AUBURN, Ala. – With the season coming to an unexpected end, Softball America released its Top 100 Collegiate Players of the shortened 2020 campain. Auburn softball sophomore Samantha Yarbrough checked in at No. 67 in the publication's rankings.
Over her debut season with the Tigers, Yarbrough appeared in 13 contests, primarily as a relief pitcher. The right-hander earned a starting role over the final two weeks of her sophomore season with three starts in the circle, two of which were complete-game efforts.
Yarbrough posted an unblemished 6-0 record and was credited with one save. She allowed just eight earned runs over 48.2 innings pitched to lead the team with a 1.15 earned run average. Her ERA was the sixth lowest among all Southeastern Conference pitchers and ranked 28th nationally.
The transfer from South Alabama allowed just 24 hits, holding opponents to a .147 average at the plate to rank seventh in SEC. Her 4.35 hits allowed per seven innings average ranked fourth in the conference and 10th among all Division I pitchers. Yarbrough also led Auburn's staff with 53 strikeouts, the 12th most in the SEC, and averaged 7.6 strikeouts per seven innings.
Her breakout season performance came over the 2020 Tiger Invitational as Yarbrough tossed a one-hit effort against No. 18 Minnesota to lead Auburn to a 5-1 victory. It was her first start of her sophomore season. She continued the weekend earning a save against Binghamton after striking out seven over three innings of relief before earning a victory later that afternoon with a one-hit effort against Georgia Southern. The performance earned Yarbrough SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors.
In her SEC debut at No. 7 Florida, Yarbrough held the Gators to one run over a career-high 10 innings. She struck out eight in the contest. The run snapped a streak of 16.1 consecutive scoreless innings tossed by the sophomore. Yarbrough closed the season with a complete-game performance at Jacksonville, striking out a career-high 10 Dolphins.