Kicking off the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge on Wednesday, No. 25 Auburn got things started with an extra-inning thriller, taking down Wichita State, 8-6, at Nancy Almarez Stadium.
Auburn held a firm 6-1 lead through 6 ½ innings of play until a seventh-inning rally from the Shockers tied things up. The comeback was ignited by a grand slam from the bat of Bailey Urban – the third grand slam Auburn has given up this season – to bring the score to 6-5.
Maddie Penta, who got the start in the circle for the Tigers, re-entered after the Urban home run and gave up one run on a wild pitch to bring the score to six all heading into extra innings.
Due to tournament rules, Axe Malinowski was placed on second base to start the top of the eighth. Malinowski advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored from third on a Rose Roach RBI bringing the Tigers ahead by one run. Nelia Peralta drove in Skylar Elkins for one more run, bringing the score to 8-6 in Auburn’s favor heading into the bottom of the inning.
“Our offense did their job in that final inning,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “Proud that they were able to fight back and finish the game out.”
Penta would make the trek back out to the circle for the Tigers in the eighth and gave Tiger fans nothing to worry about as she sat down the first three Shocker batters to seal the win. She finished the night with 10 strikeouts for her first double-digit effort of the season. Penta has recorded 26 strikeouts in three games.
With her heroic effort in the final inning of play, Penta joined former Auburn pitchers Anna Thompson, Holly Currie and Kristen Keyes as the only Tigers in program history to reach 700 career strikeouts.
At the plate for the Tigers, Roach went 1-for-2 with three RBIs. Peralta and Elkins both ended the day with one hit and two RBIs. As a team, the Tigers finished the night with just five hits but used timely hitting with runners in scoring position to bring runners across the plate.
The Tigers will look to stay in the win column as they are back in action tomorrow, for a doubleheader on the second day of play in Mexico. They will start with UC Davis at noon CST before taking on No. 13 Utah at 2:30 p.m. CST. Those games can be streamed on FloSoftball.
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Logan Fowler is a junior from Sumiton, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in Spring 2024.
