While a cover of Travis Tritt’s “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” played over the speakers during Auburn softball’s practice Tuesday afternoon, members of Auburn’s team couldn’t help but lift their hands to the sky as they lifted their face as if to bask in the afternoon sun.
It was the day before their first game of the 2024 SEC Tournament and the Tigers were practicing in the comfort of their own home as Auburn’s Jane B. Moore Field was ready to roll as the tournament’s host site for the first time since 2007.
“Being at home, we have our own fans, we have our own bullpen, field, all of that. We know what we’re in for, we get to sleep in our own beds, it’s awesome,” said Auburn ace pitcher Maddie Penta. “But I think we’re on a good note going into this tournament, especially being able to come out of that lower spot and move up in the rankings a little bit and putting ourselves in a better situation.”
Prior to Saturday, Auburn found itself near the bottom of the barrel in the conference standings, which would’ve required the Tigers to play an additional play-in-type game Tuesday night.
Instead, a massive series win over rival Alabama bolstered Auburn out of that first game and helped the Tigers earn a more favorable draw as the tournament’s No. 10 seed.
“I think we’re feeling good. I think we want to keep the momentum that we’ve been having. We’ve been learning from mistakes, losses and things like that,” said Anna Wohlers, who sits as Auburn’s leading hitter. “I think our last win over Alabama, we’re really going to hone in on that and bring the Auburn team, the Auburn spirit, we’re just going to bring everything we’ve got.”
Auburn’s first game of the SEC Tournament is set for Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m., when the Tigers will see the seventh-seeded Georgia Bulldogs for the first time this season.
And as Auburn head coach Mickey Dean pointed out, there’s currently very little separating the middle eight teams in the league standings.
“The middle eight teams in the league are all separated by two games. If you show up and play well, you’ve got a chance,” Dean said.
And while the Tigers are going to need a balanced attack to make a run in the 13-team SEC Tournament, which features 10 teams ranked inside USA Softball’s top 25 rankings, anyone who has watched postseason softball knows the pitching staff is as important as ever.
“You need more than one pitcher, you need more than two pitchers, really, in order to win a tournament or to do anything in postseason,” Penta said.
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