It took four hours for Auburn to claim its series-opening win over Ole Miss on Friday night, but that fact is secondary compared to the true headline of the night.
Senior ace [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] worked overtime Friday by tossing a nine-inning effort in Auburn’s 2-1 win over Ole Miss. Over nine innings, Penta allowed one run on seven hits while walking five and striking out 18 batters. Her 18-strikeout performance is a career-high, and it ties a program record for the most in a game. She matched [autotag]Anna Thompson[/autotag]’s 18-strikeout performance in Auburn’s win over Middle Tennessee during the 2009 season.
Penta wanted to continue, but she was pulled in the 10th inning after throwing 172 pitches, 100 going for strikes. [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] kept the strong effort alive by striking out two batters over two perfect innings to secure the win.
“It was a valiant effort to be quite honest,” Auburn head coach Mickey Dean said on the Auburn Sports Network postgame show. “The pitch count kept going up and up. She wanted to stay in but I was like, ‘we are reaching that stupid number, Shelby (Lowe) can get it done.’ We are going to get a run, Shelby will get it done, we will get out of here with a win. And it happened.”
The second hero of the game was [autotag]Icess Tresvik[/autotag], who scored both of Auburn’s runs on solo blasts. Tresvik tied the game in the 6th inning with a home run to left field, and delivered the final blow in the 11th inning to right-center field.
“Icess was due,” Dean said. “She looked more relaxed tonight and was willing to go middle and opposite field. She’s got the power.”
Tresvik, along with [autotag]KK McCrary[/autotag], recorded three hits for the Tigers in the win. [autotag]Makayla Packer[/autotag] earned a double for her seventh multi-base hit of the season.
Auburn goes for the series win Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.
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