The Auburn Tigers ended the regular season by handing one rival a handful of losses. Now, as the Tigers enter into the 2024 SEC softball tournament, Auburn has a chance to beat yet another one of their rivals.

Or, it’s totally possible that Auburn stumbles a little bit.

The Tigers haven’t faced the Bulldogs just yet this season, but we already do have evidence that they’re not exactly the most consistent team ever. They’re capable of beating the Alabama Crimson Tide, but also they took a series loss to the Ole Miss Rebels, the worst team in the conference.

Let’s take a look at the Tigers.

2024 SEC softball tournament preview: Auburn Tigers team profile

Key stats

• Record: 27-18-1 (9-15 SEC)
• Batting average: .252
• ERA: 2.47
• Home runs: 40
• Opponents’ strikeouts: 335
• Runs scored per game: 4.09
• Opponents’ batting average: .222
• Opponents’ ERA: 3.70

Notable 2024 Auburn softball games

• Best Wins: #13 Utah (1-0), #17 Alabama (4-3, 3-0), #6 LSU (3-2, 3-1)
• Worst Losses: Virginia Tech (1-8), #12 Texas A&M (1-5, 2-3, 6-14), #4 Tennessee (1-5, 4-8)

It’s pretty clear that Auburn is a flawed team. They’ve got a really strong pitching staff, but the Tigers don’t do much at the plate (or at least they haven’t up to this point in the season). Teams like Georgia and Florida score a ton of runs and can do so in a hurry.

Will the Tigers be able to keep up with foes like that? They’re guaranteed at least one such matchup, their first matchup of the SEC Tournament.

But say they make it beyond the Georgia Bulldogs, how far could this team go? Will their bats wake up a bit? If so, this team could be pretty dangerous.

3 Auburn softball players to watch during the 2024 SEC Tournament:

1. Maddie Penta – Maddie Penta has been a dominant force for the Auburn Tigers and she’s been pretty busy this season. Her impressive ERA of 1.82 and 224 strikeouts are really solid, especially considering they happened over 173.1 innings pitched.
2. Anna Wohlers – Anna Wohlers has been a reliable presence in Auburn’s lineup and she’s maintained a solid .309 batting average up to this point in the season. She’s hit 5 home runs and 19 RBIs, which shows she can provide some power hitting to go along with how reliable of a hitter she is.
3. KK McCrary – A key contributor to Auburn’s offense, KK McCrary has demonstrated she can be a power hitter with her 8 home runs on the season. She’s consistent and reliable, as evidenced by her .282 batting average, 33 walks, and .452 on-base percentage.

Final thoughts as Auburn softball prepares for the SEC Tournament

The Tigers are far from perfect and there isn’t an SEC softball team with fewer overall wins on their schedule. But, the Tigers do have some quality wins on their resume and could (in theory) present some problems as they face (at least) the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC softball tournament.

The Tigers are almost certainly hoping to make a deep run in the SEC tournament to prove to the NCAA Tournament selection committee that the inconsistent regular season isn’t all that defines this team.

A win against Georgia would help with that cause and would allow for the Tigers to continue to build upon their resume.

We’ll see what actually happens though.