Jan. 23, 2017
By Gillian Chant
AUBURN, Ala. - With the beginning of the 2017 season in sight for the Auburn softball team, the outfield position is set to remain a stronghold for the Tigers.
Auburn will have four upperclassmen leading the team, with two experienced underclassmen returning to build on their successful 2016 seasons.
Redshirt junior Madi Gipson brought in six home runs, 13 doubles and one triple in 42 hits during the 2016 season. The redshirt junior started 67 of the 68 games she appeared in, bringing in 43 runs and scoring 39, as well as drawing 29 walks.
In the NCAA Super Regionals, Gipson hit a double and later scored in a battle with Arizona. She finished the season with a base hit in each of Auburn's back-to-back wins against Georgia and Florida State in the Women's College World Series.
Victoria Draper led the Tigers with a 1.000 fielding percentage in the 2016 season and had two separate 5- and 7-game hitting streaks over the course of the season. The redshirt junior started every game for Auburn last season, hitting .325 with an on-base percentage of .388 over 69 games.
In addition to going on two hitting streaks, Draper was perfect at the plate in two games, going 2-for-2 against Tennessee State and 4-for-4 against Tennessee. In the Women's College World Series, Draper had a season-best five putouts and scored a run as Auburn pulled out a 4-3 win over Georgia.
In her sophomore season, Whitney Jordan started 65 of the team's 69 games as the primary shortstop. Shortly after her first start of the 2016 for the Tigers, she hit a triple with two RBI to help Auburn beat Appalachian State 9-0 in the season opener.
On 41 hits, Jordan recorded seven homers, six doubles and three triples for the 2016 season, hitting .441 with an on-base percentage of .320.
She was 2-for-4 in the Women's College World Series Championship Series, recording a double, a homer and three RBI in the 11-7 comeback win over Oklahoma. Jordan was solid for the Tigers in the SEC Championship game against LSU, going 2-for-3 with two runs and a double to lead Auburn to the win.
Entering her senior season, outfielder Sydne Waldrop looks to build on her 21 appearances in the 2016 season. She primarily saw action as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner, scoring nine runs with a .429 on-base percentage and two walks.
Waldrop came off the bench during the SEC Championship to pinch-run in Auburn's 7-1 defeat of LSU.
Sophomore Morgan Podany scored 14 runs and brought in 11 last season, highlighted by three runs during the NCAA Tournament in wins against USC Upstate, Arizona, and Florida State.
Podany started the first game of her freshman season in the 2016 season opener against Appalachian State. Her 2016 season included a grand slam as a pinch-hitter at Arkansas during SEC play. In 48 games, Podany averaged a .375 slugging clip and an on-base percentage of .500.
After finishing the season with a run during the Championship Series versus Oklahoma, expect sophomore Bree Fornis to continue showing off her speed this season for the Tigers.
As a freshman, Fornis earned her first start last season against Troy. In 45 games total, she slugged .550 with a .458 on-base percentage and scored 18 runs. In her first collegiate at-bat, Fornis blasted a grand slam against Butler on Feb. 13 last season.
Auburn's outfield will also include three freshmen this season, as Carmyn Greenwood, Brittany Maresette and Alyssa Rivera begin their collegiate softball careers with the Tigers.
After scoring 51 runs and posting an on-base percentage of .600 in her senior season at Oak Mountain High School, Greenwood will join the Tigers in the outfield. She batted .508 in her final high school season and recorded 12 homers, 22 doubles and five triples with 61 RBI.
Greenwood brings added experience to Auburn after playing with the Birmingham Thunderbolts club team.
Marsette comes to Auburn as the 2015 Player of the Year and 2014 Offensive Player of the Year for Gwinnett County. The Snellville, Ga., native was the starting outfielder for Archer High School and looks to bring experience to the Auburn outfield.
USA Junior Women's National Team member Rivera will join the Auburn outfield after playing for Lake Region High School and the Gold Coast Hurricanes. Rivera reached the state championship twice with her high school team as well as being the captain of her school's volleyball team.
The student-athletes of the Auburn outfield position made up an academic all-star team of sorts last season, with each of the returning outfielders making the 2016 All-SEC Academic team.
The Auburn softball team will travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to begin the 2017 season with the Triple Crown Tournament, Feb. 9-11.
Gillian Chant is a student assistant with Auburn athletics communications