Good morning. To be honored as the Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year is a remarkable achievement. To do it twice, as Cassie Stevens has in back-to-back years, is doubly impressive. 

"I like how that award encapsulates both the academic side and the athletic side because I really like to pride myself on both aspects of the sport," said Stevens, who's maintained a 4.0-grade point average while working on a master's in exercise science after earning an Auburn University undergraduate degree in information systems management. "Winning it last year was an incredible thing. To win it again was a cherry on top. It means a lot."

What else can you find mixed into today’s Brew?

🏈 Lots of A-Day info, including the format of the spring football game
🧡 Honoring Auburn legend Mike Kolen, who recently passed away
🐅 And much, much more!

📹 WAREAGLE+ MIC’D UP

Vontrell King-Williams Mic'd Up
Defensive line coach Vontrell King-Williams is wired for sound during spring practice.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Fever Pitch. Auburn's bullpen held UAB scoreless from the fourth inning on while the offense exploded for seven runs in the eighth inning en route to a 10-4 win against the Blazers Tuesday night at Regions Field. The highlight was a go-ahead, two-run homer from Bobby Peirce. The game marked Auburn's fifth win this season when trailing entering the sixth inning or later. Ike Irish extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a two-RBI double in the eighth.
 
Auburn starts an eight-game homestand with a three-game series against No. 4 Tennessee (24-5, 5-4 SEC) tomorrow through Sunday at Plainsman Park.

🔼 Oh Captain, My Captain. Nicknamed "Captain Crunch" for his rugged tackling, former Auburn linebacker Mike Kolen passed away Wednesday at the age of 76.

A 1985 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Kolen led Auburn in tackles in 16 of the 25 games he started from 1967-69, earning All-SEC honors as a junior and senior. Selected by Miami in the 12^th round of the 1970 NFL Draft, Kolen played eight seasons for the Dolphins, winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1972 and 1973.

For decades, Kolen returned to his alma mater each spring to present the Mike Kolen Award at A-Day to Auburn's leading tackler from the previous season.

Read the feature on Auburn legend Mike Kolen.

🔼 A-Packed-Weekend. Auburn's annual spring football game, A-Day, is set for Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium to anchor a full weekend of events on the Plains. The weekend will include a home baseball series against Tennessee, Auburn softball hosting the War Eagle Classic, men's tennis hosting matches on Friday and Sunday and the Tigers' volleyball team at home Friday against Alabama. 

🔼 28 Points Later. The magic number for Auburn's offense is 28.

When A-Day commences Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the Tigers’ defense will lead 27-0. The offense has four 10-minute quarters to try to catch and pass their teammates. Freeze toyed with the idea of allowing Auburn beat reporters to determine the A-Day format before thinking better of it. He then considered awarding points for multiple first downs and other offensive and defensive metrics. In the end, the simple answer was the correct one.

"We're putting 27-0 on the scoreboard, and let's go play," said Freeze, who plans to vary field positions. "And see what happens. See if the offense can overtake the defense at 27-0."

Read more about the format here and listen to Coach Freeze discuss A-Day by scrolling down on the AuburnTigers.com page.

🔼 Posterity on The Plains. Stored on film reels and videotapes, thousands of hours of Auburn Athletics history can be preserved and shared thanks to the generosity of donors on April 10 on Tiger Giving Day. Athletics currently has roughly 15,000 films and tapes stored in archives. As time passes, these begin to break down and, at a certain point, become destroyed. Digitizing these materials in 4K ultra-high definition will ensure Auburn Athletics’ history is preserved for future generations. 

This campaign and its goal of $30,000 would allow the War Eagle Creative team to begin digitizing film that is nearing the end of its shelf life and videotape that contains events and players from historic Auburn teams and games.

🔼 Another Kind of A-Day. Auburn freshman Anna Davis has been named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week. Davis earned the honor after leading the Tigers to an 11-stroke victory at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic on Friday and Saturday. Davis is also competing in the Augusta National Women's Amateur this week, an event she won in 2022 before the Tigers begin postseason play at the SEC Championship on April 12.

Through her five tournaments on The Plains this season, Davis has a 72.20 scoring average and has posted two top-10 individual finishes at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate and the Liz Murphey.

🔼 Pitching In. A trio of Auburn softball (17-11-1) pitchers combined for the fourth perfect game in program history as the Tigers shut out Samford 8-0 in five innings on Wednesday. Maddie Penta, Shelby Lowe and Annabelle Widra silenced the Bulldog (9-25) offense to record the first combined perfect game in Auburn softball history. The trio recorded 10 strikeouts.
 
Auburn concludes its homestand this weekend by hosting the War Eagle Classic. The Tigers will face Louisiana Tech and Georgia Tech over four games. The tournament begins Friday with a 2 p.m. CT contest with the Lady Techsters.

 🤔 TIGER TRIVIA

🐅 ONE BIG THING

Well, “Hard” is Right in Her Name. Danae Nembhard had a PR & and a bronze-worthy finish in the 100m hurdles, giving her the No. 6 time in the SEC (13.13).

📬 SPREAD THE WORD

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📅 ON THE DOCKET

Thursday 4/4

(No Activities Scheduled)

Friday 4/5

🤸🏼‍♂️ Gymnastics vs. No. 1 seed and host California, Stanford and the play-in winner of Southern Utah/San Jose State @ the 2024 NCAA Berkeley Regional Championships @ 9 p.m. CT

👟 XC/Track @ Crimson Classic

👟 XC/Track @ Hurricane Alumni Invitational

🥎 Softball vs. Louisiana Tech - War Eagle Classic @ 2 p.m. CT SEC Network+ | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. Alabama @ 3 p.m. CT | Live Video | Live Stats

🏐 Volleyball vs. Alabama @ 4 p.m. CT

🥎 Softball vs. Georgia Tech - War Eagle Classic @ 5 p.m. CT SEC Network+ | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ Alabama @ 4 p.m. CT

⚾️ Baseball vs. No. 4 Tennessee @ 6 p.m. CT SEC Network+ | Live Stats | Tickets

🐅 Click here to view the entire Auburn Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Mike Kolen played football under Coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan during his time at Auburn.

"Coach Jordan had such a solid program for so many years," Kolen once said. "Paul Davis, his defensive coordinator during the years I was there, was an experienced head coach at Mississippi State before he came over to Auburn. We had two great coaches who we could draw from and look up to who were truly champions.”

🐅 Have a great Thursday, y’all