BY: Jason Martin
Auburn-Montgomery Athletics does one thing very well: spring sports. AUM Tennis is one of the powerhouses at the NAIA level, and their play in the transition phase from NAIA to NCAA DII proves that AUM tennis will not go away anytime soon.
At Q.V. Lowe Field, the Warhawks have just two losing seasons in baseball in the history of the program. Playoff appearances, all-conference nominations, and national championship appearances are expected of AUM Baseball.
AUM Softball, meanwhile, has never registered a losing season. The Warhawks opened play in 2009 and have already won two national championships. The transition has been tough on many other AUM teams, but softball has been exempt from this category.
In 2019, the Warhawks finished third in the Gulf South Conference and would have made the NCAA tournament as an at-large bid. AUM had one player, Jaycie Walker, named to the NFCA all-region team, and the Orange & Black returned the bulk of the roster from a successful 2019 campaign.
However, despite all this success, the GSC coaches refused to acknowledge the Warhawks’ accomplishments. In the pre-season polls released in January, AUM was tabbed to finish third in the league once again. The most compelling pre-season polls came from the NFCA’s national rankings.
There were four Gulf South Conference teams that made an appearance in the national polls— West Florida, Alabama-Huntsville, Valdosta State, and Mississippi College were either in the Top 25 or receiving votes.
Valdosta State and Mississippi College were tabbed to finish below the Warhawks in the GSC rankings, meaning that the Orange & Black were overlooked in the national rankings.
The polls were put to the test at the opening of the year as the Orange & Black were paired up with No. 16, North Georgia, at the Gulf Shores Invitational in Gulf Shores, Ala. AUM eventually fell to the Nighthawks 2-0, but still proved they can stay with the best teams in the country.
After the loss to UNG, the Warhawks rattled off six consecutive victories. With a 7-2 overall record after the first weekend of conference action, the Warhawks showed they are determined to make noise on a national level.
It’s still unclear if AUM will be noticed on a national stage, but with GSC weekend series’ against nationally ranked teams, the Warhawks will force the hand of the voters as to whether they deserve to be in contention for the national tournament.