Baseball notebook: Max Schrock limps into USC-Auburn series

Max Schrock’s status for the Auburn series has USC coach Chad Holbrook crossing his fingers.

“I’m hopeful he can play,” Holbrook said.

The junior second baseman, who’s hitting .312 with four homers and 30 RBIs, missed the last two games of the Tennessee series due to a left Achilles tendon strain. He came out of the first game after going 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI in the only win.

The injury has nagged him this season but legging out a double against the Volunteers made it worse. But Holbrook does like Schrock’s progress, even though the tendon remains tender.

“He’s swinging the bat. He’ll hit. He’ll practice today. We’ve done a little bit of conditioning with him just to test him, but we haven’t pushed him hard,” Holbrook said.

“The Achilles tendon is a very fragile part of the human body. If you do damage to it, you’re looking at a 6-to-9 month injury or maybe longer. So we’ve been very careful.”

Playing the aceJunior left-hander Jack Wynkoop has stepped up in a big way since the injury to Wil Crowe. In his past two starts, wins over Vanderbilt and Tennessee, Wynkoop has allowed two earned runs and struck out 17 in 171/3 innings.

He hopes to cool down red-hot Auburn Friday night.

“I’m just trying to get out there, make some pitches and set a tone,” he said. “This is an important part of our season right here. Everybody’s really excited, and, hopefully, I can continue to do that this weekend.”

Wynkoop has improved to 6-4 with a 2.71 ERA on the season.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence going, and I’m trying to ride that right now,” he said. “I’ll see if I can keep making pitches for us.”