No. 21 Auburn won its midweek road game against Georgia State Wednesday night with a final run-rule score of 9-1 after six innings.
Maddie Penta got the start and the win for the Tigers on the road, bringing her season record to 8-0.
Penta pitched a complete game, allowing no earned runs during her six innings pitched.
She allowed three hits, gave up two walks and struck out 10. Samantha Yarbrough did come on in relief in the bottom of the sixth, but allowed three straight walks and was credited with the lone Georgia State earned run when Penta re-entered the game.
The Tigers struck first in the game, putting up a big frame in the top of the third inning, scoring five runs and collecting three hits. Denver Bryant led off the inning with a double and was followed up by a Carlee McCondichie single to put runners on first and third. McCondichie then stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error, scoring Bryant for the first run.
Makayla Packer then tripled, scoring McCondichie from third. After a walk by Sydney Cox and a stolen base by pinch runner Abbey Smith, Packer scored on a wild pitch while Smith advanced to third.
With a walk to Lindsey Garcia, the Tigers pulled off a double steal and another Auburn run crossed the plate. The last run for Auburn in the inning came when Bryant was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to score Garcia from third.
Auburn tacked on another run via a solo home run by Aspyn Godwin in the top of the fifth inning, bringing the game total to 6-0 through five.
The bats for Auburn struck again in the next inning.
Two back-to-back Auburn hits, a McCondichie double and a Packer single, scored a run and had Packer advancing to second on the throw home. After Nelia Peralta walked, a fielder’s choice by Kelsey Schmidt and an error by Georgia State scored a run and had runners on second and third with one out. Paige Geraghty then singled, scoring Auburn’s ninth run of the game.
The Tigers did run into some trouble trying to close the game out in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the bases full, a walk moved runners around, giving Georgia State its first run of the game. However, the next three batters recorded outs without taking advantage of a bases-loaded situation, giving the Tigers the 9-1 run-rule win.
Several Auburn players had productive at-bats that were crucial for the Tigers' scoring runs.
Packer led the way in the lead-off spot, going 2-4 with a triple and a single while also collecting two RBIs and scoring two runs. McCondichie ended the game going 2-3 with a double and a single while scoring two runs. Bryant went 1-2 with a double and an RBI as well as scoring a run while Godwin went 1-2 with a home run and an RBI while also scoring a run.
The Tigers will next be in action at home this Friday, March 4, for the Jane B. Moore Memorial. The first games of the weekend for the Tigers are against North Carolina A&T at 3 p.m. CST and Toledo at 5:30 p.m. CST. Neither game will be streamed.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
