Bats go cold as Auburn drops series finale against Florida

Eyeing its first series win over Florida since 2005, Auburn came up short against the Gators Sunday afternoon to drop game three of the series 3-0.

"We let the umpire dictate our at-bats," said head coach Mickey Dean. "We let the crowd into us, you know. A lot of things, and it really showed today and I think we know it."

Superstar pitcher Maddie Penta opened the game with a strikeout Sunday afternoon. Through four innings Penta was flawless, but the right-handed pitcher could not get any help from the bats.

Florida pitcher Elizabeth Hightower had an equally impressive outing through the first four and entire game - holding Auburn scoreless. Against a team like Auburn, coming in to Sunday ranked second in the conference in home runs and fifth in batting average, it takes an elite performance to shut down a team like Hightower did.

"It's the No. 7 team in the country," Dean said. "They're throwing fifth-year seniors against us in the circle. They got seniors all across the infield. They handled themselves maturely in their at-bats, and that was the difference."

Auburn only mustered three hits in the game with two coming in the third inning. With two on and one out, Auburn eyed the first lead of the game, but its next two batters got a bit too aggressive in their at-bats. One flew out to left field and the next grounded out to third base.

The Tigers let another chance slip away a couple innings later. Emotions were high after Florida head coach Tim Walton got into a verbal altercation with the head umpire and some Auburn fans.

Auburn was riding the rowdiness of the crowd and found a runner on second with one out looking to tie or take the lead.

But a base-running error cost Auburn. Pinch-runner Abbey Smith tried to sneakily take third base after a grounder to shortstop, but Florida's Skylar Wallace made a strong throw to third to tag out Smith.

"They didn't let the umpire get in their head, and we did," Dean said. "We were just emotional with our at-bats."

Without a lead to lean on, Penta was pitching with her back against the wall the entire game. In the sixth inning, Florida finally added some insurance runs against Penta to grab a comfortable lead. The Gators opened the inning with two consecutive singles as Auburn was held on for dear life. Auburn managed to get the next batter out, but a Reagan Walsh single scored the runner from second. With a runner on third, Florida eventually scored its third run of the game off a wild pitch.

Dean recognized that Penta did all she could to hold off the Gators and was encouraged with the things he saw from her.

"I thought Maddie did a tremendous job," Dean said. "I saw no reason to make any change there."

With Auburn's bats cold as ice, the three-run lead was daunting for the Tigers. Another scoreless inning in the sixth meant Auburn only had three outs left to comeback.

Heroics were needed for the Tigers in the seventh inning, but it took Hightower only six pitches to retire the side and solidify a commanding performance.

Penta pitched all seven innings and allowed three runs on seven hits. She also recorded five strikeouts. Makayla Parker, Carlee McCondichie and Bri Ellis were the only Tigers to record a hit for Auburn. The Tigers struck out five times and left six runners on base.

Despite the loss, Dean appeared relaxed and still has major optimism for the rest of the season.

"We're in great shape," Dean said. "You can't try to control all these things you have no control over, so we're in good shape - just one game at a time."

Next up for Auburn is a matchup against 13-19 Georgia State. The game will begin at 6 p.m. on April 6 at Jane B. Moore Field, broadcast on SEC Network+.