No.25 Auburn (12-2-1) will travel to No.12 Missouri (17-2) this weekend to open conference play. The SEC is loaded with talented teams and Missouri is no exception. The home Tigers will be a tough test for Auburn to open up SEC play.
The good news for Auburn - it is playing well heading into the weekend. The visiting Tigers have won their last seven games with their last loss coming on February 24th. On the flip side, Auburn was unable to stay sharp due to inclement weather postponing the mid-week game against Troy. What impact, if any, will that have on Auburn this weekend remains to be seen.
Missouri enters the opening weekend of SEC play winners of its last five games. The Tigers' offense can really do damage to opposing teams. They currently have two players hitting over .400 this season and three hitting over .300. Alex Honold leads the team with a .419 batting average and an OPS of 1.147.
The good news for Auburn is that while Missouri hits for a high average, the home Tigers have yet to hit for power, only hitting 11 home runs so far this season. Missouri also only has 13 extra-base hits this season as well. The key for the home Tigers is more of a station-to-station approach. They typically do not score in bunches.
For Auburn to have success in the series, it will need to limit Missouri's top hitters from finding the gaps and Auburn has the perfect pitcher to do just that. Maddie Penta has continued her tear this season as one of the best pitchers in all of college softball. She has an ERA of 0.60 in nine games.
Penta has been nothing short of incredible and Auburn will need her at her best in this series. She will most likely pitch the first and third games of the series. Missouri's team batting average is .313 while opponents' average against Penta is just .128. It will be fascinating to see this matchup.
Missouri, on the other hand, is not without strong pitching as well. Cierra Harrison and Laurin Krings each have sub-.200 ERA's so far this season. Harrison is 5-0 in her starts this season while Krings is 7-2. Auburn's lineup will have to find success against both in order to win the series.
Auburn's team batting average is currently .286. Makayla Packer leads the team in batting averaging hitting .375 and Anna Wohlers is right behind her batting .371. Both hitting well is crucial to winning the series for Auburn.
The series begins Friday at 4:00 p.m. in Columbia, Missouri. Game two's first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and game three's first pitch is scheduled for noon on Sunday. Each game will air on the Auburn Sports Network and SEC Network+.
