Auburn softball returned to Jane B. Moore field for the Plainsman Invitational to face Southeast Missouri State and took care of business in walk-off fashion, defeating the Redhawks 8-0 in a five-inning contest.
The Tigers struck early and often against the Redhawks on both sides of the ball, with Shelby Lowe and Annabelle Widra combining for a no-hitter and nine total strikeouts.
Icess Tresvik notched the first hit of the day for Auburn and, thanks to a series of errors, scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning as throwing errors plagued the Redhawks the whole game, finishing with four errors on the day.
A series of hits from Aubrie Lisenby and Widra’s first of three hits on the day allowed Riley McNemar to record her first RBI of the season to widen the gap to 2-0. The Tigers would finish the inning with three hits and three runs with the help of two more Redhawk errors.
Annabelle Widra(#66) hits softball at Jane B. Moore Field on February 23, 2024.
After being held without a runner in the third inning Widra opened things up with a leadoff home run – her first homer of the year and second hit of the day. Auburn went on to score two more runs putting pressure on Southeast Missouri State as Auburn had a chance to walk things off if the Redhawks failed to score in the top of the next frame.
With Widra on the mound for her second inning of work in the top of the fifth, she picked up her second strikeout and put Auburn in a position to walk the game off.
With two outs in the bottom and no runners on base in the bottom of the fifth inning, Widra decided to do it herself and hit her second home run of the day to run rule the Redhawks.
“I was really just trying to stay within my process,” Widra said. “I know we had two outs and I honestly did not even know the score I was just trying to stick within myself and put barrel to ball.”
The Tigers’ combined no-hitter limited the Redhawks to three base runners for the entire game as Lowe earned her second win of the season to move to 2-0.
“It is always a good day to be out there regardless if there is zeros on the board or not, but it is always a great day when there is zeros on the board,” Lowe said.
Shelby Lowe(#55) pitches at Jane B Moore Field on February 23, 2024.
Lowe finished the day with three innings pitched, seven strikeouts and one walk, dropping her ERA from 5.27 to 2.47.
Auburn’s lone batter to strike out was pinch hitter Kyla Stroud in the bottom of the fifth inning as Auburn finished with a season-low one strikeout as a team.
“We talked twice this week about staying with your process,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “We you are playing this many games against the same teams you are not sure what kind of pitching you are going to see so that was key for sure.”
Auburn moved to 5-1-1 on the season as the Plainsman Invitational continues tomorrow with Auburn playing a doubleheader against Northern Iowa at 1 p.m. CST and Southeast Missouri State at 4 p.m. CST as both games will be streamed on SEC 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
