No. 5 Auburn starts week on the road vs. Samford

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 5 Auburn (30-14) starts a week on the road with a midweek matchup vs. Samford (23-20) Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

The game will be broadcast on the Auburn Sports Network and can be heard locally on Wings 94.3 FM.

PROBABLE STARTERS

Tuesday – Fr. RHP Christian Chatterton (2-1, 4.58) vs. R-Jr. RHP Heath Clevenger (1-0, 8.31)

QUICK HITTERS

Auburn is coming off its fifth SEC series win of the season and its seventh in the last nine SEC series dating back to the end of last season.

The Tigers and Texas are the only two teams with seven SEC series wins in the span.

Auburn has won eight straight home series dating back to the Alabama series last season, marking the longest home series win streak since 2002-03.

The Tigers are 19-4 in non-conference play and are outscoring the opponent 186-97.

The team is outhitting non-conference opponents .319 to .222 (244 hits to 160).

Chris Rembert was named the SEC Player of the Week, becoming the first freshman this season to earn the honor.

He is Auburn’s first SEC Player of the Week since Cooper McMurray on Apr. 24, 2023.

Christian Chatterton is set to make his fourth midweek start Tuesday.

Chatterton has posted a 0.69 ERA and .071 average against in his three midweek starts, registering 16 strikeouts and four walks in 13.0 innings.

Auburn leads the all-time series vs. Samford, 79-25-1, including a 28-9 record against the Bulldogs away from home.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

Samford enters the week with a 23-20 overall record and 9-6 mark in SoCon play after losing two of three games vs. Western Carolina last weekend.

Offensively, the Bulldogs are hitting .295 as a team and have outscored the opponent 331-253. The team ranks top 50 in the country in doubles (90) and home runs (62). Six players are hitting .315 or higher, led by Cade Carr’s .352 average, and six have hit seven or more home runs, led by Parker McDonald’s 11. 

On the mound, the Bulldogs have turned in a 5.57 ERA with 390 strikeouts and 182 walks in 361.2 innings pitched. Tuesday starter Heath Clevenger is 1-0 with a 8.31 ERA and will make his first start of the season.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Columbia High School E-sports team won the 2025 Splatoon 3 competition. Players include Brandon Barber, Seanic Games, Jaldon Bailey, Jeremiah Dale, and Head Coach De'Meiko Merriweather (AHSAA Photo | David Holtsford) 
 

Pelham High School E-sports athlete Xavier Merchant (right) defeated Madden defending champion Corey Robinson from Bob Jones for Pelham’s first E-sports title. Shown with Merchant is Pelham Coach Spencer Stone (AHSAA Photo | David Holtsford) 

Bob Jones High School’s Rocket League E-sports team won for the 11^th consecutive season in Tuesday’s AHSAA spring state competition. The team is coached by Aubree White. The players include Blake Williamson, Christian Ritchey, and Brayden Myers
(AHSAA PHOTO | David Holtsford)

E-sports completes its 7^th Year in the AHSAA
Bob Jones wins  E-sports Rocket League Title for 11^th Time;
Columbia claims its first two E-sports Championships 

    MONTGOMERY – Bob Jones High School of Madison captured the E-sports championship in the Rocket League competition for the 11^th straight time Tuesday, and  Columbia High School of neighboring Huntsville emerged as the NBA 2K and Splatoon 3 competition champion as the school claimed its first two E-Sports titles in school history.
    Pelham High School also won its first E-sports The spring E-sports championships concluded Tuesday at Huntingdon College with championships crowned in five different competitions. The computer game competition has been held twice a year since 2019. There was no competition in the spring of 2020 – during the Covid Pandemic.

• Auburn downed the Alabama School for Cyber Technology and Engineering  (ASCTE) 2-0, posting 123-111 and 118-116 scores to claim the Mario Kart 8 title. Auburn’s team, AHS Blue, consisted of Nathaniel Martin, Race Harden, Kounte Threadgill, and Sean McDonough. The coach is Jacque Middleton. The best 2-of-3 competition included four races per circuit with points given after the conclusion of each race, based on the race standings.   ASCTE’s team, the Joycon Drifters, is coached by Matt Bohon. The team players included Nicholas Sifuentes, Preston Pritchard, Isabel Schelmbauer, and Jacob Shumer.
• Columbia  High School, coached by, defeated Monroe County 2-0 in to win the NBA 2K basketball competition. Columbia, which played as the Boston Celtics, defeated Monroe County, playing as the Oklahoma City Thunder in both games – with the final  victory a 56-45 win. Columbia’s coach was De’Meiko Merriwether, and its player was Mikale Ezell. Monroe County’s team, coached by Brady Litzinger, had Canilus Brown at the controls.
• Columbia also won Splatoon 3 event 3-1 over Hazel Green High School. Using the name Eagle Agency 3, Merriweather’s squad consisted of Brandon Barber, Seanic Games, Jaldon Bailey, and Jeremiah Dale. Hazel Green, coached by William Bailey, played as the GHS Dionyus. Team members were Audrey Benson , Isebella Summers, Cayden Ned, and Kaeson Fudge.
• Pelham High School’s E-Sports squad won the Madden football event for its first E-sports state title beating Bob Jones High School 2-0. The Patriots’ coach, Aubree White, pitted veteran player Corey Robinson against Pelham’s Xavier Merchant. The Panthers are coached by Spencer Stone. Merchant, using the team’s name Xavier PHS, played as the Baltimore Ravens, won 20-10 and 27-24 over Robinson, who was playing as the Buffalo Bills and used the team’s name BJHS Robinson.
• Bob Jones High School rebounded to win the Rocket League title for the 11^th straight season beating Calera 4-2 in the best-of-7 competition. Using the team moniker BJHS Fusion, the Patriots won 3-1, 0-2, 2-0, 4-3, 0-5 and 7-1 to keep their winning streak alive. White’s squad consisted of Luck Scherer, Max Dunkerley, and Jonah Brooks. Calera, using the team’s name Calera RL Blue, consisted of Blake Williamson, Christian Ritchey, and Brayden Myers. The coach is Colin Miller.
• Thompson High School’s E-Sports team captured the Super Smash Brothers Ultimate  game title beating Hoover 3-1. The Warriors, coached by Cole Pruitt, won their sixth Esports named their team The Admirals. Gavin Martin, Luke Shields, and Hayes Paganelli made up the squad. Hoover, coached by Candace Brown, called its team Hoover SSB 1. Team members were Chase Gaston, Rehan Jiwani, and Parker Sims.
   

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – With the weekend series on the line Monday night at Rhoads Stadium, Alabama and Oklahoma battled to extra innings before freshman Audrey Vandagriff came through with the big hit in the bottom of the eighth, a walk-off solo home run to give the Crimson Tide the 2-1 win and the weekend series over the Sooners.

The game was Alabama’s (30-16, 7-8 SEC) first extra-inning game of the season and its first walk-off home run since Skylar Wallace against Georgia on May 9, 2019 at the SEC Tournament.

For the third time this weekend, Alabama took the first lead over Oklahoma (36-5, 10-5 SEC) as a third-inning RBI double from Kali Heivilin plated the first run of the day. The Sooners answered right back in the next half-inning, tying the game on a solo home run form Nelly McEnroe-Marinas. With the score still tied in the top of the seventh, Oklahoma loaded the bases with one out but the Alabama defense came through with a pair of force outs to get out of the jam and keep the score tied. The Tide couldn’t walk it off in the bottom half though, sending it to extra innings for the first time this season.

Oklahoma got two on base in the top of the eighth but Alabama again escaped the inning unscathed to keep the score tied. Vandagriff didn’t waste any time in the bottom half of the inning, sending the first pitch down the left field line and over the fence for the walk-off home run to seal the 2-1 victory and the weekend series for the Tide.

FROM HEAD COACH PATRICK MURPHY

“What a great series. All three games were televised, and we almost had 13,000 people for a three-game series. It showcased what a great sport softball is, and tonight was an instant classic. I say it a lot - ‘bend don’t break’ - and Oklahoma had the bases loaded with one out and we didn’t break. That was the key moment defensively, and Audrey [Vandagriff] did what Audrey does. Catelyn [Riley] threw 19.0 shutout innings against one of the best teams in the country and that never happens.”

HIGHLIGHTS

• The game was Alabama’s first extra-inning game of the season
• Audrey Vandagriff’s walk-off home run was the Crimson Tide’s first since Skylar Wallace on May 9, 2019 vs. Georgia at the SEC Tournament
• Alabama set a new series attendance record this weekend with 12,898 fans across all three games, including sellout crowds of 4,400 on Saturday and Sunday
• The Tide has now won both of its three-game series vs. Oklahoma at Rhoads Stadium, previously defeating the Sooners in the 2015 Super Regional round
• The series win is Alabama’s first over a top-2 ranked team since defeating then-No. 1 Florida April 1-3, 2016 in Gainesville
• The Tide scored first in all three games, owning a season record of 17-7 in games that Alabama scores first
• Catelyn Riley threw a career-high 8.0 innings and tied her season best with five strikeouts
• The home run was Vandagriff’s fourth this season, all of which have come against top-five teams: No. 4 UCLA (Feb. 15), No. 5 Texas A&M (March 21), No. 5 LSU (April 6) and No. 2 Oklahoma (April 14)
• Vandagriff had three hits in the game, her team-leading 17th multi-hit game this season, and swiped her NCAA-best 46th stolen base of the season to give her sole possession of sixth place on the UA single-season records

SCORING SUMMARY

• B3 | Kali Heivilin drove in Audrey Vandagriff with an RBI double (1-0, 1 Out)
• T4 | Nelly McEnroe-Marinas tied the game with a solo home run (1-1, 2 Out)
• B8 | Audrey Vandagriff sent the first pitch of the at-bat over the fence for a walk-off home run (2-1, 0 Out)

UP NEXT: AT #6/8 FLORIDA (GAINESVILLE, FLA.)

• Thursday, April 17 – 5 p.m. CT
• Friday, April 18 – 5 p.m. CT – SEC Network
• Saturday, April 19 – 1 p.m. CT – ESPN2