softball ready

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Auburn softball ready to be where its feet are, eyeing a run as host of the SEC Tournament

Published: May. 08, 2024, 6:00 a.m.

6–7 minutes

While a cover of Travis Tritt’s “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” played over the speakers during Auburn softball’s practice Tuesday afternoon, members of Auburn’s team couldn’t help but lift their hands to the sky as they lifted their face as if to bask in the afternoon sun.

It was the day before their first game of the 2024 SEC Tournament and the Tigers were practicing in the comfort of their own home as Auburn’s Jane B. Moore Field was ready to roll as the tournament’s host site for the first time since 2007.

“Being at home, we have our own fans, we have our own bullpen, field, all of that. We know what we’re in for, we get to sleep in our own beds, it’s awesome,” said Auburn ace pitcher Maddie Penta. “But I think we’re on a good note going into this tournament, especially being able to come out of that lower spot and move up in the rankings a little bit and putting ourselves in a better situation.”

Prior to Saturday, Auburn found itself near the bottom of the barrel in the conference standings, which would’ve required the Tigers to play an additional play-in-type game Tuesday night.

Instead, a massive series win over rival Alabama bolstered Auburn out of that first game and helped the Tigers earn a more favorable draw as the tournament’s No. 10 seed.

“I think we’re feeling good. I think we want to keep the momentum that we’ve been having. We’ve been learning from mistakes, losses and things like that,” said Anna Wohlers, who sits as Auburn’s leading hitter. “I think our last win over Alabama, we’re really going to hone in on that and bring the Auburn team, the Auburn spirit, we’re just going to bring everything we’ve got.”

Auburn’s first game of the SEC Tournament is set for Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m., when the Tigers will see the seventh-seeded Georgia Bulldogs for the first time this season.

And as Auburn head coach Mickey Dean pointed out, there’s currently very little separating the middle eight teams in the league standings.

“The middle eight teams in the league are all separated by two games. If you show up and play well, you’ve got a chance,” Dean said.

And while the Tigers are going to need a balanced attack to make a run in the 13-team SEC Tournament, which features 10 teams ranked inside USA Softball’s top 25 rankings, anyone who has watched postseason softball knows the pitching staff is as important as ever.

“You need more than one pitcher, you need more than two pitchers, really, in order to win a tournament or to do anything in postseason,” Penta said.

Fortunately for Auburn, the Tigers have received solid outings in the circle from all three of its arms in Penta, senior lefty Shelby Lowe and junior Annabelle Widra.

Most recently, Widra notched her first complete-game shutout in SEC play in a seven-inning effort in the series finale against Alabama. Widra held the Crimson Tide to four hits and tallied seven strikeouts to help the Tigers polish off their in-state rivals and clinch the series.

Meanwhile, Penta has continued her historic college career while maintaining an ERA of 1.82 and needing just 26 strikeouts to reach the 250-strikeout mark for the third consecutive season.

Lowe has also found her stride down the stretch of the season.

“You always hope everyone is peaking towards the end of the season,” Dean said Tuesday. “And all of our pitchers have gone through some struggles at some point during the season, but it seems like we finished on a high note, so hopefully that just carries forward.”

Dean adds that coming off a series win like last weekend’s over Alabama shouldn’t be overlooked as the Tigers “should be carrying some confidence with them.”

However, the goal as postseason play unfolds is to keep Auburn grounded.

“The game doesn’t move any faster than one pitch at a time and I think when we get ourselves into trouble as players and coaches is when we start thinking too far ahead instead of just focusing on this pitch, this pitch, this pitch,” Dean said. “And so we just want to make sure we are where our feet are, we’re not letting our mind wander.”

For Dean, who announced on March 26 that he’d be retiring at the conclusion of the 2024 season, he’s trying to take his own advice.

“If I’m thinking about that, how am I enjoying this?,” Dean said when asked about his approaching retirement. “And I want to enjoy this, I really do. I want them to enjoy this. I can’t be thinking about all that other stuff.”

After all, even after seven seasons on The Plains, the approaching SEC Tournament proves there are still “firsts” to be experienced for the soon-to-be-retired Dean, who has never seen the Tigers host the tournament.

“It’s nice to sleep in your own bed, it’s nice not to have to pack and now it’s an opportunity to play in your own community and have fun. Enjoy it. You don’t get this opportunity often,” Dean said. “You know, you think about it and even if they keep rotating it, it’s going to be 15, 16 years before it comes back to Auburn, so enjoy it.”

Auburn is set to begin its SEC Tournament play Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. as it takes on Georgia. Should the Tigers win, they’ll advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal, where they’ll run into second-seeded Florida at 4 p.m.

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