No. 25 Auburn traveled to Troy for a midweek matchup against the Trojans that ended up being a slugfest, finally ending after 10 innings. Auburn narrowly escaped with a 4-3 win to move to 15-6-1 on the season.
Auburn took the lead early when Anna Wohlers sent a ball over the center-field fence for her second home run of the season to put the Tigers up.
Auburn scored again and extended its lead in the fourth. Amelia Lech walked and pinch-runner Riley McNemar advanced into scoring position with an Abbey Smith sacrifice bunt. Annabelle Widra then singled into right to secure the RBI to stretch the Auburn lead.
After giving up a double in the third inning, starting pitcher Maddie Penta retired 10 of the next 12 batters. The Trojans put a two-out rally together in the sixth after a single into left and a passed ball put two runners standing in scoring position.
With the go-ahead run up at the plate, Nelia Peralta made a diving stop at shortstop to keep the ball from leaving the infield, but the single allowed one runner to score to bring the lead to 2-1.
After her 11th strikeout, Penta left the Trojans stranded at third base to get out the inning with minimal damage. A pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the seventh continued the Trojans' rally to tie the game and send it to extras.
Makayla Packer helped put Auburn back on top in the eighth when she tripled to open the frame. A throwing error by the second baseman later allowed Packer to score to retake the lead. However, the Trojans came back with a triple of their own to threaten a run, and a sacrifice fly to center brought in the tying run to extend the game.
The score was held 3-3 until the 10th when Icess Tresvik scored the game-winning run. After a walk and advancement all the way to third, an errant throw on a run down brought Tresvik home to take the lead.
Making her Auburn record 106th career start, Penta pitched eight innings, only giving up two earned runs on five hits. She recorded her seventh double-digit strikeout game of the season, notching 12 in the contest.
Shelby Lowe earned the win on the day, pitching two innings of scoreless relief pitching while striking out four batters and only allowing two hits.
Auburn’s offense did just enough to get the win – totaling nine hits and five walks while striking out 10 times. While not being able to pull away, key hits and savvy baserunning gave Auburn just enough edge which is all it needed with Penta on the mound.
“It was just grit,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “To come on the road midweek after playing a three-game series and face a really good Troy team. We had to face the emotions of having the game won and then tying it up, having the game and then tying it up. The good thing is that we kept working and never let them take the lead. That was key. Shelby (Lowe) had been paying attention throughout the game. She game in and threw pitches she needed to shut them down.”
Auburn will stay on the road this weekend when it heads to College Station to take on No. 12 Texas A&M in a three-game series. The series begins on Friday at 6 p.m. CST on SEC Network +.
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Luke McClure is a junior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in sports production. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
Twitter: @lukemcclure0
