AUBURN, Ala. – Returning to Athens for the first time since 2017, No. 18 Auburn softball (20-3) faces a top-20 challenge in its Southeastern Conference opener as the Tigers battle No. 19 Georgia (18-5) in a three-game series at Jack Turner Softball Stadium.
"Georgia is always a strong hitting team, a power hitting team," said head coach Mickey Dean. "They've got some pitching to go along with that. It is going to be a great challenge for us. We need to be consistent week in and week out. We're going to have some tough road series. We have to take it one game at a time."
The series opens Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network +. Jack Sadighian and Brock Van Faussien have the call. Game two of the series will air on the SEC Network at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday. Matt Schumacker and Aleshia Ocasio will be in the booth to cover the action. Sunday's series finale is set for 1 p.m. CT. The contest will air on SEC Network+. Kaleb Frady joins Van Faussien for the call. Brit Bowen and JJ Jackson will have radio coverage for all three games of the series on the Auburn Sports Network.
Despite trailing in the all-time series 25-38, Auburn has won three of the last four series, including the Tigers taking two games at Jane B. Moore Field last season and sweeping the Bulldogs in Auburn's last trip to Athens. Auburn holds an 11-16 record at Jack Turner Softball Stadium.
Auburn is 37-32 all time during its SEC opening weekend. Auburn has face Georgia twice to opener SEC action back in 2001 and 2002. Last season Auburn swept Texas A&M to opener SEC play. Auburn has not won back-to-back SEC openers since the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Georgia enters the weekend series on a four-game win streak after knocking off Georgia State 7-2 in a midweek tilt. Georgia went 4-1 in the Bulldog Classic last weekend. At the plate, the Bulldogs homered 12 times and scored 36 runs. Georgia's pitching staff recorded two shutouts during the team's final tournament of the season.
Allowing her first earned run to score after 62.1 innings, Maddie Penta enters the weekend ranked fourth nationally with a 0.11 earned run average. Georgia Tech snapped a streak of 39.1 consecutive scoreless innings for Penta, the second longest in program history.
Penta is one of sixth pitchers to lead the country with 11 wins in the circle. The right-hander moved into fourth in program history with 481 career strikeouts behind her efforts in Atlanta on Wednesday. Penta ranks second in the SEC with 107 strikeouts this season.
Bri Ellis currently ranks seventh in the SEC with her team-leading seven home runs. Tracking towards another program record, Ellis needs just 12 throughout the remainder of the season to shatter the program's sophomore home run record held by Kasey Cooper. Just 23 games into her sophomore season, Ellis stands 12th in program history with 27 career home runs. She currently ranks ninth in the country with 27 RBI.
The only player on the roster to reach base in all 23 games to start the season, Nelia Peralta is thriving in the top spot of the lineup. Peralta ranks tied for 14th in the country with a .582 on-base percentage with help of a team-leading 17 walks. She leads the team this season with a .446 average at the plate with 25 hits. She leads the team with nine multi-hit outings this season.
Next weekend, the Tigers face its toughest non-conference test of the season as Auburn treks to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to compete at the Oklahoma Hall of Fame Classic at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, home of the Women's College World Series. The Tigers will face Weber State, No. 24 Northwestern and No. 1 Oklahoma over the three-day tournament.