SEC.

Only two weekends remain in the regular season, with Auburn set to face South Carolina at home before traveling to Oxford for a series against Ole Miss. Winning those two series would put Auburn in prime position for a national seed, and that’s before the Tigers will have more chances to boost their resume in the SEC Tournament.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m