No. 22 Tigers continues home schedule with weekend’s Tiger Invitational

No. 22 Tigers continues home schedule with weekend’s Tiger InvitationalNo. 22 Tigers continues home schedule with weekend’s Tiger Invitational
Cat Wofford/Auburn Athletics

AUBURN, Ala. – For the second straight weekend, the Auburn softball team will play its weekend schedule at Jane B. Moore Field as the Tigers host this year's edition of the Tiger Invitational.

Auburn, ranked No. 22 in the latest NFCA/USA Today and No. 21 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com Top 25 polls, will put its 7-3 record on the line Friday when the Tigers face Villanova (2:00 p.m.) and North Dakota State (4:30 p.m.). The following day, Auburn will play Eastern Illinois (2:00 p.m.) before playing the Bison (4:30 p.m.) again. Sunday's action will conclude with the Tigers squaring off against Villanova (11:30 a.m.) then Troy (2:00 p.m.).

Auburn's Friday games against Villanova and North Dakota State as well as Saturday's games against EIU and NDSU will be broadcasted on SEC Network +. All six of the Tigers' games this weekend will be available on radio on the Auburn Sports Network.  

"I just want to see us get better each day. I want to see us fight like we have been and I want to see us get better each day, that's our process right now — let's get better each day and finish games," Auburn head coach Mickey Dean said. "It's going to be a good challenge for us this weekend."

As a team, Auburn enters the season's second weekend with a .365 batting average, which is second best in the Southeastern Conference and 12th in the entire country. Casey McCrackin and Tannon Snow will look to make it three straight Sunday games with back-to-back home runs as the duo has accomplished the feat on Feb. 10 against Florida A&M then Feb. 17 against Furman.

Perfect 10: McCrackin and Justus Perry enter this weekend's Tiger Invitational having reached base in every Auburn game this season. McCrackin is currently riding a career on-base streak that spans 23 straight games, while Perry's 10-game streak is also a career long for the junior.

Keeping it 100: Alyssa Rivera and Kendall Veach are on the verge of eclipsing 100 hits for their respective careers. Rivera, a junior outfielder, sits at 99 career hits heading into this weekend whereas Veach is at 93. McCrackin is knocking on the door, too, as the senior second baseman has 87 hits.

FULL TIGER INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22

9:00 AM                             EIU                                     vs.                        Villanova

11:30 AM                           EIU                                     vs.                        Troy

2:00 PM                              Villanova                            @                         Auburn

4:30 PM                              North Dakota State             @                         Auburn

7:00 PM                              North Dakota State             vs.                        Troy

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23

9:00 AM                             Troy                                   vs.                        EIU

11:30 AM                           Troy                                   vs.                        Villanova

2:00 PM                              EIU                                     @                         Auburn

4:30 PM                              North Dakota State             @                         Auburn

7:00 PM                              North Dakota State           vs.                        Villanova                    

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24

9:00 AM                             EIU                                     vs.                        North Dakota State      

11:30 AM                           Villanova                            @                         Auburn

2:00 PM                              Troy                                    @                         Auburn