AUBURN, Ala. – Another top-five opponent awaits No. 23 Auburn softball (21-8, 0-6 SEC) in Southeastern Conference play as the Tigers trek to Austin to face No. 2 Texas (28-2, 2-1 SEC) in a three-game series at Red & Charline McCombs Field.
“Texas is a great team,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “They are pretty complete in every area with World Series experience. They are going to be similar to Texas A&M in terms of athleticism. They’ve got speed and power options. It’s going to be a hostile environment. At the end of the day, we’ve got to understand that there’s a way to go after every opponent. Everyone is beatable. We’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves. If we don’t show up, it doesn’t matter what Texas has. If we give ourselves a chance to compete and have an attack mindset, we’ve got a shot.”
The series begins on Friday at 4 p.m. CT. Lincoln Rose and Cat Osterman will have the call on the SEC Network+. Game two is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. CT with Rose and Osterman returning to the booth for the SEC Network+. Sunday’s series finale is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT and will be a radio passthrough game on the SEC Network+.
JJ Jackson will have radio coverage live from Austin for all three games on WEGL 91.1 FM and the Auburn Sports Network.
Auburn and Texas have only met twice prior to this weekend’s series. The last meeting came in 2022 in Clearwater, Florida, as the Tigers upset the ranked Longhorns by a 6-2 final. This weekend marks just the second trip Auburn has made to Austin and the first in the regular season. The Tigers competed in the 2012 Austin Regional and fell to Texas 6-1.
Texas enters the weekend with just two losses through its first 30 games and is coming off its first Southeastern Conference series win after taking two games at No. 3 Florida. The Gators salvaged game three with a 3-1 score on Monday night. The other loss came back in February at the hands of No. 18 Stanford.
The Longhorns lead the SEC and rank second nationally with a team batting average of .379. Four Longhorns hold a batting average above .400 with Mia Scott leading the way with a .487 average. Reese Atwood leads the team with 11 home runs, 44 RBI and a .942 slugging percentage entering the series.
In the circle, Texas holds a 1.80 team earned run average with the help of 11 shutouts. Teagan Kavan is the leader of the staff with an 11-1 record. She boasts a 1.63 ERA and has recorded 98 strikeouts.
Auburn enters the weekend coming off a wild midweek victory as the Tigers overcame a five-run deficit with help of three home runs, including the walk-off winner from AnnaLea Adams, to knock off South Alabama 7-6 on Wednesday. It was the second career walk-off hit for Adams.
She continues to be the hottest hitter in the lineup. In the last 17 games, Adams is hitting .477 with four doubles, four home runs and 15 RBI. Despite not playing in 11 of Auburn’s 29 games, the freshman still ranks in the top five among the team in RBI (18), total bases (41), doubles (4) and home runs (5) this season.
Auburn has already matched 80 percent of its 2024 home run total of 45 after slugging 36 through the first 29 games. Anna Wohlers hit two in the South Alabama win, including the first grand slam of her collegiate career. She also set a career high with six RBI to take over as the team leader with 25. Wohelrs now ranks 15th in the SEC in total home runs with 8.
Wohlers joins Icess Tresvik (6) and Nelia Peralta (5) as returning starters that have already surpassed their 2024 home run totals while Abbey Smith, Rose Roach and Kylie Brockman have all hit the first home runs of their respective careers.
SJ Geurin is tied for the national lead in wins after picking up her 14th win of the season in her relief effort on Wednesday. She has been directly involved in 18 of Auburn’s 21 victories by either recording the win or the save. Her 1.54 ERA is good for 12th in the SEC.