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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn's toughness powers Tigers to series-clinching win over South Carolina

<p>Auburn celebrates after a walk-off win over South Carolina on March 21, 2022 at Jane B. Moore Field.&nbsp;</p>

Auburn celebrates after a walk-off win over South Carolina on March 21, 2022 at Jane B. Moore Field. 

Auburn clinched the series against South Carolina Monday night after a gutsy 4-3 win over the Gamecocks, led by the heroics of Nelia Peralta.

Head coach Mickey Dean noted that the resiliency of the team is something he is very proud of after the game.

"They understand you can't do anything about the past," Dean said. "They're able to move on from it. Lord knows I've been trying to get teams to do that for years and to have one that does it, it affected me more than it did them."

South Carolina nearly took an early lead in the first inning. With runner on second and third, usual shutdown pitcher Maddie Penta was in trouble - somewhere she has not been many times this season.

But Penta kept cool and forced the next batter into a strikeout before ending the inning with a routine groundout to third.

Auburn made the Gamecocks pay for not taking their chance in the next half of the inning. Auburn did not record a hit in the inning, but thanks to four walks, including three consecutive with a runner already on second, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead. Bri Ellis drew the final walk of the inning to bring home Makayla Packer.

After a shaky start, Penta signaled she had settled into the game for the time being by striking out the first two batters of the second inning and putting away the last batter with an easy groundout.

Auburn recorded its first hit of the game in the second inning after Carlee McCondichie hit a liner into left field for a single. The junior left fielder stole second base to move into scoring position, but Auburn did not capitalize and the score remained 1-0.

The Tigers missed another golden opportunity later in the game. 

With the bases loaded and no outs, Auburn came up scoreless after a foul-ball popup was bobbled but caught and the next two batters grounded out. Through three innings Auburn had already left seven runners on base.

"We let her off the hook early on," Dean said. "But you can't be perfect all the time. We just let the moment get a little too big for us."

Those stranded runners came back to bite Auburn later in the game. Nursing just a one-run lead, Penta found the bases loaded after allowing a walk and back-to-back singles.

A groundout to second scored the Gamecocks' first run of the game which was followed by a two-RBI triple from South Carolina center-fielder Aaliyah White. In the blink of an eye, the Gamecocks had taken the lead after barely threatening all game.

The chance of winning the series was fading for the Tigers as were the chances created offensively. 

Auburn was sat down in order in the fourth inning, and things looked grim for the Tigers. But Peralta sprung new life into Jane B. Moore Field with a bomb to straightaway center to bring the Tigers within one.

With all the momentum on Auburn's side, Jesse Blaine was caught in a pickle while trying to steal. Blaine was eventually tagged out, and the next two Auburn batters flied out to end the inning. The end of the inning reenacted a story the Tigers saw too many times Monday night - missed opportunities.

Even with so many reasons to grow discouraged, Auburn would not be denied. With one out in the sixth inning, Denver Bryant stepped to the plate and delivered a scorcher over the wall in center field to tie the game.

After a scoreless seventh, the game moved to extra innings for the second time in the series. South Carolina won the first game of the series 10-7 in 11 innings.

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Penta remained in the game and pitched three more clutch innings to give Auburn a chance of pulling off the comeback.

"I'm a competitor," Penta said. "We all are, and that's what makes it fun so even though it did go 10 innings and I am exhausted, as long as I come out of here with a win, that's all that matters to me."

Dean raved about Penta's performance postgame.

"Phenomenal," Dean said. "Because she threw seven innings the other night. I thought both pitchers were phenomenal, I really do. Kudos to both of them."

Two and a half empty innings later, Peralta stepped up to the plate and delivered her second home run of the game, and this one walked it off.

Postgame Peralta talked about how the team decided to just control what they can control and let the game come to them.

"I think we were trying to do just a little too much at the end," Peralta said. "It's been a long weekend and at the end of the day I was just trying hit a gap and it happily went over so I'm fine with that."

The victory handed Auburn its 26th win of the season with just two losses, and its 5-1 conference record sits the Tigers atop of the SEC standings.

Auburn travels to Lexington, Kentucky for a weekend series against the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday. The games will be broadcast on SEC Network and SEC Network-plus.


Jacob Waters | Sports Reporter

Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman. 

Twitter: @JacobWaters_


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