AUBURN, Ala. – For the first time since the season's opening weekend, Auburn's softball team hits the road for its latest challenge as the Tigers face off against three nationally-ranked opponents in this weekend's Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, California.
Auburn (13-3) opens play against Loyal Marymount (5:00 pm CST/3:00 pm PST) and UTSA (7:30 pm CST/5:30 pm PST) Thursday afternoon, before facing No. 20 Oregon (12 pm CST/10 am PST) and No. 5 Washington (2:30 pm CST/12:30 pm PST) on Friday. The Tigers wrap their west-coast trip against No. 2 UCLA (11:30 am CST/9:30 am PST) on Saturday.
All of Auburn's games can be heard on the Auburn Sports Network. The Tigers will be looking for their first win against a ranked opponent since beating then-No. 16 Arkansas 4-2 on April 22, 2018. Additionally, the last time Auburn knocked off a top-five team was March 27, 2017 when it defeated then-No. 2 Florida 1-0.
"Everyone we are playing is a good team and that's what we wanted. We get to go on the road and it's a battle and it's a challenge," said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean." It's a challenge that we need this early to one, to get us ready; two, to understand what it's going to be like when we get to May and June."
Quick Hitters:
- Despite her career-long 27-game on-base streak came to an end against Villanova, Casey McCrackin continues to lead the team with a .489 batting average/.894 slugging percentage/1.463 on-base percentage line.
- McCrackin and Taylon Snow lead the Tigers with 23 hits each, which is tied for the 10th most in the country and third among qualified Southeastern Conference batters.
- Chardonnay Harris became one of two Auburn pitchers to record 14-or-more strikeouts in a game when the sophomore left-hander struck out 14 Eastern Illinois batters. Harris' strikeout total set a career high for the Oak Park, Ill., native and was the third most in a single game by an Auburn pitcher behind Anna Thompson's 18 against Middle Tennessee in 2009 and Thompson's 16 against Louisiana Tech in 2010.