In 11 innings, Auburn softball (25-15-1, 7-12 SEC) took a 2-1 extra-inning victory over Ole Miss (26-23, 3-16 SEC) Friday night at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
“It’s better to win a four-hour game than lose it,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “It was a valiant effort from Maddie. She wanted to stay in, but her pitch count was reaching a stupid number. I told her we were going to get a run, and Shelby (Lowe) would get it done. Icess was due. She looked more relaxed tonight and was willing to go middle and opposite field. She’s got the power.”
Icess Tresvik came up clutch for the Tigers with her late-inning heroics. She had a two-out solo home run to straightaway center on the first pitch of the at bat in the top of the sixth to tie the game at one a piece and ultimately forced extra innings.
The Wilmington, N.C. native came through yet again in the top of the 11th inning with yet another solo shot, this time to right field, to put Auburn in front and ultimately give the Tigers their seventh conference victory – marking her first multi-home run game at Auburn.
Including her single in-between the two homers in the ninth, Tresvik closed the game 3-for-4 at the plate. KK McCrary turned in a multi-hit effort – her second time during SEC play and her sixth time this season – as she went 3-for-5 with a walk. The duo combined for six of Auburn’s 10 hits.
Penta gave up a bases-loaded walk in the third inning to give Ole Miss a lead, but that would be the only run to score for Ole Miss as she and Lowe combined to leave 14 stranded on base. Though she wasn’t credited with the win, Penta was crucial for Auburn down the stretch with six strikeouts in her final two innings of work to keep the score tied at one.
Giving up a leadoff triple in the ninth, Penta was able to bounce back with three straight strikeouts. She left the game with 18 over her nine innings of work to tie Anna Thompson for the program’s record for most strikeouts in a single game. Thompson set the record on Feb. 20, 2009, at Middle Tennessee.
Penta’s performance in Oxford, MS also solidified her third consecutive season with 200 or more strikeouts.
Lowe earned the win in relief to improve to 8-3 on the season. The leftie tossed a pair of hitless innings and struck out two.
The Tigers go for their second consecutive road SEC series win on Saturday. First pitch on the SEC Network+ is set for 3 p.m. CST.
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Patrick is a sophomore from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
