AUBURN, Ala. – Looking to make it three consecutive SEC series wins, Auburn softball’s (27-17, 4-14 SEC) final road conference test of the season comes at No. 4 Tennessee (34-9, 9-6 SEC) as the Tigers trek to Sherri Parker Lee Stadium for a three-game series.
“Karen (Weekly) is a very competitive person,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “She’s sharp. We know that staff very well. It’ll be cool to be back and see those fans again and be in that environment. That community was so good and supportive of our family. It’ll be competitive. I’m sure there will be some fireworks here and there, but it’s all in good competition.”
Chris and Kate Malveaux spent three seasons at Tennessee, helping the Lady Vols to back-to-back SEC regular season titles in 2023 and 2024 before taking the head coaching position at Auburn.
The series beings Thursday with a 5 p.m. CT first pitch. Game two is set for Friday at 5 p.m. CT. Saturday’s finale is slated for a 1 p.m. CT first pitch.
All three games are available on the SEC Network+. Andy Brock and Rylie West will have the call throughout the series. Brit Bowen and JJ Jackson will have radio coverage for all three games on WEGL 91.1 FM and the Auburn Sports Network.
Tennessee leads the all-time series with a 46-28 record, which includes a 24-9 mark in games played in Knoxville. The Lady Vols have won eight of the last 10 meetings. Auburn snapped an eight-game losing skid with its 4-1 victory in game three of the 2024 series. Auburn is searching for its first series win since taking two games in Knoxville back in 2019.
Tennessee enters the weekend tied for fourth in the SEC standings with Florida and Mississippi State as the trio all hold a 9-6 record. The Lady Vols are returning home after picking up a pair of wins at No. 1 Texas. Tennessee also took down No. 2 Oklahoma on the road earlier this season to become just the second team in SEC history to win regular season series over both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the same season.
Taylor Pannell leads Tennessee with a .437 average at the plate, which is the ninth highest in the SEC. She’s knocked 52 hits, including 24 for extra bases, and has added 41 runs scored and 49 RBI. She ranks eighth in the SEC in both RBI and home runs (13).
Pitching is where Tennessee shines as it leads the country with a 1.69 team earned run average. Karlyn Pickens, who is coming of her third consecutive National Fastpitch Coaches Association Pitcher of the Week award, leads the SEC with a 0.94 ERA behind her 17-4 record. She also leads the SEC and ranks ninth nationally with 173 strikeouts.
Auburn is coming off back-to-back SEC series wins as the Tigers upset No. 18 Georgia with the help of a pair of walk-off home runs from KK McCrary. McCrary knocked three home runs and drove in seven RBI across the series. The Tigers are looking to win three consecutive SEC series since ending the 2023 regular season with four straight series wins.
AnnaLea Adams continues to impress over her freshman campaign. She connected for her ninth home run of the season during the Georgia series. She is now tied with Jessie Blaine (2022) for the fourth most home runs ever hit by a Tiger freshman. She also enters the series with the second highest batting average and third highest slugging percentage (.735) recorded by an Auburn freshman.
Despite not playing in nine of Auburn’s 44 games, the freshman still ranks in the top five on the team in hits (39), RBI (28), doubles (6), home runs (9) and total bases (72).
Auburn has surpassed its 2024 team home run total (45) and its 2024 team runs scored total (213) and did so in just 42 games. The Tigers knocked 10 home runs over the Georgia series, which were the most over a three-game series since Auburn hit 11 at Arkansas in 2016. Auburn’s 54 home runs this season is currently the eighth most hit in a single season and the most slugged by the Tigers since 2023 (64).
Icess Tresvik leads the Tigers sluggers with 10 home runs. It marks the first time since her 2021 freshman season at North Carolina A&T that Tresvik has hit double-digit home runs in a season.
After only scoring double digit runs twice a season ago, Auburn has done so eight times in the first year under the Malveauxs. Auburn is 17-1 this season when scoring at least six runs.
SJ Geurin is third in the SEC and 13th nationally with 17 wins in the circle. Geurin has been directly involved in 21 of Auburn’s 27 victories by either recording the win or the save. She leads Auburn with a 2.93 ERA and 75 strikeouts.
Auburn boasts the third toughest schedule in the country as its opponents hold a .667 winning percentage entering the weekend. Four of Auburn’s seven SEC series have come against top-five opponents. The Tigers are also one of 15 teams nationally to have 12 or more wins over teams currently ranked in the top 50 of the NCAA RPI.