AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn softball's road to Oklahoma City begins at McWhorter Stadium as the No. 16 Tigers (40-17) open the Clemson Regional, hosted by 16th-seeded Clemson, on Friday against Cal State Fullerton (33-19).
First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. CT. Eric Frede and Madison Shipman will have the call on ESPNU. No. 10 Clemson (46-9) and UNCG (37-20) will open the Clemson Regional on Friday at 2 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
"It's postseason," said head coach Mickey Dean. "Once the dust settled from Selection Sunday, we've been preparing for this weekend. I hope this team steps up. They've been ignored all year and hopefully that continues to be a motivation. This team is staying together. They are battling, all those clichés, but they have really come together as a team. Are there some things we need to clean up game-wise? Absolutely. That's our focus."
Auburn is making its 18th appearance in a NCAA Regional and its second consecutive trip to Clemson after having its season end at McWhorter Stadium at the inaugural Clemson Regional in 2022. Auburn holds a 34-46 overall record in the NCAA Tournament with a 23-28 mark in NCAA Regionals. The Tigers are looking to advance to Super Regionals for the first time since 2017.
The winner of Friday's contest will square off against the winner of host Clemson and UNCG on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT. The two losing teams will square off in the first of two elimination games on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT. Television assignments for the reminder of the Clemson Regional will an announced following the conclusion of Friday's game.
Brit Bowen will have radio coverage for every game of the Clemson Regional on the Auburn Sports Network.
Auburn has faced Cal State Fullerton three times with the Titans holding a 2-1 advantage. The two teams last met in Fullerton in 2015 with Cal Sate Fullerton hanging on for a 3-2 win. Auburn has faced the Titans once on a neutral site back in 2001. The 10-inning affair ended in favor of the Titans 4-3. Cal State Fullerton earned an at-large bid into the tournament after finishing second in the Big West.
The Tigers' lone meeting versus Clemson came in the 2022 Clemson Regional. Maddie Penta and Clemson's Valarie Cagle, a top three finalist for USA Softball's 2023 National Player of the Year, faced off in a pitching duel with Clemson edging out a 1-0 win. If Auburn were to face Southern Conference Tournament Champion UNCG over the weekend, it would be a first-time meeting between the two squads.
Earning NFCA All-Southeast Region First Team honors earlier today, Maddie Penta enters the Clemson Regional with a 25-5 record, leading the SEC and ranking sixth nationally in wins. She is just three victories shy of breaking the program's single-season wins records.
The SEC Pitcher of the Year, Penta ranks second in the country with 287 strikeouts to her credit, which set the program's junior strikeout record. Her strikeout total ranks third in Auburn single-season history, and she is just 13 shy of becoming just the second Tiger in school history to record 300 strikeouts in a season. The right-hander ranks ninth nationally with a 1.10 earned run average.
Auburn's pitching staff has totaled 22 shutouts this season, which leads the SEC and ranks nationally behind only No. 1 Oklahoma and Boston University. Auburn's 22 shutouts are the third most recorded in a single season on the Plains. Auburn's staff also tops the nation with 453 strikeouts and is just one of five pitching staffs in the country to record 400 or more strikeouts this season. Issuing just 85 walks, Auburn also boasts a nation's best 5.33 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.
Thirteen different Tigers have knocked a home run this season with 10 slugging at least two. Bri Ellis currently ranks 10th 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 62 home runs, the seventh most recorded in a single season on the Plains.
All-SEC and NFCA All-Southeast Region selection Nelia Peralta has reached base safely in 53 of Auburn's 57 contests and ranks ninth in the SEC with a .487 on-base percentage. 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 0.70 walks per game, which ranks seventh in the SEC. Peralta leads the team in batting average (.336), runs scored (38) and hits (50).
On a hot streak over the last month, All-SEC performance Denver Bryant has gone 14-for-33 (.424) at the plate since April 19 and risen her batting average for the season to .324 to rank second on the team. 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 .975 fielding percentage, the fourth highest among SEC teams and the 25th best in the country.
The winner of the Clemson Regional will face the winner of the Norman Regional, which features top-seeded Oklahoma, Hofsta, Missouri and Cal.