The Auburn University softball program has tasted greatness.
Last season ended on a disappointing note, with a loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series championship game. The best two of three series had it all. Dominant pitching, a comeback for the ages, and a walk-off grand slam that will continue to zoom outfield through Auburn athletic history. The only thing that Auburn didn’t experience in their first ever trip to the title game was a victory.
The Tigers turned in their best back to back seasons in program history, and are now looking to make a yearly trip to the natty a reservation. After sweeping Kentucky on the road in late April of 2016, Auburn ranked second in the nation in the Top 25, their highest placement ever. Auburn finished third in the final poll of the season, behind only the national champion Sooners and SEC foe Florida. Preseason analysis of this year’s edition of AU softball has led many to pin the Tigers near the top once again. In a poll conducted Wednesday between the 13 other SEC head coaches, Auburn was selected to finish second in the conference this season, with the Florida Gators grabbing the top spot. Alabama and LSU rounded out the top four.
Auburn gets an immediate shot at redemption in 2017, and has reloaded well. Auburn lost nine seniors who played their final game against OU. Among those were Kelsey Bogaards, Lexi Davis, Madison Dickey, Marcy Harper, Tiffany Howard, Maria Mitchell, Jade Rhodes, Rachael Walters, and the hero of Game 2 against Oklahoma, Emily Carosone. Auburn will certainly miss the firepower and vigor of the class of 2016. However, The Tigers return ESPNW Player of the Year Kasey Cooper, who has been heralded by many as the best player in the country. Senior Haley Fagan looks to close out her career on the Plains with a bang, after being sidelined most of the 2016 campaign with a torn ACL, suffered in fall practice. Hot-handed pitchers Makayla Martin and Kaylee Carlson return, along with catcher Carlee Wallace. Outfielders Madi Gispon, Victoria Draper and Whitney Jordan fill out an experienced and energized lineup.
Auburn head coach Clint Meyers has tallied 156 victories in his three seasons on the Plains, along with a pair of World Series appearances. Meyers has taken a respectable Auburn program and turned them into superstars, being a team that looks to be a postseason threat for years to come. Meyers has coached three All-Americans in each year at Auburn, and directed the most potent offense in the nation in 2016. (Average of 7.94 runs per game, highest in NCAA since 2002)
The 2017 season opens with a familiar foe. Auburn takes on Oklahoma as their first opponent in the Triple Crown Challenge in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The Tigers' trip across the border will also include match ups against the Washington Huskies, Nebraska Cornhuskers, and BYU Cougars.
Revenge is obviously the looming theme for this year’s squad, as it jolts ahead with a chance for reclamation against the Sooners. If Auburn is to return to the WCWS this season, it starts with taking down Oklahoma, which would solidify the Tigers as a national power once again.
Auburn got a taste of greatness in 2015, barely being edged out in the WCWS to a fourth-place finish, and got even closer in 2016. The Tigers now know what it feels like to be a game away from immortality. Look for this team to be driven, commanding, and, most frightening of all for the rest of the softball world, angry.
The Tigers SEC slate includes home series against LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri and Mississippi State, and away contests vs Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama. Auburn begins its journey back to the top with the Oklahoma rematch on February 9th at 1 PM CT on ESPNU. Home action begins on February 16th against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at Jane B. Moore field.
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