Auburn softball remains undefeated in its debut weekend on the Plains, defeating Appalachian State 10-9 and Southern Illinois 9-7.
Saturday's game against Appalachian State lasted a whopping three hours and 25 minutes thanks to Auburn forcing two extra innings, adding to an already long weekend of playing for Auburn. The Tigers, trailing 2-8 halfway through the fourth inning, overcame a six-run deficit while holding the Mountaineers to no runs in four straight innings to tie the game at the end of seven innings.
Nelia Rose sealed the victory with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth that brought herself and Abbey Smith, who was on second base, home for the two runs that put Auburn over the top.
The Tigers struggled defensively for the first few innings, going through three pitchers in the first three innings. Emmah Rolfe pitched for four outs and Malayna Tamborra pitched for three outs, allowing a total of five runs to put the Tigers down 2-5.
Transfer from Oklahoma SJ Geurin, who played all seven innings of yesterday’s game against UNC, subbed in after one out in the third inning. Geurin excelled on the mound for six innings against Appalachian State, throwing a total of 88 pitches and only allowing three runs. After a total of 13 innings pitched within 24 hours, Geurin was replaced by Haley Rainey, who threw the final three pitches for Auburn.
Auburn also faced batting woes throughout the first few innings, remaining at two runs until the bottom of the fourth. In 34 at-bats, there were only nine hits and six strikeouts. A three-run scoring explosion in the fourth inning helped the Tigers gain momentum, and they slowly chipped away at Appalachian State’s lead until the seventh inning, when they scored two runs to tie the game, pushing the game to nine innings. Peralta, Smith and Icess Tresvik all ended the game with three runs.
After the comeback against Appalachian State, the Tigers had only a 30-minute break before taking on Appalachian State. Yet the Tigers held strong against the Salukis. After one run scored by Tresvik in the first inning, the Tigers led for the first four innings, adding three more runs in the bottom of the fourth.
“Between games, I told the team that it doesn’t matter who you are facing,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “App State came out and hit us in the mouth. They got us on our heels, but we were able to regroup. Our goal is to be champions and responding like we did is what champions are made of.”
However, their 4-0 lead quickly crumbled in the top of the fifth when the Salukis scored seven runs, including a home run with the bases loaded by Erin Lee. The shell-shocked Tigers managed to regain control after a bit and scored five runs in the sixth to take back the lead with three home runs and two runners batted in. Geurin only pitched three innings in the matchup, allowing Rainey to get more reps in a weekend filled with pitcher substitutions for the Tigers.
Auburn softball plays their final game of the Tiger Invitational tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 9 at 11:30 a.m. CST. The game will be available to stream on SECNetwork+.
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Jackie is a freshman majoring in Drug and Biopharmaceutical Sciences. She started with The Plainsman in fall 2024.
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