The Athletes Unlimited Softball League will have its opening day on June 7th. The league is the premier professional women’s softball league in the United States. Featuring four teams — the Bandits, Blaze, Talons, and Volts — the AUSL will deliver a 24-game professional softball season across 10 major cities in the U.S., ending in a best-of-3 Championship.
Five tigers will take the field during the upcoming season, representing three of the four teams.
Ali Newland
Former star Left Fielder Ali Newland will be back in purple as she’ll suit up for the Volts. In her last season with the Tigers, Newland was selected to the NFCA South All-Region First Team, the All-SEC First Team, and the SEC All-Defensive Team.
Newland is a picture of consistency; she started in all 61 games played in left field for the Tigers and concluded her career with a .298 batting average on 166 hits, 122 RBIs, 104 runs, and 25 home runs. She truly shone on the defensive with a .958 career fielding percentage with 92 putouts, 91 assists, and eight errors.
Danieca Coffey
Danieca Coffey will be joining Ali on the Volts. Coffey received her Golden Ticket to the AUSL following the Tigers’ walk-off win against the Florida Gators. The redshirt senior concluded her decorated LSU career ranked No. 2 all-time with a .457 on-base percentage, No. 5 with a .366 batting average, No. 5 with 121 walks, No. 10 with 10 triples and No. 10 with 325 assists.
She recorded 75 career multi-hit games, ranking No. 8 all-time with 170 runs scored, seven home runs, 105 RBI and stole 41 bases on 49 attempts.
Sahvanna Jaquish
Sahvanna Jaquish graduated in 2017 and continued to play softball at the highest level for Team USA before signing with the AUSL Talons. Jaquish played in three Championship Seasons from 2020 to 2022. She finished in the top 10 every season and earned a fourth-place medal in 2022. In her 45 games, she has a career batting average of .392 and a slugging percentage of .877 at AU. She is tied for second on the all-time home run list with 17.
Jaquish finished her career in Purple and Gold as the only player in program history to record three seasons of 60+ RBI, a team-high 13 doubles, and ranked number two on the team with nine total home runs.
Aliyah Andrews
The Blaze have snagged the most Tigers for their opening day roster, with three alumni trading purple and gold for pink and black. Headlining their roster is Aliyah Andrews, who earned All-American honors in each season as a Tiger. Known for her incredible diving catches, Andrews earned the nickname “Air Aliyah,” with several of her plays featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10.
Andrews was the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball Defensive Player of the Year. Andrews was also a member of the AU Pro Softball All-Defensive Team and received two Defensive MVP commendations.
Ciara Briggs
All-timer Ciara Briggs will be back in centerfield, where she was a standout in her time in Baton Rouge. Briggs ended her career as a two-time NFCA Gold Glove Winner and NFCA South All-Region Selection, and is a three-time All-SEC honoree and two-time SEC All-Defensive Team selection. She made 256 starts, ranking No. 10 all-time.
Defensively, she shines. In college, she had a .987 fielding percentage with 369 putouts, 18 assists, and five errors from center field. Offensively, she has a .350 career batting average and ranks No. 4 all-time with 286 hits and 194 runs.
Opening day is June 7th, and all eyes will be on the Tigers taking the field.
