The Tigers ended the Auburn Invitational on Saturday with a pair of wins over Southeastern Louisiana to go 5-0 on the weekend.
Auburn has a 13-0 record at home and is 15-1 overall.
Game 1:
The Tigers got off to a slow start in game one as they had no hits until the third inning. Heading into the fourth inning, the Tigers were trailing 2-0 before a home run from Lindsey Garcia put them on the board.
A string of hits began stacking up, and the fourth inning ended with Auburn taking a 7-2 lead.
“It’s always fun to start a rally, and I think everyone participated and everybody made a difference in that inning,” Garcia said.
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning, one being a home run from Justus Perry that just missed hitting the video board.
Those two runs from the Tigers would be the last scored in the game, so the doubleheader's first game ended with a 9-2 win.
“Sometimes you’ve got to get your team’s attention and they turned it on and they didn’t let off the gas pedal,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “We just battle.”
Three Tigers pitched in the first game, but Shelby Lowe got the win with eight strikeouts.
Game 2:
The sun went down between games one and two, but Auburn kept the bats warm despite the chill in the air. In the first inning, Southeastern Louisiana grabbed a brief 1-0 lead off an error at third base, but a double by Aspyn Godwin pushed Sydney Cox home to tie the game.
By the end of the first inning, the Tigers added five more runs to the scoreboard. Auburn ended the first inning with a 6-1 lead and finished the game after six innings with a 9-1 victory.
Justus Perry had a big night, recording her 1000 putout at first base during game one and then had career-hit No. 100 on a right-field single in game two.
“I’ve been doing some extra work," Perry said. "I’ve been trying to watch video. I’ve been trying to do above the average to try and figure it out because I know this team is going to need me at some point."
Auburn used more pitchers in game two as KK Dismukes started and picked up the win, and Samantha Yarbrough came on in relief to end the game.
Facing Alabama next week will be the first SEC play Auburn has seen since a two-game series against South Carolina in late February. Auburn suffered its only loss of the season to the Gamecocks.
“We talk about being a wolf," Dean said. "Why are wolves, who aren’t the biggest or the strongest, but what makes them dangerous? It’s that they hunt in packs, and they defend in packs. It’s easy to go out there and for one person to lose a ball game. It’s different when you have a pack of 26 attacking and defending. Now it becomes a little bit more difficult for you to beat that team.”
The Tigers are riding a 10 game win streak going into their next stretch of games. Auburn has a single game at Troy on Wednesday before hosting Alabama in a three-game weekend series.
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Callie Stanford is from Springville, Alabama and is currently a sophomore at Auburn. She has been with The Plainsman since January 2021.
Twitter: @Stanford1Callie
