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A spirit that is not afraid

Stars pave way for newcomers in dominant Tiger Invite

<p>Nelia Peralta (#13) making a face at the first base coach after hitting a homerun against Villanova on February 17th 2023</p>

Nelia Peralta (#13) making a face at the first base coach after hitting a homerun against Villanova on February 17th 2023

No. 21 Auburn softball used its star power to dominate the Tiger Invitational field and improve to 9-1 on the season with a perfect opening weekend on the Plains.

It went undefeated in doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday before securing a Tiger Invitational victory with a win over Austin Peay on Sunday. Here's how each day went.

Friday and Saturday

Behind prolonged dominance from Maddie Penta and red-hot veteran bats, Auburn began the Tiger Invite with two doubleheader sweeps with defeats of Austin Peay (twice), Villanova (twice) and Dayton, including three wins by mercy rule.

Penta, who led the SEC in wins and ERA as a sophomore last season, threw eight innings over three appearances on the first two days of the weekend and extended her streak of scoreless innings to start the season to 23. She only allowed two baserunners on a hit and a walk while striking out 17. This brought her to 48 strikeouts this season, coming off a 269-strikeout year in which she was the first Auburn pitcher to surpass 250 strikeouts in a season since 2010.

As if she needed a bigger challenge, Penta also got her first two collegiate plate appearances on Saturday in the win over Dayton. Her first was a sacrifice bunt that worked to perfection, sparking a five-run inning. Next, she walked and scored her first run as a Tiger on a Jesse Blaine triple before Blaine walked things off over Dayton by scoring on a passed ball. 

That was Auburn's eighth consecutive unanswered run, and it gave them a 10-2 win over Dayton in five innings, its fifth mercy-rule win this season.

The pitching effort, led by Penta, was dominant. Sophomore Annabelle Widra got her second win of the season to start off the weekend in an 11-1 defeat of Austin Peay, along with two wins to get Penta to 5-0, and Shelby Lowe's first win of the year in a 9-3 win over Villanova.

The pitching core of Penta, Widra, Lowe, and relievers Icess Tresvick and freshman Emma Rolfe allowed just four earned runs combined in the first four games of the weekend. They accounted for 35 strikeouts opposed to just four walks.

According to head coach Mickey Dean, the strong performances from both the pitching and the offense fed into each other and allowed everyone to feel comfortable in their respective roles. The pitching allowed the hitters to be patient and not have to do "too much."

That relaxed approach translated to a lot of two-strike hitting, exemplified by a two-strike, two-out grand slam by senior Lindsey Garcia in a 9-3 win over Villanova on Saturday. 

Garcia heated up over the weekend, tallying six hits with her first two homers of the season in the first four games. She boosted her average to .500, while she has only struck out once. 

"(The grand slam) felt fantastic. I'm excited, it's senior year, just a lot of blessings and a lot to look forward to," Garcia said. "I'm just looking to make an impact for my team any way I can."

Garcia wasn't the only veteran with a hot bat, though. Nelia Peralta went 6-for-9 and Carlee McCondichie went 5-for-10, both building on averages that sit well above .500. 

2022 SEC Player of the Year Bri Ellis also delivered with her first "Bri Bomb" of the year on Saturday versus Dayton. She went 5-for-9 with five RBIs on Friday and Saturday after a relatively slow start to the season for the Preseason All-SEC pick.


Auburn's Bri Ellis (77) swings and hits a pitch from Dayton, giving Auburn 2 points.


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"(My first home run of the season) felt really, really good. I'm so glad it happened and that I didn't give up on myself," Ellis said. "I went hard this week, and I think it's paying off. Sometimes you do have to really get after it to get stuff you want, but down the stretch it'll calm down."

As the Tigers get into the meat of a long, difficult season, they will have support from several newcomers, who showed their explosiveness this weekend. All four freshmen got on the field, but two dual-threat transfers made particularly strong impressions on their home crowd. 

Widra, a Michigan transfer, dazzled on the mound with six innings and seven strikeouts, and she slapped three base hits while holding down the hot corner. NC A&T transfer Tresvick also flashed her athleticism on Saturday with a home run to center field and a spectacular diving grab the next inning. She also tossed a scoreless inning versus Austin Peay on Friday. 



"The freshman class and transfers, they're working their tail off, I'm going to tell you that," Peralta said. "They want to be out here, having fun and playing the game just as much as we (veterans) do. I'm excited to see where this season is going to take them."

With star power backed by young players finding their roles, Auburn stormed to four victories by a combined 32 runs on Friday and Saturday.

Sunday

Auburn defeated Austin Peay in Sunday's stand alone game, 5-1. Auburn went undefeated in the Tiger Invitational and outscored their opponents 43-7. This was the only game that Auburn played the full seven innings rather than hitting the run-rule on their opponent. This was the eight time that the Tigers have faced off against the Governors of Austin Peay, and Auburn is now 8-0. 

Things did not start off as smoothly as the Tigers hoped for as it seemed that they had sleep walked into this game. With Austin Peay putting up a run early off an unexpected error. Austin Peay was in cruise control and put three hits off on the almost unhitable Maddie Penta. In Penta's first 25 innings this season she had allowed nine hits. She allowed three hits in the first inning and a half.

The real star of the first two innings was the Austin Peay pitcher, Jordan Benefiel. Benefiel's off speed pitches put Auburn hitters away quick and easily.

Auburn could not get the offensive rolling until the bottom of the third. Before this, the Tigers had yet to put up a hit on the day.

However that would change when Tresvik came to the plate. She sent a ball screaming off the bat and into the creek behind Jane B. Moore field to tie the game at 1-1.

When asked about the upcoming UAB game she responded: "Treat it like a College World Series game, take every game as the championship game."

But the inning was not over as more Tigers came to the plate. Ellis earned her eighth RBI of the young season. With two runners on, and two outs, Blaine was up to bat. She sent a ball into right that looked like it would be the deepest out possible, but by the luck of fools the Austin Peay defender missed the ball.

As the defender struggled to find the ball, Blaine was speeding around second and being waved home. She slid into home plate to have one of the rarest plays in the game, an inside-the-park home run. 

Austin Peay continued to get hits off of Penta, but thanks to good fielding, Auburn was able to avoid allowing any more runs. The run did not count on Penta's ERA, as she keeps her perfect ERA.

With the win, Auburn advanced to 9-1 on the season and will host UAB on Wednesday at 5 p.m. CST at Jane B. Moore Field.


TP Hammock | Sports Writer

TP is a senior from Montgomery, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.

Twitter: @tp_hammock


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