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Auburn C Lucas Steele + LHP Jake Marciano - 2026 Opening Weekend Preview · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:00
  Lucas,
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  >> Jake, what has it been you to earn that
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  opening day start and how do you feel
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  like you progressed since, you know, a
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  year ago when you played as a freshman?
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  >> It's a good feeling. I mean, obviously
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  we uh work towards it all fall and
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  spring. It wasn't really like something
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  I was like necessarily expecting, but
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  like my goal was a weekend um start and
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  what Butch talked about was just
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  throwing strikes and like that was his
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  number one thing. So, I felt like that
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  was my goal, just throw strikes and I
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  felt like he held up to his word and
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  that's how it worked. How does it feel
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  to be that guy?
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  >> No, it's a it's a really good honor. I
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  mean, obviously I haven't ever been like
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  a start on a Friday night and I'm just
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  really excited.
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  >> Jason
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  >> Lucas, a lot of options and maybe a lot
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  of moving around early and that may
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  include some some outfield for you. How
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  much fun has that been to to kind of
• 0:50
  broaden out and and and uh and become an
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  outfielder?
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  >> Yeah, it's fun. I I played outfield a
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  little bit my freshman year. Um and that
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  was a first for me and haven't been
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  there in three years. So, it's it's a
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  little fun to get out there and be with
• 1:01
  the guys that I'm normally not with at
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  practice. Um it's a little bit of a
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  change working with that big wall we got
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  out there. Um but I mean it's fun out
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  there in the grass as as we like to say.
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  I'm trying to get them to put a U on my
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  roster, but we'll see what we'll see
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  what George has to do about it.
• 1:17
  >> Yeah, Luke, you're pretty much the uh
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  you're the old man of the bunch. I mean,
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  but uh but you've got a lot of guys that
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  that have played, but I mean, just talk
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  a little bit about, you know, your role
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  as as a leader and then what you think
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  uh as far as possibilities out of this
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  offense.
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  >> Yeah, I mean, first of all, I think
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  we're going to mash um offensively. I
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  think we got a whole lineup. We got
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  probably 13 guys that could play at any
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  moment throughout the season um and do
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  just fine. And then being a leader, I
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  mean, it means a lot for me to be
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  selected by these guys. Um, it's just
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  all about showing my what I have
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  experienced and putting it through them
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  and and teaching, not teaching them, but
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  almost showing them the way and and
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  making sure they're okay and also making
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  sure they have fun every day because I
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  know what it's like to to go out there
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  and not have fun and then kind of dread
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  every day, but also know what how it
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  feels to have fun. So, showing the
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  younger guys, you know, go out there,
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  have fun every day, make sure you soak
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  in every moment because I mean, we only
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  have four years and my four years went
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  by pretty quick.
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  >> Question for both of y'all. You're
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  ranked in the top 10. And what are you
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  trying to prove this weekend?
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  >> I mean, for me, I don't really think it
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  means just being ranked. Obviously, this
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  weekend, I think we just go out and we
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  just play. We don't have to do anything
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  really too special. I feel like we just
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  got to go out. Like you said, hitters
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  are going to match, pitchers are going
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  to shove. It's about it.
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  >> Yeah, we don't uh we don't like to look
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  into the rankings too much. whether we
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  were number one or whether we were 313th
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  or whatever it was. We don't we don't
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  really look into that because at the end
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  of the day it's it's how we play our
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  game that we've prepared for um and all
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  that stuff. So, we're going out there
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  and we're playing Youngstown State no
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  matter what we're ranked and no matter
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  what they're ranked.
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  >> Jake, I know kind of likewise there's a
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  lot of options on the mound for y'all,
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  but just this pitching staff, what what
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  have you seen out of them in the
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  offseason? And what has it been like to
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  work with them?
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  >> It's been great. We have a lot of depth.
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  like we from the left side, on the right
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  side, there's a lot of guys throwing
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  strikes, a lot of guys that um are just
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  like really competing well and I feel
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  like throughout the season we're going
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  to be really good.
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  >> When you have that quality staff full of
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  competitors and you have a coaching
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  staff that came to you and said, "Hey,
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  the way you get to start is by throwing
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  strikes, is it harder to actually land
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  the stuff in the strike zone or to trust
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  your stuff knowing that, hey, I got to
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  put as many balls in the strike zone as
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  possible and the hitters know that?" For
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  me, I am like a strike thrower. That's
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  like one of the things I do. So, I felt
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  like for me it was kind of like it was
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  hard to like believe just throwing
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  strikes would get outs, but it's true.
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  If you just throw strikes, they're going
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  to swing more and they're going to get
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  themselves out. So, I feel like that's
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  how I just trust myself and use it to my
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  advantage.
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  >> Right. Lucas Butch talked about the 13
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  and 14 guys that could be in the lineup
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  and he said the thing you'll be watching
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  closely, one of the things would be the
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  guys that don't get in the lineup on a
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  particular day and their attitude is to
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  as a captain. Is that something that
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  you're going to be present with or or
• 4:00
  keep an eye on too?
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  >> Absolutely. You know, everybody can't
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  play at once and and that's something we
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  have to deal with and we all work so
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  hard to play and then it it kind of like
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  a shot to the heart when you don't. Um
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  and I was in a little bit of that
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  situation last year where I didn't play
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  and and I just try to weed through these
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  guys. you know, you got to keep your
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  head up. Um, at the end of the day, we
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  all have the same name on the front of
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  our jersey. It doesn't matter what's on
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  the back. Um, and so we're all trying to
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  achieve the end goal. So, that's what
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  I'm trying to get through these guys
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  when they aren't playing or maybe they
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  think they should be playing or or they
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  might get pinch hits. No matter what it
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  is, just just we're all playing for
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  Auburn.
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  I like it.