No. 19 Auburn softball went 3-1 to start the Jane B. Moore Memorial with wins over Bowling Green, South Alabama and Tennessee Tech, but in a rematch with its in-state foe, the Jaguars exposed offensive struggles for the Tigers in their first home loss this season.
Pitching remained strong, surrendering just nine runs across four games, but it let up just enough in one inning alone to end its winning streak at 16 games.
"I think us playing this better competition in preseason is very valuable to us, even in a loss," said junior Maddie Penta. "I think it's pushing us to be better, and you need those losses in order to find yourself and get better. I think we're doing a good job of bouncing back, and a lot of our pinch hitters are doing a really good job, which shows me that we have talent in all facets of the game. We're staying engaged for the most part."
Despite the loss, Auburn advanced to 19-2, and Penta kept her ERA perfect through 54 innings this season. The junior now has 93 strikeouts after setting the program sophomore record with 269 Ks last season. She remains at fifth in Auburn program history with 467 career Ks.
Scoring 24 runs on 22 hits, the offense was silent at times and explosive at others, but Auburn finished a pair of doubleheaders strong moving into a solo contest with Bowling Green on Sunday. Here's how the first four games of this weekend's five-game set went.
Friday
Game 1- Bowling Green
Behind three RBIs and the sixth "Bri bomb" of the season from Bri Ellis, Auburn started its weekend set with a five-inning, 9-1 win over Bowling Green.
The performance propelled Ellis to 24 RBIs on the season, raised her average to .452 and pushed Auburn's winning streak to 15.
Annabelle Widra started on the mound and threw the complete game, but Bowling Green didn't leave her unscathed. Despite Widra's eight strikeouts, the Falcons outhit the Tigers 7-5 and ended Auburn's six-game shutout streak.
The transfer's outing saved Penta from having to come in for game one and allowed Auburn to save Shelby Lowe for later in the weekend.
"[Widra] is a great addition to our pitching staff," Penta said. "She's someone we can rely on to get the job done, so I'm not always having to, you know, be tense – wondering if I'm going in. I'm just happy to have other people I can rely on to win games and not throw out my arm."
After Bowling Green roped a double over the head of right fielder Lindsey Garcia, Widra stranded two to keep a 2-1 lead after three innings.
It didn't take Garcia long to answer right back and begin a seven-run stretch for Auburn with a two-run double of her own. The double got her up to 21 RBIs on the season.
After a four-run fourth inning for Auburn, Widra allowed a bloop single to Makailah Dees, giving her a perfect 3-for-3 day before another comeback ricocheted off her glove for a single. With two in scoring position and one out threatening a mercy-rule win, Ellis secured a diving grab in foul ground, and Icess Tresvick backpedaled under a hard-hit fly ball in center field to seal Widra's fifth win of the season.
The game ended Carlee McCondichie's hitting streak at 14 games and brought some offensive struggles for the Tigers, but five Bowling Green errors, opposed to none from Auburn, brought Auburn an easy win to bring its record to 17-1.
Game 2 versus South Alabama
Bowling Green might have ended Auburn's shutout streak, but Maddie Penta (10-0) was ready to start a new one.
With her second complete game shutout this season, she threw seven innings while only allowing three hits, striking out 11 and walking none en route to a 3-0 win over South Alabama.
Improving to 18-1, this was Auburn's 16th consecutive victory, but it didn't come easily. Zero errors in the field preserved a perfect day from the defense and helped escape several threats from the opposing offense.
"It's easy to play defense when you're up 15, but in a 1-0 ballgame, can you continue to play good defense? That's what we did," said head coach Mickey Dean. "When you have 10 line drives in two games get caught, you've got to keep your head up."
Outside of a solo moonshot by KK McCrary in the second inning, her first in an Auburn jersey, the offense struggled to get the ball rolling. Hard contact was turning into outs, and South Alabama's Jenna Hardy was in a pitcher's dual with Penta. Unlike Bowling Green, South Alabama committed no errors.
"I thought there was no way it was going out at first. I thought it was just going straight up in the air," McCrary said. "It was a rise ball, so luckily I got enough on top of it. It felt really good."
KK McCrary (#16) at bat against South Alabama on March 3rd 2023
It remained a 1-0 ballgame until the fifth inning, and McCrary had two of Auburn's three hits. South Alabama had just as many, and it threatened the tight lead.
With two outs, the Jaguars strung together a pair of hits to put two runners in scoring position. Penta, who hasn't allowed an earned run all season, responded by forcing a dribbler back to the circle for an easy third out.
"I really don't know if I've been in that situation yet this year," Penta said. "But my defense did a great job behind me. Without them and the zero errors they made, I'm sure a run would've scored."
Then Makayla Packer turned on the jets and got the offense going again.
After the nine hole hitter lined a ball into center, it dribbled past a lunging center fielder to the wall, resulting in a one-out triple. McCondichie wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. She nailed a single up the middle for a two-out RBI, improving her average to a team-high .482.
Penta responded with a quick, three-and-out inning before Garcia smacked her fourth homer of the year to extend Auburn's lead to three.
Finishing out the victory, Penta struck out the final three batters in the seventh to keep her ERA at a perfect 0.00.
Overall, the first day of the weekend consisted of dominant pitching, sure defense and besides three homers, slow offensive production. Nonetheless, Auburn rolled into its Saturday doubleheader with 16 straight wins and 12 total shutout victories.
Saturday
Game 1- South Alabama
After a slow offensive start versus South Alabama on Friday, Jaguar hurler Olivia Lackie carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Auburn on Saturday. This time, the Jaguars mustered enough offense to pull out a 2-1 win and end Auburn's win streak at 16.
Auburn had no hits going into the final inning, and a two-run deficit seemed like a large mountain to climb against a dominant Lackie. But she helped Auburn start a rally by hitting Garcia and walking Tresvick with only one out.
Suddenly, Jesse Blaine made a comeback look like a probability. She put runners on the corners with just one out with an RBI single, and Auburn was only down by one.
However, a double play grounder from sophomore Aubrie Lisenby ended the comeback threat and ended Auburn's winning streak at 16.
Declining to 18-2, Auburn once again struggled to figure out South Alabama pitching, only surmounting seven hits and four runs over a pair of games.
It was just one inning that beat the Tigers. Shelby Lowe got marked with two runs in four innings and her first loss of the season by starting the fifth with three straight hits.
Lowe was relieved by Penta, who kept the game in reach with three scoreless innings and three Ks, but Auburn's offense lacked the spark sufficient to prolong its winning streak.
Game 2- Tennessee Tech
Things got off to a rocky start versus Tennessee Tech, but Auburn rediscovered the bat's sweet spot in the fourth inning to seal an 11-6 victory.
With Penta closing out game one, freshman Emma Rolfe started game two and was tacked for three runs (two earned) on three hits and Auburn's first error of the weekend. After giving up a two-run bomb in the second inning, putting Auburn behind 3-1, she was replaced by Widra.
Widra was scoreless until she gave up a three-run homer in the fifth inning, but at that point, it was too late for Tennessee Tech.
A nine-run fourth inning, led off by senior Maia Engelkes' first homer of the season, put Auburn in the lead for good. It was a comfortable, 11-6 lead for Widra and the Tigers even after allowing the three-run homer. Sydney Cox, Tresvick and Axe Milanowski all added RBIs in the inning paired with two runs on passed balls.
Outside of the three-run homer, Widra settled in on the mound and finished out the game. She finished with five innings pitched and six strikeouts, bringing her to 49 Ks and only two walks in 37 innings in her first season at Auburn.
The Tigers saw a dip in offensive production in the middle two games of the weekend, but they ended the home set with 10 hits and 11 runs to improve to 19-2.
Auburn wraps up the Jane B. Moore Memorial on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CST against Bowling Green. The game will be televised on SEC Network+.
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