Annabelle Widra – Syndication Server

Former Auburn INF/P Annabelle Widra finds new home

Annabelle Widra played a variety of positions during her two seasons on the Plains.

One of Auburn’s most valuable roster pieces from last season’s roster has found a new home.

[autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag], who played a variety of infield positions as well as pitched during her two-year stint at Auburn, announced this week that she is transferring to Florida State to play her final eligible season of college softball.

Widra departs Auburn after spending two seasons as a versatile roster piece. Last season, the Hoover native split her 38 starts between third base (21), second base (8), shortstop (1), and designated player (1). In the circle, she made 49 appearances with five starts.

As a pitcher, Widra built a 5-3 record with a 2.86 ERA and 38 strikeouts over 41 2/3 innings in 2024, which was a step back from her 2023 efforts where she struck out 75 batters over 79 2/3 innings. As a hitter, Widra hit .259 with 22 hits, two home runs, and 11 RBI.

Widra was the first player from the 2024 roster to declare her intention to enter the transfer portal. Widra was later joined by [autotag]Riley McNemar[/autotag] and [autotag]Mariah Penta[/autotag].

Widra’s departure is a tough blow for Auburn as both [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] and [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] have both graduated, leaving behind just [autotag]Emmah Rolfe[/autotag] and [autotag]Malayna Tamborra[/autotag] from last season’s staff. The duo combined to strikeout eight batters over 28 2/3 innings in 17 appearances.

New head coaches [autotag]Chris Malveaux[/autotag] and [autotag]Kate Malveaux[/autotag] are working to rebuild Auburn’s pitching staff by welcoming in former Oklahoma pitcher [autotag]SJ Geurin[/autotag] from the transfer portal.

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Former Oklahoma pitcher SJ Geurin commits to Auburn

The first signing of the Malveaux era is a two-time national champion.

[autotag]Chris Malveaux[/autotag] and [autotag]Kate Malveaux[/autotag] were officially introduced as Auburn softball’s co-head coaches this week and quickly got to work by enhancing the program through the transfer portal.

The Tigers need to rebuild its pitching staff after the departures of [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] and [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] to graduation and [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] to the transfer portal. They may have found the first piece in [autotag]SJ Geurin[/autotag].

Geurin, a left-handed pitcher from Leander, Texas, announced Saturday that she is transferring from Oklahoma to Auburn before the 2025 season. The two-time national champion comes to Auburn after recording nine strikeouts in nine appearances for the Sooners last season, earning two wins in the circle.

As the No. 7 pitcher from the 2022 recruiting cycle, Geurin received plenty of attention from elite programs such as Oregon and UCLA before signing with Oklahoma. Geurin never found adequate circle time in Norman after playing behind Jordy Bahl in 2023, as well as Kelly Maxwell and Kierston Deal in 2024. Now at Auburn, Geurin has the chance to become the ace of a power program.

Geurin is the first addition to Auburn’s 2025 from the transfer portal. Three Tigers entered the portal following the season: Annabelle Widra, [autotag]Riley McNemar[/autotag], and [autotag]Mariah Penta[/autotag]. Neither player has found a new home as of the timing of this post.

War Eagle🦅🧡 pic.twitter.com/pmVQB8OoSe

— SJ Geurin (@sjg__85) June 22, 2024

Auburn utility star Annabelle Widra has entered the transfer portal

Auburn softball’s most versatile player has entered the transfer portal after spending two seasons on the Plains.

Auburn softball’s most versatile player from the 2024 roster has entered the transfer portal.

[autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag], who pitched and played infield for the Tigers over the last two seasons, has become the first notable post-[autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] era departure as she plans to enter the transfer portal according to Softball America and D1Softball.

Widra joined Auburn’s roster ahead of the 2023 season after spending her freshman season at Michigan. The Hoover native played all over the infield during her two seasons on the Plains. She earned 36 starts at third base, eight starts at second base, one start at shortstop, and two starts as the designated player. In addition to her work in the field, she made 48 appearances in the circle with 16 starts.

Widra developed a strong bond with outgoing head coach Mickey Dean. Near the end of the season, Widra shared her feelings towards her head coach on X (formerly Twitter).

Many people don’t know what it’s like on the inside, but what you need to know is this man changed my life,” Widra said of Dean. “There are not enough words to describe how grateful I am for him! Coach Dean will forever hold a special place in my heart. It is because of him I love softball again.”

Widra’s Auburn career ends as a .256 hitter with five home runs and 11 RBI with five stolen bases. As a pitcher, Widra boasted a 14-8 record with 113 strikeouts to 20 walks with a 2.77 ERA. Widra joins [autotag]Riley McNemar[/autotag] as players from 2024’s roster who have entered the transfer portal.

Auburn softball shuts out No. 17 Alabama to claim series

The Tigers gained much-needed momentum heading into the SEC Tournament by taking down rival Alabama on Saturday.

Defense and solid pitching headlined the first two games of Auburn softball’s series with No. 17 Alabama as both teams combined to score just nine runs over 18 innings.

Saturday’s deciding game three played out the same way, but like Thursday’s series opener, luck bounced the way of the Tigers. An early advantage mixed in with a stellar outing by [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] in the circle led Auburn to a 3-0 win over their rivals, claiming the series.

A pair of singles put Auburn on the board in the 2nd inning. [autotag]Anna Wohlers[/autotag] kicked off Auburn’s scoring effort with a single to score Thalia Martin while [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag] singled home [autotag]Axe Milanowski[/autotag] a few at-bats later.

The decisive blow was delivered by [autotag]Amelia Lech[/autotag] in the 4th inning when she crushed her second home run of the series and her 12th home run of the season to left field to extend Auburn’s lead to 3-0, thus capping Auburn’s scoring effort.

[autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] got another solid effort from his pitchers on Saturday as Annabelle Widra struck out seven batters while allowing four hits in a complete-game showing. Getting ahead in the inning ultimately led to Widra’s strong showing.

“(Widra) did a tremendous job,” Dean said postgame. “(Emily) Carosone showed her some numbers. She got every batter in the beginning of an inning out, and she didn’t walk a single batter. Annabelle can be extremely successful when she does that.”

Auburn softball ends the regular season at 27-18-1, 9-15 in SEC play. The Tigers will now await its SEC Tournament fate. The SEC Tournament kicks off Tuesday at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn.

Recap: Auburn softball’s comeback falls short in game two with Ole Miss

After a game one win on Friday, Auburn softball’s comeback falls short, evening the series with Ole Miss in game two

Auburn softball looked to continue momentum on Saturday evening, trying to win the series over Ole Miss. The Tigers won a pitcher’s duel on Friday in extra innings and wanted to rebound after a long night.

That attempt was not successful, though, as the Rebels evened the series with a 4-2 victory, despite the late surge by Auburn.

The Tigers got things going early on in the game, scoring in the top of the 1st. After [autotag]KK McCrary[/autotag] and [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag] both singled in their plate appearances, [autotag]Anna Wohlers[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored McCrary with one out, making it a 1-0 ball game.

Nothing else happened until the 3rd inning came around. With a runner on third base and two outs, Jalia Lassiter reached and advanced to second after a throwing error, scoring the first Ole Miss run.

Jaden Pone followed that up with a single into center, scoring Lassiter and giving the Rebels a 2-1 lead.

Ole Miss continued momentum in the 4th. After a strikeout led off the inning, Aynslie Furbush launched a home run over the center field wall to stretch the lead to two runs.

Delaney Rummell and Angelina DeLeon reached the corner bases immediately following this, which set up Jamie Mackay to hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Rummell and making it 4-1.

Auburn did not give up fight despite a quiet next couple of innings. The 7th showed a large fight put up by the Tigers.

[autotag]Chalea Clemmons[/autotag] singled to left field to lead things off. [autotag]Mariah Penta[/autotag] came in to run for Clemmons, and advanced to second on a passed ball.

[autotag]Amelia Lech[/autotag] then drew a four-pitch walk, followed by a walk from McCrary later in the inning to load the bases with just one out.

[autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag] fouled out deep enough to left field to score Penta, making it 4-2 with two gone. Peralta then ground out right after the RBI, ending the game and the chance to win the series in game two for the Tigers.

[autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] picked up the loss, dropping to 4-3 on the season. She pitched four full innings for the night, giving up four runs on three hits, while striking out three.

Brianna Lopez earned the win for the Rebels. She pitched five innings in the game, giving up one run on three hits. She also struck out eight and walked three.

The series will come down to game three in Oxford on Sunday. First pitch is set for noon CST, and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

Pitch Perfect: Auburn tops Samford behind dominant effort in the circle

Three Auburn pitchers combine to reach perfection in Wednesday’s run-rule victory over Samford.

For the fourth time in program history, Auburn softball reached perfection in Wednesday’s win over Samford.

[autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag], [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag], and [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] combined to strikeout 10 Samford batters while not allowing a baserunner in Wednesday’s 8-0 win over the Bulldogs at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn.

Penta grabbed the start in Wednesday’s win and continued her dominating season by striking out five of the nine batters she faced over three innings of work. Lowe put in an inning of relief work, where she struck out two batters. Widra slammed the door by recording three straight strikeouts to secure the victory.

“They hit their spots really nice tonight,” Dean said postgame. “In five innings, we threw like 65 pitches. That’s just really effective work. Our defense did well. We scored all eight runs with two outs. That’s always a good sign.”

Not only did Auburn record all eight runs with two outs, but all runs came on multi-base hits. [autotag]Amelia Lech[/autotag] smashed her 9th home run of the season in the 1st inning to put Auburn ahead early, 3-0. [autotag]KK McCrary[/autotag] followed suit in the 2nd inning by crushing a two-run shot of her own to extend the Tigers’ lead to 5-0.

Later in the inning, [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag] drove home [autotag]Makayla Packer[/autotag] with an RBI double. The final blow came in the 3rd inning when Packer scored two runs on a multi-RBI triple.

Auburn recorded seven hits in the contest, with [autotag]Anna Wohlers[/autotag] and McCrary making two hits from the top of the lineup.

Auburn steps away from SEC play this weekend to host Georgia Tech and Louisiana Tech for the War Eagle Classic. The weekend begins Friday at 2 p.m. CT when the Tigers face Louisiana Tech.

Auburn softball drops series finale to Texas A&M

Auburn led 6-1 through two innings but was outscored 13-0 the rest of the way to suffer the sweep in College Station.

No. 25 Auburn appeared to be well on its way to earning a win in its series finale with No. 12 Texas A&M on Sunday, but an Aggies offensive explosion quickly derailed the Tigers’ plans.

Auburn (15-9-1, 2-7 SEC) jumped out to a 6-1 lead in Sunday’s game with Texas A&M (18-4, 8-1 SEC) through two innings. However, the Aggies would outscore Auburn 13-0 over the final three innings to earn the 14-6 run-rule victory at the Aggie Softball Complex in College Station, Texas.

In a game where Auburn had a comfortable lead, head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] blamed his team’s defense and the youth in the circle for the loss.

“Our defense has been a strong point for us this season, and it let us down today,” Dean said postgame. “Texas A&M cut open with the bats. Our younger pitchers struggled a bit. The big innings for both teams were sparked by defensive miscues.”

Texas A&M struck first by stealing home to go ahead, 1-0, in the first inning. It would not take the Tigers long to respond, as they blasted through to put six runs on the board in the top of the 2nd inning. [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] tied the game with an RBI single, and [autotag]Abbey Smith[/autotag] gave Auburn the lead by taking a base on balls with the bases loaded.

[autotag]Mariah Penta[/autotag] blew the game open two batters later by crushing a grand slam over the left field fence to push the Tigers ahead, 6-1.

The lead, unfortunately, was short-lived, as the Aggies used two, two-run home runs and a double to tie the game at 6-6 in the 3rd inning. Texas A&M added seven more runs in the 4th inning, with the headliner of the inning coming off the bat of Rylen Wiggins. Wiggins smashed a two-run shot to right-center field to give Texas A&M the 13-6 lead.

Texas A&M’s final punch was a solo home run in the 5th inning by Koko Wooley to put the run-rule into effect.

[autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag] recorded two hits in the loss, while Mariah Penta led the team in RBI with four. Maddie Penta lasted 2 1/3 innings in the circle, allowing five runs on four hits while striking out one batter. Annabelle Widra, Emmah Rolfe, and Malayna Tamborra each saw action in the circle as well.

The Tigers will take a break from midweek action this week to focus on No. 7 Tennessee, who comes to town for a three-game set beginning Friday at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn.

Long ball dooms Auburn in series opener at Texas A&M

Auburn struck first in Friday’s opener, but three Texas A&M home runs ultimately made the difference.

The No. 25 Auburn Tigers are working to win its first SEC series of the season, and hope to find luck in College Station this weekend against the No. 12 Texas A&M Aggies.

Auburn struck first in Friday’s opener. However, Texas A&M scored five runs on three home runs over the final three innings to earn the series-opening victory, 5-1, at the Aggie Softball Complex in College Station, Texas.

The Tigers had opportunities to score by leaving seven total runners on base, including the 7th inning, where the bases were left loaded before a flyout ended Auburn’s scoring threat. Head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] hopes to see his team take advantage of future opportunities.

“We had great effort,” Dean said postgame. “Our execution wasn’t quite what we needed it to be. We didn’t get any runs in our two bases-loaded opportunities. We are making mistakes in the circle that we normally don’t make. We have to figure that out. We didn’t finish our opportunities at the plate or in the circle.”

[autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag] put the Tigers on the board first with an RBI single to left field that was deep enough to score [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] to push Auburn ahead, 1-0, in the top of the 3rd inning. Texas A&M responded by hitting three home runs over the final three innings. Trinity Cannon tied the game in the 4th inning with a solo blast to center field, paving the way for Kylei Griffin to push the Aggies ahead with a two-run shot in the 5th.

The decisive blow took place in the 6th inning when Julia Cottrell hit a two-run home run to right-center field.

Widra led the team in hits with two. [autotag]Icess Tresvik[/autotag], [autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag], [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag], and [autotag]Millie Roberts[/autotag] each collected a hit in the loss. [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] took the loss in the game after allowing three earned runs on three hits in five innings of work. [autotag]Malayna Tamborra[/autotag] and [autotag]Emmah Rolfe[/autotag] combined to pitch the final inning.

Auburn looks to avenge Friday’s loss on Saturday in game two of its weekend series at Texas A&M. Saturday’s game begins at 4:30 p.m. CT, and can be seen live on SEC Network.

	RUNS	HITS	ERRORS	LOB
No. 25 Auburn	1	6	0	7
No. 12 Texas A&M	5	5	1	1

Auburn wins extra inning affair at Troy

The No. 25 Tigers needed 10 innings to do it, but they eventually earned a midweek win on the road.

The No. 25 Auburn Tigers needed three extra frames to do it, but they were able to pull off a midweek win on the road at Troy on Tuesday night.

After 10 innings of softball, Auburn’s winning run was scored on a throwing error by Troy catcher Emma Faulk. [autotag]Icess Tresvik[/autotag] took advantage of the errant throw by running home to give Auburn the 4-3 lead, a lead which ultimately stuck.

The Tigers held a lead over Troy on three occasions, and head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] was impressed with his team’s effort to keep fighting.

“It was just grit,” Dean said postgame. “To come on the road midweek after playing a three-game series and face a really good Troy team. We had to face the emotions of having the game won and then tying it up, having the game won and then tying it up. The good thing is that we kept working and never let them take the lead. That was key. Shelby (Lowe) had been paying attention throughout the game. She came in and threw the pitches she needed to shut them down.”

Auburn led 2-0 heading into the 5th inning thanks to a solo home run by [autotag]Anna Wohlers[/autotag] and an RBI single by [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] that led to a throwing error. The Trojans responded in the 6th inning on an infield single by Libby Baker, and Cassidy Boltz forced extra innings in the 7th by hitting a solo home run.

[autotag]Makayla Packer[/autotag] took advantage of another Trojan mishap in the 8th. She tripled and later scored on a throwing error to push Auburn back in front, 3-2. The lead was shortlived as Baker hit a sacrifice fly to center field deep enough to score Taylor McKinney to tie the game at 3-3.

[autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] earned the win in relief of [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] by striking out four batters and allowing two hits in two innings of work. Penta tossed eight innings, striking out 12 batters and allowing two earned runs on five hits.

Offensively, Auburn recorded nine hits with Wohlers and Tresvik each grabbing two.

The Tigers will travel to No. 12 Texas A&M to begin a three-game series in College Station. Game one of the series begins Friday at 6 p.m. CT.

Recap: Auburn softball gets blanked by Missouri

After losing game one of its SEC opening series, Auburn softball gets shut out in game two, officially losing the series to Missouri.

It was another unfortunate day for Auburn softball, as the No. 25 Tigers were shut out in game two of the three-game series against No. 12 Missouri on Saturday, making Auburn 0-2 to start SEC play by falling, 5-0.

After a dazzling performance from Missouri’s Laurin Krings led the girls from Columbia to a win in the opening game, it was Cierra Harrison (7-0) who stole the show in this game, putting together yet another impressive performance in the circle.

Missouri got the scoring started early in the 1st, when Jenna Laird scored on a wild pitch after singling to start the game and being advanced on a later double.

That offense continued in the 2nd, trying to wear Auburn out early. It started with Katie Chester sending a double into right field. She advanced to third when Madison Walker reached on an error.

Chantice Phillips then sent a ball into right center that would not be returning to the field, hitting a three-run home run to make it a 4-0 Missouri lead.

After a double and a strikeout, Alex Honnold sent an RBI single into center field, increasing the score to 5-0 in favor of the gold and black.

The scoring ended following the early offensive surge by Missouri. Unfortunately for Auburn, it never found a groove and never recovered.

Harrison picked up the win for her squad, pitching a complete game and striking out nine. She gave up no runs on five hits, keeping her undefeated season going.

[autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] pitched 1.1 innings while giving up five runs on five hits. Only one of those runs was earned. [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] and [autotag]Emma Rolfe[/autotag] finished the game in relief, preventing any more damage.

[autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag] was the only one who picked up multiple hits for Auburn, hitting two singles.

The girls from the Plains will attempt to end the series on a positive note in Sunday’s series finale. First pitch is set for noon.

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