The No. 19 Auburn Tigers (33-13, 9-6 SEC) head to Tuscaloosa this weekend for a three-game set with the No. 14 Alabama Crimson Tide (33-13, 9-6 SEC) at Rhoads Stadium.
“This is the first time any member of our roster has played a series at Alabama,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “We did have an SEC Tournament game there in 2021, but we weren’t playing Alabama. We didn’t face them in that tournament. It’s going to be a grind. We have to show up. We have to pay attention to us and get our energy from our teammates and our dugout.”
Auburn comes into this series after taking two out of three games against the No. 13 LSU Tigers at home at Jane B. Moore Field last weekend and picking up a 3-0 victory over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at home on Wednesday night.
Alabama comes into this weekend after sweeping the Mississippi State Bulldogs on the road last weekend and losing 5-3 to the Liberty Flames and beating the Marshall Thundering Heard 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Alabama's pitching staff has been outstanding this season. Graduate Montana Fouts, senior Lauren Esman, junior Jaala Torrence and redshirt sophomore Alex Salter have put together a 1.93 team ERA. Fouts has a 1.50 ERA, a 0.75 WHIP and 244 strikeouts to 30 walks in 158.1 innings of work. Esman has a 2.32 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP and 34 strikeouts to 11 walks in 48.1 innings of work. Torrence has a 2.38 ERA, a 0.78 WHIP and 39 strikeouts to 16 walks in 50 innings of work. Salter has a 2.43 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP and 26 strikeouts to 17 walks in 54.2 innings of work.
Graduate Ally Shipman, freshman Kenleigh Cahalan and junior Bailey Dowling have led the way for the Crimson Tide at the plate this season. Shipman is batting .333 with three home runs and 25 RBIs. Cahalan is batting .321 with six home runs and 24 RBIs. Dowling is batting .315 with seven home runs and 34 RBIs.
First pitch for game one is set for today at 8:00 p.m. CDT. First pitch for the second game is set for tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. CDT. First pitch for the series finale on Sunday is set for 11:30 a.m. CDT. The first two games will be broadcasted on the SEC Network and ESPN will broadcast the last game.
