AUBURN, Ala. – Kicking off the postseason with a regular-season rematch, No. 16 Auburn softball (39-16, 15-9 SEC) opens the 2023 SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday against Ole Miss (30-25, 15-11 SEC) at Bogle Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The eleventh seed in the Tournament, Ole Miss upset sixth-seeded LSU 5-3 Wednesday morning in an extra-inning affair. Auburn faced the Rebels at Jane B. Moore Field during the regular season, taking a pair of wins to clinch the series.
All four quarterfinal contests will air on the SEC Network on Thursday. The winner will advance into Friday's semifinals to face the winner of No. 2 seed Georgia vs. either No. 7 seed Texas A&M or No. 10 South Carolina. Wednesday's action of the SEC Tournament is currently suspended due to weather with South Carolina leads 1-0 in the eighth inning.
Fans can stay tuned to Auburn softball's social media channels for future updates on the SEC Tournament schedule should Wednesday's weather delay force any games to be rescheduled for Thursday.
Auburn enters the SEC Tournament with its highest seed since the 2017 season. Auburn is 26-21 all-time at the tournament and has won the SEC Tournament title in 2015 and 2016. Auburn is looking to win its first game at the tournament since 2019 and holds a 2-2 record as a No. 3 seed. The Tigers are facing Ole Miss for the first time ever not only in the SEC Tournament but also at a neutral site.
Closing the regular season with a pair of victories over Mississippi State, including a one-hit shutout of the Bulldogs, Maddie Penta earned a program record fourth SEC Pitcher of the Week honor. Penta closed the regular season with a 1.02 earned run average in SEC play, the lowest ever recorded by a Tiger pitcher.
Penta tied the program record with six shutouts of SEC opponents. She also finished second behind only Kristen Keyes (2004) for most strikeouts by an Auburn pitcher in SC play with 138.
Auburn's pitching staff has totaled 21 shutouts this season, which leads the SEC and ranks nationally behind only No. 1 Oklahoma. Auburn's 21 shutouts are the third most recorded in a single season on the Plains. Auburn's staff also tops the nation with 439 strikeouts and is just one of three pitching staffs in the country to record 400 or more strikeouts this season. Issuing just 71 walks, Auburn also boasts a nation's best 5.70 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Penta, Shelby Lowe and Annabelle Widra all rank in the top six in the SEC with their individual strikeout-to-walk ratios with Lowe leading the country (10.00).
Thirteen different Tigers have knocked a home run this season with 10 slugging at least two. Bri Ellis currently ranks e10th in the SEC with 12 home runs. Ellis enters the weekend 10th in Auburn career history with 32 homers. She is seven shy of shattering the program's sophomore record held by Kasey Cooper. Auburn is currently 12-0 this season when Ellis slugs a home run.
Joining Ellis in double figures is Lindsey Garcia. Garcia knocked her 10th home run of her senior season in Auburn's regular-season finale to set a career high. As a team, the Tigers rank fifth in the conference with 58 home runs, the seventh most recorded in a single season on the Plains.
Nelia Peralta has reached base safely in 51 of Auburn's 55 contests and ranks eighth in the SEC with a .497 on-base percentage, the 10th highest mark by a Tiger in a single season. Peralta leads the team with 40 walks, which the third most ever recorded by a Tiger sophomore. She needs just one more walk to crack the top 10 in a single season at Auburn. She averages 0.73 walks per game, which ranks fifth in the SEC.
Holding a .714 average during the Mississippi State series, Denver Bryant propelled herself to the top of the Auburn leader board with a .322 batting average in SEC play. She was the only Tiger starter to finish the SEC season with a batting average above .300. Senior Carlee McCondichie is on milestone alert this postseason as she is two hits shy of her 100th collegiate career hit.
Auburn enters the postseason with a .976 fielding percentage, the fifth highest among SEC teams.
The semifinals of the SEC Tournament are scheduled to begin Friday at 3 p.m. CT. Both semifinal contests are available on ESPN2.