An off weekend in SEC play gave the chance for Auburn softball to create some momentum for itself for the rest of the season. The Tigers went into Saturday with their eyes set on doing just that after winning their first two games on Friday.
For the most part, [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] and his squad were able to keep playing well, splitting two games against Louisiana Tech and Georgia Tech.
Auburn got the scoring started off early in its 5-0 game one victory over Louisiana Tech. After an out and two singles led off the bottom of the 1st, [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag] singled into right center to score [autotag]KK McCrary[/autotag], putting her team up 1-0.
Icess Tresvik hit a single later on in the inning to score another run for the Tigers. She would then go and steal second, third and home to score the games third run, giving Auburn a 3-0 advantage.
A defensive next few innings saw neither team score until the bottom of the 5th. This time, Tresvik came through big again and hit a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing in [autotag]Makayla Packer[/autotag].
[autotag]Amelia Lech[/autotag] followed that contact up with a hit of her own, singling into center field and scoring [autotag]Thalia Martin[/autotag] to make it a 5-0 game. This ultimately secured the win for the Tigers.
Game two featured an offensive battle between Auburn and Georgia Tech, one in which the the Tigers ultimately lost 10-9.
The scoring got started early in this one as well. With two runners on and two outs in he top of the 1st, Madison Dobbins singled into center field to bring in the game’s first run. Jayden Gailey came up immediately after to hit a double, scoring two more to make it a 3-0 Yellow Jacket lead.
That scoring continued for Georgia Tech in the top of the 2nd when Sara Beth Allen and Mallorie Black hit back-to-back solo home runs, making it 5-0 early on.
The Tigers answered back in the bottom half of the inning when Tresvik continued her big day with a two-RBI home run to center field, getting Auburn on the board.
Packer kept that positive energy going in the bottom of the 3rd with a single of her own up the middle, scoring a run and cutting the deficit to two at 5-3.
The Yellow Jackets would not go away though. Allen came up again in the top of the 4th and hit another a two-run deep shot to center field, making it 7-3.
Tiffany Domingue continued the action in the inning with a single to right field that brought in the eighth run for Georgia Tech.
With one runner on in the bottom of the 4th, Skylar Elkins put the Tigers back in it with a single that scored Tresvik.
That energy continued into the bottom of the 5th when [autotag]Anna Wohlers[/autotag] hit a solo home run to right center field. That gave way for Packer to hit a double later on in the inning to score another Auburn run, making it 8-6.
The Yellow Jackets made sure that would worry them, though. With one runner on the top of the 6th, Allen came up clutch again, hitting her third home run of the game. It scored two runs to make it 10-6.
The Tigers would not go down without a fight in this game. Wohlers hit an RBI double in the bottom of the 6th to make it 10-7.
Then, in the 7th, [autotag]Mariah Penta[/autotag] singled into right center field with the bases loaded, plating a run to make a two-run game. Elkins came up immediately after and grounded out, but scored another run to make it 10-9.
Unfortunately, Auburn could not push across another run, losing a heartbreaker to finish the weekend.
[autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] got the complete game win in game one, striking out 15 batters while only giving up two hits and walking one. She improved to 11-6 on the year.
[autotag]Annabella Widra[/autotag] was given the loss against Georgia Tech to drop to 4-2. She pitched 2.0 innings, giving up five runs on six hits and striking out two.
The Tigers will now prepare to take on the UAB Blazers on Wednesday, April 10. First pitch in that game is set for 6 p.m. CST at Jane B. Moore Field.