Auburn avoided the sweep against the No. 23 Kentucky Wildcats on Monday night, winning a 4-1 ballgame at Jane B. Moore field.
Kentucky got on the board first as Erin Coffel hit a solo-home run to center field in the top of the first. It proved to be the lone run for the Wildcats as pitcher Shelby Lowe responded by holding them to five hits in her seven innings of work, recording four strikeouts along the way.
“Just keeping them off-balance,” Lowe said on her performance. “Working side-to-side and getting them to chase outside of the strike zone and really working up and down, just keeping their eye level off balance.
“It feels good. It feels good to have confidence again. That’s a hard thing to earn back. So, I’m working on it and I’ve earned it back.”
Auburn head coach Mickey Dean had high praise for the senior after she improved to 7-3 on the season with the win tonight.
“She did a masterful job,” Dean said. “That’s back-to-back-to-back (games) 100+ pitches. She hasn’t done that since her freshman year. We’re excited. She’s excited.”
Makayla Packer got the scoring started for the Tigers in the bottom of the second inning with a solo-home run that she blasted over the wall in left field.
“Our video analyst, she talked to us about taking a lot of pitches,” said Packer. “Like we’re 50%, and so I went into that box and I was like ‘see strike hit strike’ and she gave me the screwball and I just hit it.”
Packer scored another run in the bottom of the fifth after reaching on a walk and stealing second. Millie Roberts moved her to third on a single through the right side of the infield. Annabelle Widra grounded out to first base and Packer was initially called out at the plate, but after review, the call was reversed giving the Tigers another run to extend their lead.
Widra doubled to left-center in the sixth and KK McCrary and Mariah Penta reached on a walk and a hit-by-pitch to give the Tigers loaded bases with one out. Amelia Lech walked allowing Taliah Martin, who pinch ran for Widra, to score. An at-bat later, Packer reached on a fielder’s choice to second base driving in McCrary.
On a night where hits were scarce for the Tigers, recording only three hits to Kentucky's five, Auburn was able to capitalize on offensive opportunities to salvage the series.
“It’s about the runs. It really is. You know, we got beat on what, two hits last night? So, it’s not about the hits, it's about the runs. You’ve got to be able to score runs,” Dean said.
Up next for the Tigers is a trip to Oxford, Miss for a three-game series against Ole Miss. The series begins on Friday, April 26 at 5 p.m. CST. Television coverage will be available on the SEC Network and the matchup can be heard around the state on the Auburn Sports Network.
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Logan Fowler is a junior from Sumiton, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in Spring 2024.
