AUBURN, Ala. – In the final weekend of the regular season, Auburn softball (25-17-1, 7-14 SEC) welcomes in-state rival No. 17 Alabama (32-14, 9-12 SEC) for a three-game series at Jane B. Moore Field.
"It's going to be fun," said head coach Mickey Dean. "It's always an exciting, high stakes series. It's in-state. It's SEC. It is Auburn versus Alabama. It doesn't get any better than that. You can go play anywhere in the country, but Auburn versus Alabama is the game everyone wants to watch."
The series begins Thursday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Tigers will honor Shelby Lowe, Maddie Penta, Makayla Packer, Riley McNemar, KK McCrary, Abbey Smith and Rose Roach in a special on-field graduation ceremony prior to first pitch.
Friday features a 5 p.m. CT start on the SEC Network. Auburn will celebrate Dean pregame as he coaches his final regular season series as head coach of the Tigers. Friday is also the "All Auburn, All Orange" game as fans are encouraged to deck Jane B. Moore Field out in orange.
Saturday's series finale is slated for an 11 a.m. CT start on the SEC Network. Saturday is Maddie Penta Day on The Plains as Auburn celebrates its senior ace. Fans will receive a free Maddie Penta shark fin foam finger while supplies last. Penta will also participate in a special postgame photo and autograph session.
Roy Philpott and Danielle Lawrie will have the call for all three games. Local radio coverage can be found on WEGL 91.1 FM and the Auburn Sports Network. Brit Bowen will have the radio call and is joined throughout the weekend by Christian Griffin, Riley Kelton and Noah Phillips.
Last season, Auburn snapped a five-game losing skid to the Crimson Tide by winning a pair of games at Tuscaloosa to claim the series. Auburn is searching to win back-to-back series over Alabama for the first time since the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Looking to make a final push in the SEC standings, Auburn has the potential to move out of the Tuesday play-in game and into Wednesday's first round of action in next week's SEC Tournament based on this weekend's outcome. Alabama enters the series ninth in the SEC with its 9-12 record.
Auburn is looking to rebound after dropping a pair of games at Oxford last weekend. In the series opener, the Tigers won an 11-inning marathon that saw Penta and Lowe combine for 20 strikeouts, which set the program's single game record. Penta tallied 18 strikeouts herself, the most by any SEC pitcher in a conference game since Alabama's Alexis Osorio in 2017.
Penta is on the verge of a pair of milestones as she is just 12 strikeouts shy of recording the 900th of her collegiate career and 39 shy of tallying her third straight season with 250 or more strikeouts, a feat no Auburn pitcher has ever done.
With a strong performance in Oxford which included slugging the game-tying and game-winning home runs in Auburn's extra-inning thriller, Icess Tresvik now leads the team with a .311 batting average and 37 hits. Tresvik also stands fourth in the SEC with 17 stolen bases this season.
In SEC play, it's McCrary that tops the clubhouse with a .283 average. She's totaled 15 hits, 10 runs, two doubles, three triples and four RBI against league opponents.
Alabama is led by Kayla Beaver in the circle, who was named a top-26 finalist for USA Softball National Player of the Year earlier today. She has totaled 15 wins behind 144 strikeouts and a 1.64 earned run average. At the plate, Kenleigh Cahalan has totaled a team-leading 40 hits while Abby Duchscherer leads the team with 30 RBI.
