AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers look to start the “Malveaux Era” strong with a five-game weekend at Jane B. Moore Field during the Tiger Invitational.
The Tigers will host the Southern Illinois Salukis, the North Carolina Tar Heels, and the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Auburn will play both Southern Illinois and North Carolina twice, and App State once.
Auburn Tigers
The Tigers, now under the helm of Chris and Kate Malveaux, finished last season 29-21-1 (9-15 SEC), losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament to No.12 Florida State. The Malveaux’s most recently served as assistant coaches at Tennessee, both with a prior stop at Missouri. Chris also held positions at Kansas, Louisiana, Bradley and McNeese State. The Malveaux’s helped lead the Volunteers to back-to-back SEC regular season titles the last two seasons and a College World Series appearance in 2023.
The Tigers will be looking to fill the big shoes of Maddie Penta, one of the most decorated Auburn Tigers in history and a top pitcher in the NCAA over the last few seasons. Malayna Tamborra and Emmah Rolfe are the only two remaining Tigers from last year’s squad that toed the rubber, combining for just 28.2 innings. However, Auburn also brought in two transfer arms, right-hander Haley Rainey and southpaw SJ Geurin, to potentially fill that hole immediately.
Rainey will be using her final year of eligibility on the plains after calling Cal State Fullerton home for the last two years. The Washington native captured the Big West Pitcher of the Year last season after boasting a 19-7 record with a 1.68 ERA. Prior to Cal State Fullerton, Rainey played her first season at Idaho State where she won the Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
Geurin, a redshirt sophomore, transfers in from softball powerhouse Oklahoma after posting ten innings of work, allowing just a single run while striking out nine. Geurin was the No. 22 overall recruit and No. 7 pitcher in the class of 2022 according to ExtraInnings Softball.
Leading the offensive charge last season, the Tigers return KK McCrary as a graduate student. McCrary finished first on the team in hits (43), runs (31), walks (34), on-base percentage (.454) and total bases (80). She was second on the team in average (.307), slugging percentage (.571) and home runs (11).
Southern Illinois Salukis
The Salukis enter this season as the reigning back-to-back champs of the Missouri Valley Conference after a 44-11 (23-4 MVC) season. They fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Baton Rouge to No.9 LSU.
Headlining this Southern Illinois squad is junior shortstop, Jackie Lis. Lis was tabbed as the nation's No. 2 shortstop and No. 51 player by D1Softball. Softball America has Lis ranked as the No. 69 player in the country.
Through her two seasons in Carbondale, Lis is a two-time member All-MVC First Team and a former Freshman All-American. Lis has a career average of .350 with 117 hits, 93 RBI, 107 runs, and 33 long balls.
Like Auburn, the Salukis will have a huge hole to fill in the circle. Maddia Groff, the MVC’s reigning Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, transferred to Omaha over the summer. Groff threw 220.2 of the team's 346 total innings boasting an impressive 30-5 record, 1.11 ERA and a nation’s sixth-best 244 strikeouts.
Southern Illinois brought in senior transfer and Alabama native, Mackenzie Newcomb, from Samford University. Newcomb spent all three seasons prior at Samford where she won the SoCon Pitcher of the Year award in 2023, Freshman of the Year in 2022, and was named to the SoCon’s First Team twice and Second Team once. Southern Illinois will be looking for Newcomb to immediately fill their need in starting pitching while they develop their younger arms.
The Tigers will face off with Southern Illinois at 3 p.m. CT on Friday and 12:30 p.m CT Saturday. Friday's game will be available on SEC Network+ and both games will be available on WEGL 91.1 FM and the Auburn Athletics App.
North Carolina Tar Heels
The Tar Heels finished a 30-20 (10-14 ACC) record last season, missing the NCAA tournament and losing in the first round of the ACC tournament.
The Tar Heels last season struggled in the circle with a team ERA of 3.66. Kenna Raye Dark tossed the most innings last season with 109.2 innings pitched. Dark, now entering her junior season, finished with a team-best eight wins and finished second in ERA with a 2.94.
North Carolina’s strong suit was at the dish last season, holding a team average of .347 with a +108 run differential. Alex Coleman and Sanaa Thompson return for North Carolina leading the offensive group.
Coleman, who was just named to the preseason All-ACC Team, led the entire conference last season with a whopping .436 average. That .436 average is good for the third-highest in UNC history and the best since 1996. Coleman also led the team in runs (44), stolen bases (20-22), and multi-hit games (18).
Thompson returns for her sophomore season after breaking out as a freshman, hitting for .402. Both Coleman and Thompson are ranked in the top 30 outfielders in the country, with Coleman coming in at No. 27 and Thompson at No. 29.
Auburn will clash with UNC on Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT and 11:30 a.m CT on Sunday. Both games will be available on SEC Network+, WEGL 91.1 FM and the Auburn Athletics App.
Appalachian State Mountaineers
The Mountaineers are the final team rounding out the Tiger Invitational playing field. App State is looking to improve from a 21-30 (4-20 SBC) record under new head coach Whitney Jones. Jones spent the last two years at Ohio State, serving as the associate head coach this past season.
The Mountaineers head into this year without their biggest offensive weapon from last season, Kayt Houston. The First-team All-Sun Belt outfielder led the team with a .434 average, .110 higher than the next closest returning Mountaineer.
Grace Barrett will look to take charge of the lineup after hitting .324, while driving in 30 runs and scoring 36 times herself, in her freshman campaign. Sidney Martin returns for her fifth year at App State after suffering a season-ending surgery three games into last season.
From the circle, the Mountaineers return two arms from a staff that had a team ERA in the bottom third of the NCAA at 4.27. Sejal Neas returns for her senior season after tossing the most innings on last year's team with 140.1, finishing with a 10-15 record. Ava Beamesderfer is entering year two after getting her feet wet in year one, pitching in just 6.2 innings across 7 games.
The key for the Mountaineers this season is to find ways to improve in the circle. With Jones being a successful, offensive-minded coach, the numbers offensively should improve as the year goes on. However, the Mountaineers will have to find ways to deflate the ERA from last to set a good foundation for Jones’ tenure in the Rocky Mountains.
Auburn will host App State on Saturday at 10 a.m. CT. The game will be available on WEGL 91.1 FM and the Auburn Athletics App.
