No. 20 Auburn swept the Jane B. Moore Memorial tournament by going 5-0 over the weekend to improve its season record to 21-1.
Friday, March 4
The Tigers started the afternoon off with a 5-0 win against North Carolina A&T and a combined no-hitter between Maddie Penta and KK Dismukes.
Maddie Penta got the start and the win in the circle for Auburn. She pitched for five complete innings, collecting 11 strikeouts while allowing no walks, hits or runs. Penta collected two groundouts and two pop outs as well to round out her perfect innings. KK Dismukes then came on in relief in the sixth inning to finish out the no-hitter as well as collecting four strikeouts.
The Tigers did not see any action at the plate until the bottom of the fourth inning. Sydney Cox led off the inning with a single, and a stolen base as well as a Bri Ellis walk put runners on first and third with one out. Lindsey Garcia then hit a three-run home run to put the Tigers up 3-0. Aubrie Lisenby next hit a solo home run with two outs to add another run to Auburn’s total before the inning came to a close.
Auburn scored its fifth and final run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Carlee McCondichie led the inning off with a double to right field to put a runner in scoring position. Makayla Packer then walked and stole second, putting runners on second and third for the Tigers. Nelia Peralta laid down a sacrifice bunt with one out to push across McCondichie for the final run.
Several players had timely hits to push across runs and to set runners in scoring position. Garcia went 1-for-2 with a three-run home run and collected three RBIs. Lisenby went 1-for-2 with a solo home run while collecting an RBI. McCondichie went 1-2 with a lead-off double that eventually scored the fifth Auburn run.
Auburn next took on Toledo to win its second game of the day with a final score of 6-1.
Toledo struck early in the top of the first inning. The first batter of the game was hit by a pitch. That runner then advanced to second base by a Shelby Lowe wild pitch with one out. A fielding error allowed for another Toledo baserunner to put runners on first and third with one out. A throwing error by the catcher to second base allowed for a run to score, putting Toledo up 1-0 before the end of the frame.
The score remained 1-0 until the Tigers got their bats going in the bottom of the fifth inning. Aspyn Godwin singled and Denver Bryant doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. Makayla Packer then walked with one out to load the bases for the Tigers. Sydney Cox bunted to move the runners around and score a run to tie the game at 1-1.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Peralta tripled to clear the bases to bring the score to 4-1 and put a runner on third base. Ellis then singled to score Peralta from third to put Auburn up 5-1. Next, Garcia bunted for a single and to advance the runner to second base. Jessie Blaine then singled to score Auburn's sixth and final run of the inning and the game.
Auburn’s Shelby Lowe pitched four complete innings, allowing only one hit and one run while walking two. Lowe also collected eight strikeouts to add to her season total. Penta came on in relief in the top of the third inning. She pitched through the fifth inning, allowing one walk and no hits while striking out five. Penta also earned the win for the game. Lowe re-entered the game in the sixth inning to finish the game for the Tigers.
Auburn had two freshmen who stepped up to the plate during this game. Both Peralta and Blaine finished the game going 2-for-3. Peralta collected a triple and a double as well as two RBIs while Blaine collected two singles and one RBI.
The Tigers then prepared to face both Toledo and North Carolina A&T again on Saturday.
Saturday, March 5
Auburn’s first game of the day was a 9-0 shutout, run-rule win over Toledo.
Maddie Penta earned her third win of the weekend, pitching for four complete innings. Penta collected seven strikeouts while only allowing one hit and one walk. KK Dismukes came on in relief in the top of the fifth inning to close the game out for the Tigers. Dismukes only allowed one hit and one walk while striking out the side in her single-inning appearance.
The Tigers struck first in the bottom of the first inning. In a bases-loaded, one-out situation, Lindsey Garcia flew out to right to score the runner from third to put Auburn up early 1-0.
A walk and two consecutive singles by Denver Bryant and Paige Geraghty had the bases loaded again for the Tigers in the bottom of the second inning. A Sydney Cox single scored two runs for the Tigers, putting them up 3-0 after two innings.
Auburn had a six-run frame in the bottom of the fifth inning to put the game out of reach for Toledo.
Aspyn Godwin led off the inning with a solo home run. Consecutive singles by Carlee McCondichie and Geraghty had runners on first and third for Auburn. On a double steal, another run scored for Auburn. A Sydney Cox double and a Nelia Peralta home run totalled three more runs, while a Kelsey Schmidt single and a Rose Roach double scored the sixth and final run of the frame.
Some new faces saw the field in this game and got some repetitions and performed well at the plate for the Tigers.
Geraghty led off for Auburn. She went 3-for-3 with three singles and one run scored. Cox went 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Peralta also went 2-for-3, collecting a home run and a single as well as two RBIs and one run scored. Both Godwin and Roach went 1-for-1, with Godwin collecting a solo home run and one RBI and Roach hitting a double as well as an RBI.
The Tigers next faced off against North Carolina A&T for the second time, winning by a final score of 6-2.
Penta earned her fourth win of the weekend in the circle for the Tigers, pitching four complete innings. Penta gave up one hit while collecting 10 strikeouts. Penta pitched the first inning and then re-entered the game for Shelby Lowe in the top of the fifth inning. Lowe pitched for three complete innings, giving up four hits and two runs, both of them earned, while also collecting six strikeouts.
Once again, the Tigers scored first in the bottom of the second inning. Bri Ellis led off the inning with a solo home run to give Auburn the early 1-0 lead. With a runner on third with one out, Carlee McCondichie hit the second home-run of the inning, scoring two more for the Tigers before the inning came to a close.
North Carolina A&T attempted to make a comeback by almost tying the game in the top of the fourth inning. A double with one out and then a two-run home run tallied the score at 3-2 and ended Lowe’s time in the circle after the inning was over.
The game did not stay close for long. McCondichie led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single to put a runner on base for the Tigers. With Geraghty on because of a fielder’s choice, a single by Roach added another run to end the inning with a score of 4-2.
McCondichie homered for the second time of the day to grow the lead with a score of 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth. A walk by Geraghty and a couple of throwing errors allowed for Geraghty to score on an infield single by Roach. This brought the score to 6-2 before the inning ended.
The new faces in the lineup continued to produce for Auburn. McCondichie was as steady as ever in the bottom spot of the lineup, going 3-for-3 with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored. Roach went 2-for-2 with two singles and two RBIs. Roach came up with the clutch single in the bottom of the fifth inning to give Auburn another insurance run.
After both of the wins on Saturday, Auburn looked to keep its clean tournament slate in its first look against Chattanooga on Sunday.
Sunday, March 6
Auburn ended its Jane B. Moore Memorial tournament with a 12-1 run-rule win over Chattanooga on Sunday.
Maddie Penta earned her fifth win of the weekend, and her 13th overall, on Sunday. She pitched for three complete innings, allowing three hits, one run (earned) and struck out five. KK Dismukes came on in relief of Penta in the top of the fourth inning. She pitched for two innings, allowing only one hit while also striking out one batter.
Auburn got the scoring going early, striking in the bottom of the first inning. Two back-to-back singles by Sydney Cox and Nelia Peralta had runners on first and second with one out. A double by Jessie Blaine scored the first Auburn run and had runners on second and third. Two more runs scored on two different wild pitches. A double by Aspyn Godwin and a home run by Denver Bryant brought the final inning score to 6-0.
A single by Cox and two walks were cashed in for two runs in the bottom of the second inning. A fielding error by the shortstop with two outs allowed for the runs to score and for all Auburn runners to be safe. This brought the game score to 8-0 after two innings.
Chattanooga showed some life in the top of the third inning. A two-out single followed by a two-out triple scored Chattanooga its only run of the game. However, the next batter was struck out before the deficit could be closed any more.
The Auburn half of the fourth inning sealed the win for the Tigers. A lead-off single by Rose Roach and Maia Engelkes being hit by a pitch had runners on first and second for the Tigers. Kelsey Schmidt hit an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error, allowing two runs to score for the Tigers. A sacrifice fly for Aubrie Lisenby and an RBI double by Riley McNemar plated three more runs for the Tigers, bringing the score to 12-1.
Several Auburn players stood out offensively in this offensive-heavy game. Cox went 2-for-3 with two singles and two runs scored. Bryant went 1-for-2 with a home run, two RBIs and one run scored. McNemar, Blaine and Schmidt all went notched a hit in their sole at bats. McNemar had a double with two RBIs, Blaine had a double, one RBI and one run scored and Schmidt had a single with one RBI and one run scored.
Due to inclement weather in the forecast, Auburn's next matchup with Alabama State has been postponed, and the makeup date is to be announced. With the schedule change, the Tigers head into conference play in their next action starting on Friday. First pitch with Texas A&M is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST, and can be viewed on SEC Network-plus.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
