AUBURN, Ala. — A week after opening the 2019 season in Gulf Shores at the Sand Dollar Classic, the Auburn softball team returns to the friendly confines of Jane B. Moore Field to host the this year's edition of the Plainsman Invitational.
Auburn, which is ranked No. 20 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 and No. 21 in the first regular-season USA Today / NFCA Coaches poll, is slated to open the 2019 Plainsman Invitational Thursday night at 6 p.m. against UAB. The Tigers will play Furman Friday night (6 p.m.) before facing off against Drake (2 p.m.) and Texas Tech (4:30 p.m.) Saturday afternoon.
The invitational will conclude Sunday following Auburn's games against Furman (11:30 a.m.) and UAB (2 p.m.).
Auburn is coming off wins over Tennessee State (11-4), Western Kentucky (8-0, five innings) and Florida A&M (10-2, six innings) while in Gulf Shores. After the first weekend, Casey McCrackin leads the team with a .563 batting average and four home runs. Taylon Snow (.474), Alyssa Rivera (.429), Kendall Veach (.400) and Carmyn Greenwood (.400) are all batting over .400 with Justus Perry (.385) knocking on the door. Veach currently has three home runs on the season after knocking two pitches over of the field in the Tigers' season-opening win over Tennessee State.
In the circle, preseason All-SEC selection Makayla Martin is 1-1 with a 1.17 ERA after tossing 12.0 innings in Gulf Shores. Martin leads the team with 12 strikeouts, but Ashlee Swindle (10) and Chardonnay Harris (8) are hot of her heels. The trio of pitchers — Martin, Swindle and Harris — all have one win on the season. Combining Lexie Handley's production, the Tigers' pitching staff has a 2.41 collective ERA and .226 batting average against.
Leading the Way: McCrackin is one of five players tied for the top mark in Division I softball with four home runs. Additionally, the senior second baseman is tied with two other players atop the individual home run standings among Southeastern Conference players. No SEC team has hit more home runs so far this season (11) than the Tigers.
Still Climbing: With her win against WKU, Martin now has 51 career wins at Auburn, which leaves the San Diego, California native one behind Marcy Harper (2013-16) for sixth all-time in program history. The 8-0 shutout over the Hilltoppers was the 12th in Martin's career, which is one behind Beth DiPietro (2004-06) for fifth all-time.