Softball shuffling coaching staff

After a pair of subpar offensive seasons, Auburn softball is making a change with its assistant coaching staff.

The Tigers will replace two-year hitting coach Eddy Ketelhut with former DePaul head coach Eugene Lenti.

Auburn made the hire during the first week of June but has been waiting for paperwork to be finalized to make an announcement.

Lenti coached 35 seasons at DePaul, compiling 1,300 wins before his unexpected retirement in 2018. He led the Blue Demons to four Women's College World Series appearances and four 50-win seasons.

He produced 14 All-Americans and nine conference players of the year. Lenti's staffs were honored as conference staff of the year nine times.

Lenti's DePaul teams made 16 NCAA Championship appearances and captured 13 regular-season conference titles.

Lenti was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008 before being named the Conference-USA Coach of the Decade for 2000-10.

He replaces Ketelhut, who was hired to Mickey Dean's staff in January 2018.

Auburn hit .226 in league games this season, which ranked 11th among the 13 schools playing softball. That's 27 points below SEC average, though it's higher than the .211 conference batting average the Tigers posted during the 2018 season.