After a 2023 season that ended one game away from a trip to a super regional, the Auburn Tigers find themselves ranked at No. 20 in the Softball America preseason poll.
Atop the poll sits three-peat national champion Oklahoma, who is set to join the SEC in the 2025 season alongside No. 7 Texas. Rounding out the top five is No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 Clemson, who eliminated Auburn from regional play the last two seasons.
The Tigers recorded a 15-9 conference record in 2023 that included some notable series wins, including then-No. 15 Ole Miss, then-No. 13 LSU, then-No. 14 Alabama and a South Carolina squad that made an impressive postseason run to the SEC Tournament championship and the Tallahassee Regional final.
Alongside an impressive 2023 resume, Auburn is returning two All-SEC selections that include junior infielder Nelia Peralta and senior pitcher Maddie Penta as well as the Extra Inning Softball No. 25 2023 signing class.
In addition to being an All-SEC First Team honoree, Penta collected SEC All-Defensive Team accolades as well as becoming the first Tiger in program history to be named the SEC Pitcher of the Year. Penta also became the first Auburn player to be named to back-to-back All-SEC first teams since Kasey Cooper in 2017.
Penta’s heavily-decorated season didn’t end there. Before the start of the 2023 WCWS, she was named a NFCA First Team All-American, the first Auburn pitcher to ever pick up the honor. She was also tabbed as a D1 Softball Second Team All-American.
In her sophomore season, Peralta led the team in batting average (.329), OPS (1.040) and walks (43) while being one of two Tigers to start all 62 games of the 2023 season. Aside from being named to the All-SEC Second Team, Peralta was additionally named to the NFCA All-Southeast Region Third Team.
Other SEC teams named to the Softball America Preseason Poll include No. 2 Tennessee, No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 12 LSU, No. 17 South Carolina, No. 19 Texas A&M, No. 21 Alabama and No. 24 Florida.
In addition to a 2024 schedule that includes home series against Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, Auburn is also the host of the 2024 SEC Softball Tournament.
Auburn is set to kick off the season as the host squad of the Tiger Invitational on Feb. 9 through Feb. 11. The Tigers will first face No. 18 Virginia Tech on Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. CST.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
