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They didn’t mention names. All Marshall said was it wouldn’t be announced until after the WCWS.

Ashley Waters is at Charlotte. She’s a very good pitching coach, and they’ve knocked off a few teams over the past few years. She’s engaged to the baseball coach at Charlotte. Kristen Bedbenner is at Wichita State, and they hit well. She got them facility upgrades, and I’m not certain she’d leave. Kumar is at Miami, Ohio. They hit really well and scored 6 or 7 runs on Oklahoma. She also was an assistant under D’Amour at Virginia Tech. Everyone seems to think it’ll be D’Amour. Phillip Marshall said Cohen had coaches reaching out about the job.

I wish him well. It sounds like he will stick around as an advisor to the Cohen. He also mention he needed to take care of personal matters. I hope he is healthy for when he is able to retire. I am glad there is some resolution for the team and the fans though. Now, the fun part where we speculate. I hope Auburn can pull a big time name, whether it be a head coach or an assistant. My list: Kenny Gajewski: I didn’t like how he handled the Maxwell situation, but he’s built a regular contender for OKC. He might be willing to make a change with the conference realignment and where Oklahoma State landed. Marissa Young: She’s done really well building the program at Duke. She also wouldn’t have the same academic standards as she does at Duke. Pete D’Amour: He’s done well at Virginia Tech, and we saw first hand how solid his teams are at the plate. I’ve read he prefers male coaches, and I’m not sure how well that will go over. Gerry Glasco: He’s done well at Louisiana, but his record at Louisiana isn’t much better than Dean’s was at James Madison. He’s also close to Dean’s age, so I don’t want to get in another situation like we are in now. Chris Malveaux: One of the premier hitting coaches in the country and has revitalized Tennessee’s program. His wife also coaches the catchers and base runners. Steve Singleton: He’s also one of the top offensive minds in the country, and he’s made Texas very scary at the plate. JT Gasso: Widely considered the top offensive mind in the country and knows what it takes to run a program. I’m not sure he’d leave Oklahoma, but it is worth a shot.

Maybe this means he really is retiring at the end of the year.

Bri’s alluded to how Auburn coaches treated her in different interviews, but it is really sad to see her in tears in every photo. She is showing how good of a player she can be this season, especially the past two weeks. Lenti’s been accused of physical and verbal abuse in the past. I’m still confused how he got a job at Auburn with these allegations and why he continues to have a job at Auburn with the lack of hitting success. I will continue to support the players and watch the games, but I think it is time for a coaching change.

I will say one thing about the girls: they seem to be really close and supportive of each other.

I gave Dean a chance and made excuses based on the circumstances he inherited from the previous regime and the players he recruited during his tenure, but I do not think Dean should lead the program after this season. I hope Cohen is willing to make a change in order to capitalize on the growth in softball.

Based on interviews, she been working with the offense with Lenti handling “offensive strategy,” whatever that means.

Treavik drops a fly ball because she isn’t wearing sunglasses then Roach error puts two on with one out. Next batt hits a three run homer, so Widra should have been out of the inning but errors extend.

We’ll see how they respond today. This Missouri team is not the same one we swept last year. I’ve been a little bit of a Dean apologist, but I’ve always thought this season was the one to truly assess the trajectory of the program. There are rumors Dean plans to retire, and I’m not sure what that means for the other coaches. I’ll wait and see what happens with the season and the staff’s coaching plans before I start sharing my thoughts.

I expect this weekend to tell us a lot about this year’s team and how we will perform in the SEC and postseason.

Virginia Tech beat Georgia last night. Wichita State also beat Arkansas last night. Should be good for our RPI.

I like this lineup the more I look at it. The only changed I’d make is move Peralta 2nd and Wohlers to 3rd to break up the lefty bats in the lineup. I’m not sure if Smith isn’t getting on base at a high enough percentage to be in the lineup or if Dean wants Roberts or Clemmons for power bats, but we need to figure out ways to manufacture more runs.

We struggled to get a timely hit against Utah, but I’ve liked our approach at the plate in Puerto Vallarta. The team has been more patient, resulting in more walks and a higher OBP%, but they’ll need to more aggressive when there are runners on base in order to score more runs. I’d like to see this order for the Clemson game: 1. Peralta (SS) 2. McCrary (LF) 3. Wohlers (3B) 4. Lech (1B) 5. Tresvik (RF) 6. Elkins (C) 7. Roberts / Clemmons / Smith (DP) 8. Packer (CF) 9. Roach (2B)

It’s going to be a long year if we continue to strikeout at this rate.

I’ll give a projected lineup a shot. I have not added Stroud or Mariah Penta as options since they were injured in the Fall. 1. Smith (RF): She hit over 0.400 in the FGCL this summer and performed well this fall. It would greatly benefit the team’s run production if she can carry this success into season, especially with her speed on the base paths. 2. Packer (CF): She hit .350 with 10 HRs before she got hurt her sophomore year, and she seems to finally be healthy again. Smith and Packer’s speed on the base path at the same time would be a nightmare for opponents. 3. Peralta (SS): She hit over .350 before her hand injury last year, and she can move into a run producer role rather than leading off for the team. 4. Lech (1B): She hit 16 HRs for Maryland last year with a 0.286 average. Hopeful she can improve her average, but she has the power for the 4 spot. 5. Wohlers (3B): She hit 0.364 with 12 HRs in 2023 at DePaul. I’m not sure if she will carry those numbers into the SEC, but she is a solid left-handed bat in the middle of the lineup. She might catch some too if Lisenby needs a break. 6. Tresvik (RF): She showed power with 10 HRs in 2023, and I am hopeful she can improve her average in 2024 and build on her All-SEC Tournament Team performance in 2023. There are other options if she is not fully healthy headed in 2024 as mentioned by Dean in some interviews. 7. TBD (DP): I think there a lot of options with McCrary, Widra, Roberts, Martin, Milanowski, Clemmons, and McNemar. All these players will get shots at other places in the field if someone does not perform. 8. Lisenby (C): She hit between .230 - .250 in her first two years, and I am hopeful she can raise her average. She manages our staff really well behind the plate regardless of her average. 9. Roach (2B): She performed really well at the end of the year and earned All-SEC Tournament Team. Hopeful she can build on this success.

No, neither revealed their sources, but both said they were close to the program. The main point of disagreement centered around whether or not he was on the hot seat. One poster thinks is on the hot seat, and the other poster claimed it didn’t matter because he was retiring within the next year or two. I tend to lean towards the latter at this point. The list of candidates was similar to the ones mentioned above.

Lots of discussion on Robocoach about Dean’s retirement at the end of this year or next year. His contract runs through the end of 2026 season, so it’ll be interesting to see if he decides to retire early. I think the job will be more attractive than it was in 2017 because the overall timing of the change and the perception around the required “clean up” following the Myers’ scandal.

I used to think Kenny would be a great option, but the Maxwell transfer changed my perception of him. He’s also made questionable assistant coaching decisions recently, so I’m interested to see how they do this year. Deifel at Arkansas or Lombardi at Oregon would be my first calls. D’Amour would be high on my list too, but I’d want to understand his role on the Missouri staff when the head coach was fired for abuse. From the non-power 5, I’d look at Glasco at Louisiana or Ball-Malone at UCF. If you go after an assistant, Malveaux from Tennessee or one of the Gasso brothers would be my top choices.

Where do you see Widra fit in when not pitching? Based on the articles released following Fall Ball, she performed well at the plate.

Northern Iowa has us their schedule, so I think Longwood tagged Northern Illinois instead of Northern Iowa.

Auburn to play UAB on February 28 and April 10 according to UAB’s schedule.

Auburn will have two games against Georgia Tech and two games against Louisiana Tech the weekend of April 5 - 7. It is our off weekend in the SEC.

The weekend of March 1 - 3 Northwestern, North Texas, and USC Upstate will come to Auburn according to USC Upstate’s 2024 schedule. We will play two games against USC Upstate (Friday and Sunday) but no other games confirmed against the others Northwestern lost 4 group of seniors who made it to Supers in 2023 and the WCWS in 2022, including their best pitcher and two top hitters. North Texas beat Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech last year.

I think I remembering reading somewhere Tresvik has a shoulder issue. She showed a lot of power and consistency at the plate towards the end of the season, so I imagine Dean will want to preserve her bat with the Widra, Rolfe, Clemmons, and Tamborra showing promise in the circle. I’d imagine we’ll see Smith, Packer, and Tresvik in the outfield with McCrary subbing in and out depending on Tresvik’s health. Peralta seems to be the only lock in the infield at this time, so I’m interested to see who wins out at the other spots. Roach performed really towards the end of the season, and Widra also performed really well this fall. I can’t imagine we signed Lech and Wohlers to sit either. Im excited to see what happens in February.