SOFTBALL

Tigers host Gators

The No. 24/25 Auburn softball team opens a 10-game home stand with a weekend series against the No. 10/10 Florida Gators beginning today at 6 p.m. at Jane B. Moore Field.

Auburn is 32-9 overall and 11-6 in the SEC The Tigers currently hold second place in the SEC Western Division and are one and a half games behind division leader Alabama.

At 34-7 overall and 10-6 in the SEC, the Gators are fourth in the SEC East and trail division-leading Tennessee by two games. Florida is ranked 10th in the NFCA and ESPN polls.

GYMNASTICS

Shields heads to Nationals

Auburn junior Kylie Shields qualified to compete in the all-around at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, after tallying a 39.250 in only her third all-around meet of the season at the Tuscaloosa NCAA Regional on April 2. Shields will be the only Auburn gymnast represented at nationals and will rotate with the University of Michigan in the first session at noon today.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Tigers ink Ouardad

The Auburn women’s basketball team has signed junior college point guard Najat Ouardad (to a National Letter of Intent, head coach Nell Fortner announced Thursday. Ouardad, a native of Orleans, France, played the last two seasons at Pensacola State College.

Ouardad led the Pirates to a third-place finish at the 2011 NJCAA National Basketball Championship, compiling a 36-1 record along the way. As a sophomore, she averaged 6.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

TRACK AND FIELD

AU hosts War Eagle Invite

The Auburn men’s and women’s track and field teams will host their second and final home meet of the season this weekend when the War Eagle Invitational takes today and Saturday at Hutsell-Rosen Track..