Auburn opened up the Judi Garman Classic with two victories.
The Tigers defeated Loyola Marymount 9-2 and UTSA 7-1. With the wins, Auburn improves to 15-3 on the season and extends its winning streak to 10 games.
This is the first 10-game streak for the Tigers since February 2018 when they won 15 straight in a 14-day stretch.
The offense was clicking early in both games as Auburn posted a run in each of the first three innings against Loyola. Kendall Veach would add another score in the fifth with her fifth home run on the season.
In the seventh, the offense would reignite with a two-run double by Makenna Dowell and Bree Fornis’s three-run homer to put the score at 9-0.
On the defensive end, Makayla Martin matched a season-high eight strikeouts while only giving up two hits. Chardonnary Harris would relieve Martin in the seventh, and would give up the only runs scored on a two-run home run by Loyola’s Riley Ehlen.
Lexie Handley continued Martin's dominant outing against UTSA and set a career high for strikeouts with nine. Ashlee Swindle took over pitching duties in the fifth and recorded her first career save.
Auburn scored in the top of the first on a throwing error, but the Roadrunners answered back to tie it up 1-1 heading into the second.
The score would remain the same until a sacrifice fly allowed Brittany Maresette to score in the third. Another run would come for Auburn in the fourth, before it scored four runs in the game’s final inning, one of which came off of Veach’s 100th career hit.
"We adjusted late well," said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean. "We fought. It wasn't two pretty games, but we fought. We made adjustments late in those two ballgames. You always wish you could've put them away early – and we had opportunities to do that – but we just didn't take advantage of that.”
Auburn now turns its focus to Oregon and Washington in the Judi Garman Classic. It will be a doubleheader as the Tigers will face the Ducks at noon followed by the Huskies at 2:30 p.m. EST.
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