Stepping away from the most successful run in program history, head coach Clint Myers and the Auburn softball program have released the upcoming slate for the 2017 season. The Tigers schedule includes 56 regular season games with 31 taking place at Jane B. Moore Field.
Auburn will face teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season in 34 contests, 10 of them against teams that made the Women's College World Series.
The Tigers open the season outside the United States and will take part in the Triple Crown Tournament in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Feb. 9-11. Auburn’s opening day features tilts with Washington and Oklahoma, respectively, before facing Nebraska and BYU to close out the non-conference challenge.
Auburn will then host 21 consecutive home games, including three tournaments and a Southeastern Conference series on The Plains.
Following a duel with SIU-Edwardsville on Feb. 16, the Tigers will host the Plainsman Invitational, featuring the mentioned Cougars, Creighton, Evansville and Mercer, Feb. 17-19. Auburn holds a 22-4 all-time record against the teams competing and will meet SIU-Edwardsville for the first time in program history.
The Tigers then take on North Dakota on Feb. 23 before hosting the Tiger Invitational, Feb. 24-26. Teams featured in the tournament include the James Madison, North Dakota, UMass-Lowell and Yale. James Madison wrapped up last season with a 50-6 record and hosted a Super Regional in the NCAA Tournament.
Auburn hosts its final tournament, the Wilson/DeMarini Classic, at Jane B. Moore Field, March 3-5. Preceding the classic is a duel with Liberty, March 2. The Tigers are set to face College of Charleston, Liberty, Savannah State and 2016 NCAA Tournament participant Texas State.
Following an in-state battle with Alabama State on March 8, Auburn opens SEC play by hosting WCWS attendee LSU for a three-game set, March 10-12. The Tigers in orange and blue defeated LSU last season in the SEC Tournament Championship game to capture back-to-back conference titles.
Then, Auburn opens a 14-game road swing by taking on a common opponent in an uncommon scenario. The Tigers will face Tennessee in a non-conference game March 14 at Ridley Park in Columbia, Tennessee. The matchup will not count toward the SEC records of either team.
The Tigers also face Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on March 15 to round out a two-game road trip to the Volunteer State.
Auburn will then take on Tampa, Florida for the USF Tournament, March 17-19. There the Tigers are slated to take on three NCAA Tournament teams in Illinois, North Dakota State and tournament host USF. Auburn will also face Army and Ohio State to complete the challenge.
SEC play ramps up the next two weekends as Auburn heads to Florida (March 24-26) and Georgia (March 31-April 2) for six conference contests. Last season, the Tigers split four meetings with the Gators and took all four decisions against the Bulldogs, including one at the WCWS.
Non-conference clashes with Samford (April 5) and Georgia State (April 12) sandwich a home league series against Ole Miss, April 7-9. Last season, Auburn outscored Samford and Georgia State 42-5 in four victories for the Tigers. Auburn did not face Ole Miss last season, but swept the Rebels in three games in 2014.
Next, the Tigers host a series against Missouri (April 14-16) before travelling to South Carolina (April 21-23) for a three-game set. Auburn has fared well against the Tigers and Gamecocks, respectively, winning seven of the last eight meetings versus the two programs.
The Tigers close out the regular season non-conference slate with a short drive to Montgomery, Alabama to face 2016 SWAC Champion Alabama State, April 26.
Auburn then shuts the door on the regular season as a whole with three tilts versus Mississippi State (April 28-30) and at Alabama (May 5-7). The Tigers took two of three from the Bulldogs last season and defeated the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament. All three wins against both opponents came in Starkville, Mississippi.
The Tigers will look to host an NCAA Regional for the third-straight year as the weekend for the opening round of the annual postseason tournament is May 18-21.
Super Regionals are set for the following weekend, May 26-28. The 2017 Women’s College World Series is scheduled to take place in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, June 1-7.
All game dates and times are subject to change, including the SEC tilts that are currently on the 2017 schedule, pending television assignments from the SEC Network.
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