Auburn Softball took game one of the battle of the Tigers, defeating the No. 6 LSU Tigers 3-2 with timely hitting in the late innings and a combined effort of a trio of pitchers.
After both teams struggled to find runs in the first two innings, the Auburn Tigers opened up the scoring after a KK McCrary single and Makayla Packer walk put two runners on with one out.
Nelia Peralta applied pressure and forced the LSU Tigers into a fielders choice and scored McCrary from second to give Auburn an early 1-0 lead.
The LSU Tigers took the lead back after Karli Petty hit a two run home run off Shelby Lowe to put LSU in front in the bottom of the four inning with a 2-1 lead.
Lowe, who started for Auburn, was pulled in the top of the fifth inning and finished the game with 4.1 innings pitched, five hits and two earned runs.
Annabelle Widra finished out the inning in relief for Lowe and retired the two batters she faced.
In the top of the sixth inning, Auburn started to apply pressure to LSU after another Peralta single combined with the help of a fielding error that put more runners on base for the Tigers.
Faced with runners on base, Auburn turned to Axe Milanowski as a pinch hitter to try and drive in the winning or tying run. She singled to the third base side and drove in the tying run as she tied up contest at 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning.
With the game tied late, Auburn turned to its star pitcher Maddie Penta to keep the LSU offense at bay with the bats getting hot.
Penta retired the three batters she faced in the bottom of the sixth.
Auburn's clutch hitting continued with Anna Wohlers leading off the seventh inning with a double to left field to put the leading run in scoring position. McCrary moved over the runner, but Packer struck out and left Auburn with one out.
Auburn got help from the LSU Tigers second error of the game after Icess Tresvik reached on a fielding error and Wohlers scored from third base, putting Auburn ahead 3-2.
“It’s one pitch at a time,” said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean. “We have been worrying about this or that in previous games. Now we’re just playing it one pitch at a time. If you have that mindset, then nothing is going to bother you. You can just move on. That makes the game fun. We’re enjoy it. We’re having fun. They are a fun group to coach.”
Now faced with a one run deficit, Penta struck out three LSU Tigers in the bottom of the frame and stranded one runner on base, picking up three strikeouts to seal the game.
Penta finished the night with two innings pitched, four strikeouts and the win.
Auburn improved to 22-12-1 and 4-9 in conference play as the Tigers look to earn their first SEC series win of the season. The first pitch of game two is set for Saturday at 6 p.m. CST and will be broadcast 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
