The Tigers continued their winning ways at Jane B. Moore Field on Friday in their doubleheader against Southern Miss.
Auburn won both games in the series and improved to 13-1 on the season with an 11-0 record at home.
Game 1:
It did not take long for Auburn to find run support in the first game against Southern Miss as the Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the first.
With the bases loaded in the first following a single and two walks, Kelsey Schmidt's ground out scored the Tigers' first run. The next batter was Lindsey Garcia, who reached first on a throwing error that brought two more runs.
At the end of the first, Auburn led 3-0.
The Golden Eagles answered with a run of their own in the fourth. Southern Miss's Terrica Williams grounded out to third, but the Golden Eagles scored an unearned run in the fourth.
The Tigers scored three more runs in the fifth inning to give them a 6-1 lead. A sacrifice fly from Sydney Cox scored Tyler King, and Makayla Packer's single scored the second run. Aspyn Godwin brought the third run in off a single.
After Auburn's three runs in the bottom of the fifth, Southern Miss responded with three runs of its own in the sixth. After a leadoff walk followed by a single, the Golden Eagle's Hannah Borden hit a three-run home run off Maddie Penta.
Penta got the start for the Tigers and finished the day with five innings of work. In her five innings, she gave up two hits, three walks, three earned runs and one unearned.
After the Southern Miss home run, Auburn made a call to the bullpen to KK Dismukes. Dismukes came into the game with a 6-4 lead but with no outs.
Dismukes struck out the next two batters and forced a ground out for the final out of the sixth. Dismukes pitched two innings of relief and gave up no hits or runs while striking out four.
Auburn walked away with a 6-4 win over the Golden Eagles in game one.
Game 2:
While the first game between the two teams featured plenty of run support, the second game was a pitcher's duel.
Shelby Lowe started on the mound for the Tigers and went the distance. She pitched all seven innings allowing only five hits and one unearned run while striking out 11 batters.
Similar to the first game, Auburn found the scoreboard first. In the second inning, Alyssa Rivera's single to center field scored Schmidt.
Rivera was 1-for-2 against the Golden Eagles in the second game and drove in both of Auburn's runs.
"It felt good to drive in both runs, but it doesn't matter who drove them in," Rivera said. "What matters is that we left with a team win."
In the fourth inning, the Tigers tacked on a second run to give them a 2-0 lead. Rivera flied out to center field this time, but pinch-runner Paige Geraghty took advantage of Godwin's earlier triple and scored from third.
In the sixth inning, Southern Miss added a run of its own. The Golden Eagles reached second on a throwing error, and the next batter singled to bring home the run.
The next batter in the sixth grounded out into a double play that ended the top of the inning.
Lowe struck out the first three batters she faced in the seventh, and Auburn hung on for a 2-1 win.
The Tigers return to Jane B. Moore on Saturday as they participate in their final games of the Auburn Invitational. Auburn will take on Southeastern Louisiana in a doubleheader, with the first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CST.
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Jake Weese, senior in journalism with a minor in history, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
