Davidson-Smith Opens Second Athletes Unlimited Championship Season Friday

ROSEMONT, Ill. – After claiming her first Athletes Unlimited medal with a third-place finish in June's AUX season, Bulldog legend Mia Davidson-Smith is set to open her second Championship season with the professional league on Friday.

The former Mississippi State catcher totaled 1,122 points in the AUX season, including 382 stat points, which was the second-highest stat-point total in the league. She hit an AUX single-season-record five homers, while her 12 runs ranked second all-time and her 26 total bases were tied for third. She closed the campaign leading the league in on-base percentage (.615) and slugging percentage (1.083), and her batting average (.417) was fourth.

This will be Davidson-Smith's third season overall with Athletes Unlimited after playing in the Championship season as a rookie in 2022. She finished 21st on the leaderboard last summer and was among the league's top 10 in OPS, slugging percentage, homers and walks.

Davidson-Smith will open the campaign as a member of Team McCleney (Blue) after she was the No. 11 overall pick in Monday night's draft. Team McCleney opens the season with the league's first game on July 28 at 6 p.m. CT against Team Denham (Orange) on ESPN2. On Saturday, Davidson-Smith's squad will play Team Mulipola (Gold) at 4 p.m. on ESPN+, and on Sunday they are set to meet Team Rhodes (Purple) at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.

Athletes Unlimited is a professional softball league without traditional teams. Instead, 60 athletes remain in Rosemont, Illinois, for the duration of the season and are drafted to one of four new teams each week. Following the final game of each week, the top four athletes will be named captains for the next week's draft.

Each team will play three games per week over the five-week season. All 30 of the league's games are slated to be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks or stream on ESPN+ throughout the summer.

Captains are selected by virtue of a unique individual scoring system that mimics most fantasy league scoring systems. Players earn or lose points as individuals based on their statistics along with an additional 10 points for every inning their team wins and 50 points for every game their team wins. Additionally, 60 points are available to the athlete who finishes first in MVP voting by the players following each game. The second- and third-place vote-getters receive 40 and 20 points, respectively.

Points also translate to dollars at the end of the season, and each athlete has chosen a charity to receive a donation equal to 50 percent of their season. Davidson-Smith will once again support the Geaux Teal Ovarian Cancer Awareness Center in honor of her former MSU teammate, the late Alex Wilcox.

For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Davidson-Smith Opens Second Athletes Unlimited Championship Season Friday

Players Mentioned

Mia Davidson

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