With the likes of top hitter Casey McCrackin and top pitcher Makayla Martin gone, Auburn and head coach Mickey Dean will be looking for big contributions from its senior class, along with some newcomers.
That’ll start with outfielder Alyssa Rivera, who’s coming off a season where she batted .333 with 10 home runs and the highest on-base percentage on the team (.426).
“This one here beside me (Alyssa Rivera) figured out today that she can be a triple-threat,” Dean said. “She comes up to coach (Eugene) Lenti and goes, ‘I was 4-for-4 today.’ Two of them were bunts for hits. It is just figuring out who you are, your game and so forth. That’s been the fun part.”
After the past three seasons, now that Rivera is a senior, she understands the need for making sure there’s good team chemistry.
“It’s very important,” Rivera said. “It all starts with us seniors. Except for one of the senior class, we’ve all been here for four years. We know the right things. We know the wrong things. Just having the team gel together and having everyone on the same page, on the right page is the most important thing. I think things are going great right now.”
The senior group will be joined by nine freshmen, who have already made an impact in practice.
“As far as newcomers, we’ve got several to be quite honest,” Dean said. “Maddison Keopke has done a really nice job. Maia Engelkes has done a really nice job. Tyler King, Jaylin Calvert … several. We’ve been surprised by a couple kids, which is nice. You always like good surprises.”
The Tigers will start their season in Clearwater, Florida, for the NFCA Leadoff Classic. They’ll start their season against Baylor but also have matchups with Notre Dame, Liberty, Texas State and Illinois while in Clearwater.
After the Plainsman Invitational, the Tigers will travel to California to participate in the Mary Nutter Classic.
Before the SEC schedule kicks off, Auburn will welcome 2019 Women’s College World Series participant Minnesota for the Tiger Invitational.
Dean knows the importance of playing a tough nonconference schedule before moving onto SEC play.
“If you take a look at our schedule, you can say I’m crazy, but we have a tough pre-season schedule,” Dean said. “That’s to get us ready for SEC play because we have 14-15 kids that have never played an SEC game. If we play a mush schedule before we get to SEC, it could be more of a detriment. We want to know what our weaknesses are, so that we can work on them. In order to find out what those are, we need to play high-caliber teams, and we are in our pre-season.
"It’s a double-edge sword. It’s scary, too. It’s going to keep their attention. I can promise you that.”
Even with being ranked at No. 22 in the D1Softball preseason poll, the Tigers were picked by coaches to finish 11th in the SEC.
While the schedule is tough, the team is embracing the challenge.
“I think what is great about the newcomers is that they have no idea, so they have to embrace it,” senior Justus Perry said. “I think that’s awesome. They don’t know any better. Once you know greatness, you keep doing greatness and you are greatness. I think at that point, they’ve just got to do it.”
Following the Leadoff Classic, the Tigers will have their first home game of the season on Thursday, Feb. 13 against Kennesaw State.
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