Stanford Star Taryn Kern Earns Rare AUSL Golden Ticket

What a night on The Farm. Not only did freshman Addyson Sheppard come up with a clutch, walk-off grand slam to send the Cardinal home winners over No. 9 Florida State on Friday night, but senior Taryn Kern also received one of the few Golden Tickets being handed out this season.

The Golden Ticket essentially guarantees Kern of being selected in the AUSL (Athletes Unlimited Softball League) in the upcoming draft on Monday, May 4. The draft will be televised on ESPN2, and will reveal where all of the top college softball players will be headed for the 2026 campaign.

TK IS GOLDEN 🤩@ascarborough surprised @tarynkernn with a Golden Ticket after tonight's walk-off win!!! 🎫 pic.twitter.com/gOkgVN1sel
— AUSL (@theAUSLofficial) April 11, 2026

Each season, only 12 of these tickets are handed out, and Kern is the eighth player to receive one so far this year. Former Cardinal Nijaree Canady, now with Texas Tech, is another of the Golden Ticket recipients.

Reese Atwood and Leighann Goode of Texas are also on the list, along with Sydney Stewart of Arizona, Karlyn Pickens of Tennessee, Dakota Kennedy from Arkansas and Kenzie Brown of Arizona State.

While the fact that Kern being drafted isn't necessarily a surprise, the Golden Ticket aspect of it makes it so that there is a moment where the player finds out their future surrounded by coaches, teammates and fans of the program that have supported them.

It's also a solid move for the AUSL to spread awareness of the league itself, as these moments are shared over and over on social media, which helps grow the league past the most diehard supporters of college softball.

Kern is certainly a worthy player to receive one of these coveted tickets, too. This season she has hit a career-high .413 (15th in ACC) with a .545 OBP (6th), 14 home runs (3rd), 12 doubles (12th) and a 1.508 OPS (3rd). During Friday night's game, she also crushed a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning into the trees.

Taryn Kern into the trees! pic.twitter.com/ygMOfKwLT4
— Stanford on SI (@StanfordonSI) April 11, 2026

Teams in AUSL

The AUSL is about to enter its second season, and will be rolling with six teams in 2026, up from the four teams they had in 2025. The teams for this season will be the Chicago Bandits, Oklahoma City Spark, Utah Talons, Carolina Blaze, Portland Cascade and the Texas Volts. The Talons and Spark will be the new additions to the league in 2026.

The Talons ended up going 18-6 during the regular season, and swept the Bandits in two games to win the inaugural championship.

This year, each of the six teams will play a 25-game schedule in series of two or three. ESPN will be televising 47 total regular season matchups, as well as the AUSL Championship, with Game 1 of the series airing on ABC.

Each team will have 16 players, and the average salary is $45,000 for all players.

Former Cardinal in the AUSL

Right-hander Alana Vawter is a member of the OKC Spark, and in her first season in the AUSL she posted a 1-5 record with a 4.52 ERA in 12 games (five starts) spanning 31 innings. Vawter was a four-year letter winner at Stanford before completing her career by playing at South Carolina during the 2024 season.

Kern will make the second former Cardinal to join the AUSL when she is selected in early May, but the lack of former Cardinal just speaks to the level of competition it takes to get onto one of these six rosters. Stanford has had a terrific program in recent years, so it's not for a lack of talent on The Farm.

Not only will Kern, and all seniors, be fighting amongst themselves for one of these positions, but they'll also be up against those that have come before them as well. With just six teams for this season, the AUSL will certainly showcase the best of the best. And on Friday night, Kern was added to that list.

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