The NCAA has denied Auburn pitcher Makayla Martin’s appeal for a waiver for a medical redshirt.
Appearing in fifteen games on the season, Martin participated in one game more than the NCAA limit to qualify for a medical redshirt. After the NCAA denied Martin’s initial request for a waiver, Auburn appealed the decision and were again denied.
Martin suffered a broken bone in her hand at the beginning of conference play this season and did not pitch again during the year. She finished the season with a team-leading 1.31 ERA and eighty-six strikeouts in eighty innings of work.
For her career at Auburn, Martin owns a career 1.60 ERA and a 61-19 overall record during her time as a Tiger. She pitched 485 1/3 innings during her career, collecting 350 strikeouts. Her career hallmark was an appearance during the WCWS championship series in 2016 when, as a freshman, she took a 2-1 loss to Oklahoma, but did not give up an earned run in the game.
With Martin officially unable to return in 2020, and with the transfer of Chardonnay Harris, the Tigers’ pitching staff includes would-be ace senior Ashlee Swindle and junior Lexie Handley. The Tigers also have an in-state freshman hurler coming in for the ’20 campaign. The Tigers’ pitching staff finished the 2019 season with a 2.67 cumulative ERA and an opponent’s batting average of .252.
