The No. 21 Auburn Tigers are off to a hot start after posting four shutout wins in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida.
The Tigers began the weekend by defeating St. John’s and Fordham by a combined score of 15-0. In Auburn’s 6-0 win over St. John’s, sophomore [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] began her Auburn career by striking out ten batters in the circle while [autotag]Carlee McCondichie[/autotag] collected three hits.
Pitching was dominant again in Auburn’s 9-0 run-rule victory over Fordham as [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] struck out 11 in her season debut. The Tigers scored all nine of their runs on just four hits with the biggest coming in the 6th inning. Up five runs in the inning, Auburn’s [autotag]Aspyn Godwin[/autotag] cranked a grand slam to solidify the win.
The second day of the tournament got off to a slow start, as the Tigers dropped their first game of the season to Pittsburgh, 8-7. The Panthers scored seven runs in the 2nd inning to take an 8-2 lead into the 3rd. Auburn would score five unanswered runs over the next two innings to trim the lead to 8-7, but could not gain the necessary two runs to complete the comeback. [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag] tallied two runs in the loss.
The Tigers would bounce back later in the day to knock off Indiana, 9-0. It was business as usual for Auburn as five Tigers recorded multiple hits in the game, led by [autotag]Lindsey Garcia[/autotag]’s three. Widra showed her two-way skills by belting a two-run homer in the 4th inning. Penta again was consistent in the circle as she fanned 11 batters for the second outing in a row.
Auburn put a cap on the weekend by defeating Illinois in run-rule fashion, 10-0. Godwin and Widra each hit their second home runs of the weekend in the game, while Penta struck out nine batters and allowed two hits in 4.0 innings of work.
Here’s a full rundown of how this weekend’s action played out for Auburn Softball: