AUBURN, Ala. – After winning five of its last six Southeastern Conference games, No. 19 Auburn softball (28-10, 6-3 SEC) looks to pick up its third straight series win with a road test against No. 15 Florida (26-9, 4-5 SEC) at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
"Florida has speed and power throughout the lineup, and they are playing at home," said head coach Mickey Dean. "When you're playing a team on the road, you really must find a way to stay within yourself and to produce your energy to make it your home field. That's going to be a great challenge for us. We're going to work. We're going to stay focused on us. We're going to watch our video, so we don't see any surprises."
The series opens Thursday at 5 p.m. CT. With schedule changes throughout the conference due to expected weather, Thursday's game has been elevated to air on the SEC Network. Friday's contest will feature a 5 p.m. CT first pitch while Saturday's finale is set for 12 p.m. CT. The final two games of the series will air on the SEC Network+. Kyle Crooks and three-time All-American Francesca Enea will be in the booth for all three games.
JJ Jackson will have radio coverage for all three games of the series on the Auburn Sports Network.
Florida leads the all-time series with a 48-23 advantage. Auburn is searching for its second series win in Gainesville and its first since 2002. Auburn's last road series win against a ranked SEC team came in April of 2019 against No. 5 Tennessee. Auburn has not won three straight SEC series since the 2018 season.
After opening conference play with a series win over Missouri, the Gators have dropped back-to-back series at Arkansas and at South Carolina. Florida is 15-2 this season while playing at home and holds a .373 team batting average and a 2.08 earned run average with six shutouts at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
The Tigers have won six of their last seven games including back-to-back conference series wins over Missouri and Ole Miss. Auburn clinched the Ole Miss series behind Maddie Penta's fourth complete-game shutout of the season. Abbey Smith stole home on a designed play in the third inning to plate the only run of the finale.
In her last five starts, Maddie Penta has struck out 50 batters and has allowed just six hits and two earned runs in 32 innings of work. Penta leads the SEC in victories with her 16-4 record and is fourth in the league with a 0.89 earned run average. She ranks third nationally with 183 strikeouts.
Auburn's pitching staff has totaled 16 shutouts this season, the second most in the league and the third most in the country. The Tiger staff is the only staff in the country to record at least 300 strikeouts this season with a nation-leading 316. Auburn also leads the country with a 7.18 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The Tigers continue to slug a big bat as Auburn knocked four home runs in the series opener versus Ole Miss. It was the second time this season that Auburn has recorded four home runs in a single. The Tigers rank second in the conference with 45 home runs.
Thirteen different Tigers has knocked a home run this season with nine slugging at least two. Bri Ellis currently ranks eighth in the SEC with nine home runs. Tracking towards another program record, Ellis needs just 10 homers throughout the remainder of the season to shatter the program's sophomore record held by Kasey Cooper. Just 38 games into her sophomore season, Ellis stands 11th in school history for career home runs with 29. She needs just two to move into 10th outright.
Nelia Peralta has reached base safely in 36 of Auburn's 38 contests and ranks seventh in the SEC with a .523 on-base percentage. Peralta leads the team with 30 walks. She averages 0.79 walks per game, ranking fourth in the SEC. Racking up the slugging numbers during her senior campaign, Lindsey Garcia leads the team with 31 RBI.
Auburn has turned the page defensively, turning in seven straight error-free performances to raise its team fielding percentage to .973.
The Tigers return to Jane B. Moore Field for a Wednesday midweek tilt versus Troy. First pitch on the SEC Network+ is set for 6 p.m. CT. Auburn continues its decades celebration with "80s Night" as fans will receive a free 80s-inspired Auburn softball t-shirt will supplies last. Wednesday also features a ticket special as fans can receive a game ticket and concession voucher for a hot dog and chips for $10.
