Agriculture University Sports News

June 27, 2024 - TIFTON – The Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Fillies will open the 2024 NJCAA Division I Softball World Series next week against the Aztecs from Pima Community College in Tucson, Ariz. The game will be played Monday, May 20 at 1 p.m. (CDT) at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.

ABAC (34-16) won the Mid-Atlantic District Championship at home last week with a best-of-three series win over Florence-Darlington Tech. Next week will be the first appearance for the Fillies in the Division I World Series since 2019.

“To have 23 young ladies, 19 of them freshmen, and watch them grow from where we started back in August, this is great,” said ABAC first-year head coach Mike Reed. “When we got started and they were running at 6 a.m., they started chanting ‘Oxford’. They trusted the process and reached that goal … they get all the credit. They are a talented group and even better young ladies.”

Pima won the West District Championship on Saturday with an 8-5 win over Eastern Arizona. The Aztecs are 42-12 on the season and have won their last seven games. Pima is also celebrating a return to the national tournament after an extended absence as the last Aztec team to reach the World Series was in 2013.

Twenty teams make up the field, 16 District champions, and four at-large teams. ABAC is seeded 19th and Pima is the 14th seed. The winner of their matchup advances to the second round to face third-seeded Northwest Florida State, the three-time defending national champion. The loser will face either Florida Southwestern, Odessa (Tex.) or Trinidad State (Col.). All second-round games will be played on Tuesday, May 21.

While Reed’s team has only a handful of sophomores, three have provided some of the most offensive firepower. Carter Gore from Pinetta, Fla. leads the team in batting average (.406), RBIs (45), and doubles (33). Carnesville’s Laney McGee leads the team in hits (73) and is second in average (.403), RBIs (39), and runs scored (44). Lexi Metts, an outfielder from Valdosta, leads the team in runs scored (48) and stolen bases (27).

The pitching duo of Jaci Smiley and Kaylee Barrett have combined for 25 of the team’s 33 wins this year.

“It’s the best teams in the country and I’m proud that we’re in that group, especially since it’s our last year before moving up (to NAIA competition),” Reed said. “We’re focused on winning every time we play. But I also want the team to experience what it’s all about and enjoy that.”

Source: https://www.abac.edu/