Softball stuff

[aubiefifty 17,098]

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'It's a winnable region:' Auburn's Dean sees opportunity in Tallahassee

Dean is in no hurry to get to the finish line

Phillip MarshallMay 13th, 2:09 AM

 

Auburn's Mickey Dean says his focus is on his team. (Photo: Auburn University)

When Auburn is eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, Mickey Dean's time as head coach will be done. But as the Tigers prepare to go to the Tallahassee Regional, he says thoughts of the finish line can wait..

"I don't want to waste thought or energy on speculation," Dean said. "I know it's going to end at some point. My job now is just to stay focused on the team, do the work necessary to make sure they are prepared, help them any way possible and go coach to the best of my ability. When it's over, I will have plenty of time to think about it."

Auburn, the No. 2 seed, opens play in Tallahassee on Friday against No. 3 seed Central Florida at 1 p.m. CT. Host Florida State, the No. 15 national seed and No. 1 regional seed, plays No. 4 seed Chattanooga in the second game.

 

Dean says his players seemed to have moved on from the numbing disappointment of a 6-5 loss to Georgia in 14 innings in the SEC Tournament. And he says he believes the Tigers can do some damage.

"It's a winnable region," Dean said. "It's not a situation where we don't have a shot. You prepare your kids, get them ready, give them as much confidence as you can and hope they perform."

Dean offered no hint of whether he will start ace Maddie Penta against Central Florida or go with Shelby Lowe to keep Penta fresh for a potential meeting with Florida State on Saturday.

"I don't know yet," Dean said. "I won't know until I watch the video."

Dean says he expects UCF to be a significant challenge for the Tigers.

"They have always been a team that swings it pretty well," Dean said. "They've always had pretty good pitching. They are well-coached. They are playing close to home. It's going to be a tough matchup.""

Dean will take the Tigers to Tallahassee for the third time. In 2018, they beat Kennesaw State 5-2, lost to Florida State 2-1 and lost to Jacksonville State 3-2. In 2021, they lost 5-4 to UCF and 2-1 to Kennesaw State.

NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES

Auburn seniors Maddie Penta, Shelby Lowe and Makayla Packer will be out of eligibility after this season. How many others will leave or stay? Who will the next head coach be? Those are questions for after the tournament.

***

Alabama finished 10-14 in the SEC and in ninth place. LSU finished 12-12 and in eighth place. LSU is the No. 9 national seed. Alabama is the No. 14 national seed. That apparently makes sense to somebody.

***

D1Softball's final projections on Sunday morning had Auburn going to Stanford for its regional, but Dean paid no attention.

"We had the 1 or 2 strength of schedule," Dean said. "I knew we would be playing at the No. 15 or No. 16 seed. I just didn't know who it would be."

***

The committee's most controversial decision was leaving Duke, the regular-season and tournament champion in the ACC that was No. 4 in the RPI, out of the top eight. The Blue Devils, at 47-6, are the No. 10 seed.

***

Ole Miss, at No. 43, has the lowest RPI among at-large teams. The Rebels got hot down the stretch, winning series over Auburn at home and at Arkansas. They also beat Kentucky in the SEC Tournament. It was just enough to squeeze into the field.

 

[aubiefifty 17,098]

sorry about the above post. it would not let me clear the page and i even shut down and came back. weird.

[aubiefifty 17,098]

 

waka.com

 

Auburn's Maddie Penta earns All-SEC - WAKA 8

WAKA Action 8 News

1–2 minutes

---

Auburn Softball

Posted: May 10, 2024 11:56 AM CDT

by WAKA Action 8 News

Auburn senior pitcher Maddie Penta earns her third consecutive All-SEC honor. This season Penta received a second-team selection.

Penta has now become the third player in program history to earn three or more All-SEC selections. The other two Tigers to accomplish this were Mary Petrie (3) and Kasey Cooper (4).

During Auburn’s SEC schedule, Penta made 16 appearances with 12 of those being starts. Penta posted a 2.97 earned run average, a 1.30 WHIP, and threw seven complete games with one being a shutout.

Penta led the league this season in strikeouts and totaled 92 against conference opponents.

(Information from Auburn University)

[Mikey 16,777]

17 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

Dean offered no hint of whether he will start ace Maddie Penta against Central Florida or go with Shelby Lowe to keep Penta fresh for a potential meeting with Florida State on Saturday.

"I don't know yet," Dean said. "I won't know until I watch the video."

I'm not sure who Dean's top pitcher is. Penta hasn't been her "old self" lately. Still, saving pitching in a four team double elimination setup is folly. Use your best first. That way #1 can go in games 1 and 3.

[Jad0003 425]

48 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I'm not sure who Dean's top pitcher is. Penta hasn't been her "old self" lately. Still, saving pitching in a four team double elimination setup is folly. Use your best first. That way #1 can go in games 1 and 3.

To me, the hard part is navigating Shelby’s previous injury. She has not pitched two days in a row so far this season. We might see her pitch multiple days in a row this weekend, especially if we lose Game 1 on Friday or lose to FSU on Saturday. 

[RedDirtFan 53]

52 minutes ago, Jad0003 said:

To me, the hard part is navigating Shelby’s previous injury. She has not pitched two days in a row so far this season. We might see her pitch multiple days in a row this weekend, especially if we lose Game 1 on Friday or lose to FSU on Saturday. 

Not to mention the underlying turd in the punchbowl: How we were eliminated from SEC Tourney. Have Shelby and Dean moved on from their exchange between taters that knocked them out? The optics were bad, I would have liked to be a fly on the wall. I don't put it on Shelby. There was a better choice to relieve Penta and the payer told Dean there was an issue, which he pig-headedly ignored and did what he wanted, which ended up over the wall. Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya!

[aubiefifty 17,098]

17 minutes ago, RedDirtFan said:

Not to mention the underlying turd in the punchbowl: How we were eliminated from SEC Tourney. Have Shelby and Dean moved on from their exchange between taters that knocked them out? The optics were bad, I would have liked to be a fly on the wall. I don't put it on Shelby. There was a better choice to relieve Penta and the payer told Dean there was an issue, which he pig-headedly ignored and did what he wanted, which ended up over the wall. Don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya!

i admit dean had a hard act to follow but i have never cared for him. he always looks like he stepped in dog poo.

[80Tiger 904]

3 hours ago, Mikey said:

I'm not sure who Dean's top pitcher is. Penta hasn't been her "old self" lately. Still, saving pitching in a four team double elimination setup is folly. Use your best first. That way #1 can go in games 1 and 3.

You always play the game that is in front of you. Not the 2nd or 3rd game.

[RedDirtFan 53]

5 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

i admit dean had a hard act to follow but i have never cared for him. he always looks like he stepped in dog poo.

...or dropped his hat in it, or napped under a dog's behind . I've got a million of 'em. 

[arktiger1975 596]

Wish we could find us another Clint Myers. Minus the baggage, of course.

[tigerjonathan 6]

I predict that we will go 1-2, both loses to FSU. Not bashing but the sad reality of the situation at hand. 

 

[OlderWhiskey 977]

Well, we can't go 1-2 with both losses to FSU. If we win over UCF and lose to FSU, then we have to play the winner of the UCF-'Nooga game before FSU again.

[warladytigers 185]

All of you seem to be forgetting what AB did against Bama........she's not a slouch.

[RedDirtFan 53]

4 hours ago, warladytigers said:

All of you seem to be forgetting what AB did against Bama........she's not a slouch.

I think you're confusing us with Dean. 'Annie get yer gun' has her bright spots, but Dean doesn't believe in her, or enough to give her the innings.

[warladytigers 185]

18 hours ago, RedDirtFan said:

I think you're confusing us with Dean. 'Annie get yer gun' has her bright spots, but Dean doesn't believe in her, or enough to give her the innings.

Gave her the ball in the rubber match against Bama and she went the distance - so there's that!

[RedDirtFan 53]

3 hours ago, warladytigers said:

Gave her the ball in the rubber match against Bama and she went the distance - so there's that!

Lenti, is that you?