AUBURN, Ala. – Continuing its four-game road tilt, No. 19 Auburn softball (29-9) looks to return to the win column with a midweek tilt at Sikes Field against Mercer (10-28).
"Wednesday is going to be another tough regional battle in a hostile environment," said head coach Mickey Dean. "We have not been to their place in a number of years, so we're going to have to continue to play our game and stay focused."
First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT. Wednesday's contest is available on ESPN+. JJ Jackson will have radio coverage on the Auburn Sports Network.
LEADING OFF
- Kicking off a stretch of six straight nonconference opponents, Auburn is searching for its sixth straight victory over Mercer. Auburn has won the last three contests against the Bears via the run rule.
- Already surpassing its 2021 win total of 27, Auburn is one victory away from its 30th win of the 2022 season. Auburn's last 30-win season came in 2019.
- Allowing just 63 earned runs in over 242 career innings pitched, Shelby Lowe ranks 25th among all active and qualifying NCAA Division I pitcher with a 1.82 career ERA.
- With 18th victories to her credit, Maddie Penta leads the SEC and ranks fourth in the country in wins. She currently has the 12th most wins by an Auburn pitcher in a single season.
- Nelia Peralta is just one home run shy of joining teammate Bri Ellis in double figures. Auburn has never had two freshmen with double-digit home runs in the same season. Before 2022, Kasey Cooper was the lone Tiger to ever record double-digit homers in a freshman season. Ellis and Peralta currently rank second and third, respectively, in Auburn history for home runs by a freshman.
- Standing at 32-for-35 in career stolen base attempts, sophomore Makayla Packer enters the week tied for ninth in program history for career stolen bases.
- Turning in one of the best individual pitching performances in school history, Maddie Penta currently ranks in the top 10 in four Auburn single-season pitching records: strikeouts per seven innings, opponent batting average, earned run average and walks allowed per seven innings.
- Auburn and Alabama are the only two pitching staffs in the SEC to combine for over 300 strikeouts this season. Auburn leads the SEC with 319 total strikeouts. Auburn is the only program with two pitchers with over 100 strikeouts to their credit. Maddie Penta is second in the SEC with 170 while Shelby Lowe is fifth with 112.
- At the plate, Auburn has slugged 64 home runs through its first 38 games this season. The 64 homers stand as the sixth most recorded in a single season at Auburn.
- Auburn ranks third in the SEC with a .588 team slugging percentage. The Tigers rank tied for second in the league in triples and third in both home runs and doubles.
- Thirty-one of Auburn's 64 total home runs in 2022 have been slugged by the Tiger freshmen class. Three Auburn freshman have hit at least seven home runs this season.
ON DECK
Auburn continues nonconference action this weekend with a three-game series against Niagara. The series opens with a doubleheader on Friday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. CT.