Auburn softball (20-2) took care of business Saturday as it closed out the Jane B. Moore Memorial with an 8-0 win over Bowling Green (7-12) in a five-inning contest.
The Tigers took the victory in a well-balanced game as they dominated both sides of the ball, preventing any Bowling Green baserunners from advancing until the fifth inning.
The offense produced eight runs as Auburn jumped out to an early first-inning lead after a Bri Ellis home run to right field, resulting in two runs. The Tigers managed six hits to match their six walks, with two of the walks resulting in RBIs.
“Coming into today, we had struck out more times than we had walked this weekend,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “Today against a team we’ve already played once, we walked six times and struck out once.”
Third baseman Denver Bryant echoed Dean's thoughts.
“Today, we really focused on being selfless,” Bryant said. “We all talked about going out there and playing for each other and not for ourselves. We tried to transfer what we’ve been doing in practice and the cages or warmup in the game today.”
The team stayed consistent throughout the game as the Tigers ended it with an RBI single by Bryant in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Auburn kept Bowling Green off the base path primarily due to another dominant pitching performance by Maddie Penta to capture its 12th shutout of the season.
“She did her job, and she worked ahead, and that’s what we asked for,” Dean said. “When you get two strikes, your job is to put the batter away, and she’s doing a really nice job right now when she gets two strikes and putting the batter away.”
Penta struck out six batters in three innings without allowing a hit or walk. She picked up her 11th win of the season to maintain her perfect record, as she still has yet to allow an earned run.
Shelby Lowe took over for Penta in the fourth inning and allowed the first baserunner of the game in the fifth inning as she managed two strikeouts, one hit and one walk in two innings on the mound.
Auburn took advantage of the dominant game, substituting multiple positions and allowing 16 players to see action at the plate.
“Just seeing the ball can be hard sometimes. So the more at-bats people get deep through the lineup and through the team is super important to have,” Ellis said. “Everyone is going to have a bad day. We basically all had a bad day yesterday, and we were able to get almost everyone in to get at least some at-bats, and that’s super important down the road for possible injuries, bad days stuff like that.”
This game marks Auburn's last home game for the next 20 days as it begins SEC play next Friday in a series against Georgia (17-5).
Before SEC play begins, Auburn travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech (11-8) on Wednesday. The first pitch is set for 1 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.
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Craig Noyes is a junior from Kensington, Maryland, majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in January 2023.
Twitter: @craignoyes58
