Auburn cruised to an easy victory Wednesday night with a 10-0 win over the Mercer Bears. Auburn run-ruled Mercer in six innings, which marked the 12th time the Tigers have run-ruled an opponent this season.
“We had several members of the team step up,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “We were able to give them additional playing time and at-bats, and they did a nice job. We’re trying to give people some rest, so I thought our young team did a nice job stepping up. Maddie (Penta) didn’t leave out defense out there a long time, and KK (Dismukes) did a nice job to close it out.”
Penta continued her dominant pitching against the Bears by recording seven strikeouts in five innings while allowing just one hit and walking only one batter. The win gives Penta 19 wins this season which is tied for 10th most in Auburn single-season history.
After Penta allowed her first hit of the game in the fifth inning, Dismukes came into the game in relief and struck out two batters in the sixth to end the game.
Bri Ellis once again rode her powerful hitting into another impressive performance. Ellis hit her 14th home run of the season on Wednesday bringing her four home runs shy of tying the freshman home run record set by Kasey Cooper. Ellis also recorded a career high three RBIs in the win.
Fellow freshman Jessie Blaine also recorded a multi-RBI game with two of her own after knocking in a pair of runners with a double in the sixth inning.
Auburn was held scoreless through the first two innings, but after a leadoff single by Abbey Smith was followed by a two-run homer from Lindsey Garcia, the Tigers took the lead and never slowed down.
Auburn plated its third run of the inning with the Ellis home run.
Freshman Rose Roach recorded two singles during the game and scored the fourth run for the Tigers after her steal attempt produced a host of errors from Mercer allowing her to score and stretch the lead.
Another Mercer error in the fifth inning saw freshman Aubrie Lisenby score from second after recording a single a couple of at-bats prior. Carlee McCondichie grounded out to first but brought home a run in the process to make the score 6-0.
With the bases loaded, Blaine smacked a double into the outfield to bring home two runs. Auburn could sniff a run-rule victory, and Ellis cleared the bases with a double to give Auburn a 10-run lead – eventually representing the final score.
Auburn faces Niagra in a three-game series this weekend with a doubleheader set for Friday. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST.
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Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
