No. 21 Auburn defeated ULM 3-0 behind Shelby Lowe’s shutout performance in its first contest of the Plainsman Invite on Friday, at Jane B. Moore Field.
Sophomore Shelby Lowe got the nod in the circle for the Tigers, earning her sixth win of the year.
Lowe was rolling from the start, flirting with a no-hitter until giving up a one-out single in the top of the sixth inning. Until then, her only blemish on the game was a hit batter in the top of the third inning. Lowe pitched a complete game, allowing two hits, one hit batter and one walk.
Lowe also collected 13 strikeouts and brought her season ERA to 0.99.
“I feel like I started off strong,” Lowe said. “Everything was working. Definitely just felt good in warm-ups, arm felt good. I was ready to roll.”
Auburn struck first in the bottom of the first inning.
Makayla Packer led off the inning with a walk. She then proceeded to steal second and advanced to third with a throwing error. Nelia Peralta then hit a sacrifice fly with one out to score Packer, putting the Tigers up 1-0.
The Tigers then saw more action offensively in the bottom of the third inning.
A one-out double by Carlee McCondichie and a bunt-double by Packer had runners on second and third for Auburn. A fielder’s choice on a bunt by Sydney Cox and an error allowed for both runners to score and for Cox to end up on second base.
Auburn ended the inning by stranding two runners, but added to its lead to bring the score to 3-0 after three complete innings.
“We had runners at second and third there, and I thought let’s just get home a run here before somebody settles into the circle,” said head coach Mickey Dean on Cox’s bunt play.
Auburn only had a couple more hits scattered throughout the rest of the game. It even had bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but failed to score any runs with three straight retired to eliminate the scoring opportunity.
However, three runs scored early in the game for the Tigers was good enough for the afternoon victory.
Dean didn’t sound too disappointed with the quality outs from his team.
“We had three innings where we had line-drive outs,” Dean said. “What do you say to them? There’s not much more you can say. They were good swings, but they just didn’t happen.”
Even with low scoring, several Tigers did have a good game at the plate. McCondichie went 3-3 with a double and two singles. Packer went 1-2 on the day with a bunt double and a stolen base. Packer also scored two of Auburn’s crucial three runs.
Tomorrow, Auburn will look to improve on those quality outs by continuing to make solid contact and hitting the ball hard while driving around the runners in scoring postion.
The defense also showed up today for pitcher Shelby Lowe by committing no errors.
“We definitely work good together,” Lowe said. “Something that’s important is keeping the other team off the board. That’s something that we’ve learned from this year and last year, that for our team to be able to keep up with offense, you have to be able to not let them score on defense and that’s the most important [thing].”
Auburn will next face Delaware State and Bradley tomorrow in a double header. The Delaware State game will start at 2:30 p.m CT. and the Bradley game will start at 5 p.m CT. Both games will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
