In addition to four seniors, Auburn is also losing two juniors, including the oldest member of the softball team.

Outfielder Whitney Jordan's career also came to an close with Auburn's loss to Oklahoma in the NCAA Super Regional, during which she made her 18th start of the season on Saturday.

Jordan, 23, is forgoing her final year of eligibility so as not to further delay her path to becoming a teacher.

"(Coach Clint Myers) didn't want me to do my internship in the fall with everything because I would have to miss 30 minutes of practice every day," Jordan said. "I've already put off; that would be putting off five semesters and I've already put off three. So I decided to go ahead and do my student teaching and hopefully get a coaching job back home with my dad."

Though she understood the logistical challenges of trying to complete her internship during the season would be difficult, it was not an easy choice for Jordan to walk away even as this year was disappointing for her statistically.

"I thought I had another year to play with her. but I understand her circumstances and I understand why she's doing it," center fielder Victoria Draper said. "I'm happy for her and ready to see where life will take her because she's an awesome girl and I know she'll do tremendous things."

The Athens native originally signed with Lipscomb and sat out after transferring to Auburn in 2014 and played a role in several critical moments in each of her three seasons with the Tigers.

Jordan supplied the game-winning RBI fielder's choice that scored Haley Fagan in the 2015 Super Regional with Louisiana-Lafayette to send Auburn to its first WCWS.

In 2016, with Fagan and Kelsey Bogaards both out with torn knee ligaments, Jordan stepped in and started 65 games at shortstop.

"We lost two shortstops in a matter of two weeks," Myers said. "(Jordan) steps right in, plays short and played it to the best of her ability."

Jordan supplied critical hits in the postseason, going 2 for 3 with two runs scored against LSU in the SEC Championship and 2 for 4 with a double, home run and three RBI in Game 2 of the WCWS championship series against Oklahoma.

This season did not go according to plan for Jordan.

During the preseason, she was one of the team's best hitters in practice and started in either left or right field in eight of the first 16 games of the season, but went just 2 of 19 with nine strikeouts.

Jordan worked her way back into the starting lineup for the Georgia series and filled in at shortstop for five games while Fagan was suspended.

When the postseason arrived, Jordan again came through in a critical moment. After driving in a run for the first time in three months as a pinch hitter late in the opening Regional game against ETSU, Jordan drew a walk that eventually became Morgan Podany's game-tying run on Kasey Cooper's RBI double against Cal.

When Auburn honored its four seniors, fourth-year junior Madi Gipson and Jordan during the team's banquet, it was Jordan who showed the most emotion in talking about her impending departure.

Even amid what had been a disappointing year, teammates heralded Jordan for her positive outlook.

"This game has been my life for the past 18 years; it's given me so much," she said. "It is going to be weird not practicing every day. It is going to be weird not ever having to worry about cleats again.

"I am not scared of what lies ahead because this game has prepared me for life. It has taught me to fear nothing, prepare for the all the possible outcomes and to live and to love with passion."