The Auburn softball team opens Southeastern Conference play with a three-game series against 18th-ranked Mississippi State beginning today with Game 1 of a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. at Jane B. Moore Field.

The Tigers enter the series with a 20-3 overall record and are coming off a 4-0 performance in the War Eagle Classic. The Bulldogs are 21-4 on the season and have stolen 70 bases in their first 25 games.

“This is going be a good challenge and a good matchup for our team,” Auburn head coach Tina Deese said.

The Tigers and Bulldogs will play in the series finale Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Dunkleberger honored by NCAA South Region
Senior Jacob Dunkleberger of the Auburn track and field team has been named the NCAA South Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced Monday.

Dunkleberger won the SEC Championship in the weight throw March 1 with a mark of 21.75m (71-4.25), earning his first career SEC title. He has finished first in the weight throw in all three meets in which he has competed this season, posting NCAA automatic qualifying marks every time. His top mark of 21.87m (71-9) ranks fourth in the nation this year.

Dunkleberger, who also finished sixth in the shot put at the SEC Indoor Championships, was the 2007 NCAA Champion in the hammer throw.

Dunkleberger will be part of the Auburn team that will compete at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this Friday and Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.

Women’s golf in 10th at UCF Challenge
ORLANDO, Fla. – Auburn shot an improved 3-over 291 in the second round at the UCF Challenge but dropped to 10th with one round remaining at the par-72, 6,356-yard RedTail Golf Club. After turning in a career best 66 on Sunday, Cydney Clanton shot 2-over 74 and moved to seventh.

Sisters Abigale and Candace Schepperle turned in the lowest rounds for Auburn as both were even at 72. Candace Schepperle improved 18 places and is now tied for 28th. Abigale Schepperle moved 23 places and is tied for 42nd. 

Mariana Macias shot 1-over 73 and is tied for 53rd. Clanton ended up firing 2-over 74 to move to seventh. Margaret Shirley shot 3-over 75 and is tied for 69th. 

Duke’s Alison Whitaker remained at the top in the individual battle after shooting 1-under 71.

In the team race, Duke moved to the top spot after shooting another 6-under 282.

Final round action begins at 7 a.m. today.

Four swimmers qualify for NCAAs
Four Auburn swimmers swam NCAA automatic times Sunday at the James E. Martin Invitational as the Tigers take the final steps in preparing to defend their title at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Luke Weniger, Robert Looney Pascal Wollach and Cesar Cielo all qualified. 

Cielo swam a 46.23 in the 100-yard butterfly preliminaries. Weniger also earned an “A” cut in the 100-yard fly, while Wollach was first in as he swam a 56.77 in the 100m backstroke.

Looney, a freshman, swam a 1:58.70 in the 200m butterfly, a time that ranks second all-time at Auburn.