Villanova, Pa. – Villanova Softball is set for their next road trip of the 2019 season. They will head down to Alabama to compete in the Auburn University Tiger Invitational.
A Look at Villanova: Villanova kicked off the season this past weekend in the Citrus Blossom Invitational. They finished with a record of 3-2 with wins over Iowa, LIU Brooklyn and Bethune-Cookman. Several players from top to bottom in the order pitched in their efforts to help the Wildcats. Paige Rauch has began the season 3-0 on the mound with a fantastic 1.21 ERA over 17.1 innings pitched. Kalee Smith has also been dominant on the mound allowing just one run over 5.2 innings good for a 1.24 ERA. Olivia LaQua has given Villanova a huge boost in the lineup with a .333 average, a double, triple, and a home run. Delaney Switzer has also been a consistent piece of the lineup hitting .286. Five different Wildcats have already hit a long ball so far including, Rauch, LaQua, Caroline Jones, Julia DaCosta, and Jordan Olivarez. Olivarez is hitting .571 in her seven at bats on the season. Kendall Ohman has already swiped three bases which leads the team. Angela Giampolo is 2-2 in stealing bases while also holding a .333 OBP.
A Look at Eastern Illinois: The meeting in the Auburn Invitational is the first meeting between Eastern Illinois and Villanova, as they will meet again on March 9th in the USF Tournament. EIU has a record of 3-6 and a current three game losing streak. Their three wins on the season come against Kennesaw State (two of them) and Georgia State. They have losses against Ohio (twice), Chattanooga, DePaul, Georgia State, and Samford. They are led on the mound by McKenna Coffman who has a 2.12 ERA, a record of 1-0, a complete game shutout, 17.0 IP, four earned runs, and seven K's. Breya Cooper leads the team with a .350 avg. She also has a home run with six RBI.
A Look at Auburn: Auburn is currently ranked 21st in the most recent ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll with a record of 7-3. There are currently 10 ranked SEC schools with the Tigers being ranked ninth highest. They fell to Missouri State and Louisiana Tech on their first weekend of play and dropped a close 4-3 game to Texas Tech in their second weekend of competition. Senior Casey McCrackin is off to a blazing hot start for Auburn as she currently has a team high .516 avg., five HR's, 11 R's, and tied for first with 16 hits. Makayla Martin has been the ace of the staff thus far for the Tigers with a 0.94 ERA, 4-1 record, along with four complete games and three shutouts. The Wildcats and Tigers will meet twice throughout the tournament. One on February 22nd, and one on February 24th.
A Look at Troy: Troy comes into the Auburn Invitational with a record of 7-3. They tallied two wins over Maryland, and another against Murray State in the Troy University Tournament. They also faced #6 Alabama twice and dropped both matchups to the Crimson Tide. The Trojans also competed in the Citrus Classic this past weekend. They finished with a 4-1 record with their only loss coming against Missouri. They beat Stetson, UMass, LIU Brooklyn, and Saint Joseph's. They play a doubleheader at Florida A&M on Wednesday before the Tiger Invitational. Through the first 10 games of the season, Bailey Taylor has an average of .526 with two HR's and 14 RBI. Talia Truitt is also on fire as she's hitting .500 with 13 hits. On the mound, Leanna Johnson and Annie Willis are a combined 7-2 on the season with five complete games and a shutout. They have also combined for 55 K's in their 56 innings pitched.
A Look at North Dakota State: The Bison head into Auburn with a 4-4 record. They started the season 4-1 before dropping their last three. In the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge this past weekend, they dropped close matchups to #12/11 Arkansas 7-6 and #5/#5 Washington 5-3. In the process they took down Northern Colorado and lost to Southern Illinois. Madyson Camach leads North Dakota State with a .323 average. So far, she has 10 hits including two doubles. KK Leddy and Paige Vargas have each started four of the eight games on the mound for the Bison. Leddy has a 3.84 ERA over 31 innings with 31 K's. Vargas owns a 6.33 ERA over 21 innings with 18 K's. So far, they have combined for four complete games and one shutout.
