#25 Ranked Auburn (13-4-1,1-2) takes on #20 ranked Arkansas (20-5) this weekend in a three game top 25 clash at Jane B. Moore field in Auburn. Auburn is coming off a 1-2 opening weekend in Missouri where they took on the 12th ranked Tigers. The Hogs are hot coming into town riding a three game win streak they will look to continue.
Despite Arkansas’ hot play as of late the Tigers are not going to go away either. Pitcher Maddie Penta has looked, so far, to be one of the best pitchers in the country let alone the SEC. Penta .80 ERA is an absurdly low number for her 70 innings of work in 11 appearances thus far this season. She will be expected to step up for the Tigers again as they look to snap their nine game losing streak to Arkansas, a streak that stretches back to May of 2019.
Auburn transfer and current Arkansas first baseman Brie Ellis is having a season that Auburn fans are familiar with, an impressive one. She is coming off an SEC player of the week performance as she will revisit Auburn for the first time since her transfer. Ellis is hitting .342 on the year with a team high in both homeruns with eight and RBIs with 28.
Auburn is not without their offensive weapons as Anna Wholers leads the team’s qualified hitters in batting average with an impressive .342. The Tigers also will look to Amelia Leach for production in their weekend upset bids. Leach leads qualified hitters slugging 1.353, she also leads the team in homeruns with seven and RBIs by far with 21.
A noteworthy stat for this clash is Arkansas’ 2-1 record away from home. Through 25 games they have only played three on the road. Auburn has an impressive 9-2-1 record at home, this provides a clear advantage for the Tigers as they head into this weekend as underdogs.
Auburn has had a lot of players get good reps early in the season, they have had 19 position players appear in games this season. Among those 19 only six of them are considered qualified hitter meaning they have played 75% of the games and are averaging two plate appearances a game.
The key for Auburn will be consistent pitching. After Maddie Penta the Tigers will look to both Annabelle Widra and Shelby Lowe who have the most appearances of any other pitchers outside of Penta. Shelby Lowe is 3-0 so far this season in her eight appearances as she will look to continue her good year when she gets in the circle for the Tigers.
The entire series will be streaming on the SECN+ and radio broadcasts can be heard all weekend on WEGL 91.1 FM and the Auburn Sports app in conjunction with the Auburn Sports Network.
