Despite putting the go-ahead run in scoring position in the top of the seventh, No. 18 Auburn (20-3) was unable to grab a road win as Georgia Tech (12-8) walked off the Tigers 2-1 on Wednesday.
"They out-hit us," said head coach Mickey Dean. "They outplayed us on defense, and they out-pitched us. Usually, the team that does that is going to win. We didn't have good approaches in our at-bats. We just want to pass the bat. I think we were trying to do too much. The later we got into the game, it got worse. We calmed down and got a couple good at-bats. They switched pitchers and got out of the inning. We threw close to 100 pitches. I always tell our pitchers that it only takes one bad one, and we threw two bad pitches."
Maddie Penta and Georgia Tech's Blake Newton hashed it out in the circle, pitching five scoreless innings. After giving up a couple extra-base hits, Penta abandoned a pair of runners in scoring position to conserve the shutout.
Right up until the sixth inning, the Tigers offense was held to two singles. With Auburn's bats cold, sophomore Jessie Blaine stepped up and sent a low pitch over the center field wall for a two-out, solo home run to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Auburn recorded a pair of hits after the Blaine home run, including a double by Lindsey Garcia, but a play at the plate stopped Auburn from picking up a second run.
Auburn's lead did not last long as Georgia Tech turned a leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth into a run, breaking Penta's streak of 67.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to score. This was the first run Penta had permitted to score in 39.1 consecutive innings, the second longest consecutive scoreless inning streak in school history.
Penta recorded eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings to bring her total strikeout number above 100 for her junior season while allowing one run on five hits.
Following the third Yellow Jacket hit in the sixth inning, Auburn went to the bullpen and brought Shelby Lowe to the mound. Lowe only needed four pitches to force a line out to second and get Auburn out of the jam.
The Tigers, with a chance to take the lead in the top of the seventh, put the go-ahead run in scoring position after two straight walks, but a strikeout ended Auburn's chance. The Yellow Jackets walked it off in the seventh with Reese Hunter’s solo home run to win the game and hand the Tigers their third defeat of the season.
The Tigers will open SEC play in Athens, Georgia, against the No. 19 Georgia Bulldogs. Game one of the series starts Friday and first pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on SEC Network +.
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William Halliday started with The Plainsman in fall 2022. He is a journalism major from Memphis, Tennessee.
Twitter: @wphalliday3
