Rose Roach – Syndication Server

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.

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

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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.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Tyler on Twitter @traley34

Auburn softball sweeps doubleheader of Northwestern and USC Upstate

After a rain delay saw Auburn softball’s tournament get delayed, the Tigers swept a doubleheader on Saturday against Northwestern and USC Upstate.

The Auburn Tigers continued their winning ways, coming back after a weather suspension on Friday to sweep a doubleheader on Saturday.

Auburn took on Northwestern and USC Upstate as part of the Jane B. Moore Memorial Tournament at Jane B. Moore Field. The first game of the day’s events saw a pitcher’s duel take place, with the Tigers taking the 1-0 win in the end. Auburn found its offense in game two, taking out USC Upstate 10-4.

Head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] made sure to show how proud he was of his pitchers when the games got put in tough spots.

“Just a phenomenal job in the circle from both Maddie (Penta) and Annabelle (Widra),” Dean said. “We found a way to win in that first game against a tough pitcher. We kept battling at the plate in that second game. I like how we continued to compete. Annabelle did a fantastic job giving us a chance to win that game.”

It took Auburn (10-2-1) a few innings before it was able to stick the only run of the game on the board against Northwestern (7-6). A [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag] walk began the 4th inning, where she was then lifted for pinch runner Thalia Martin, who advanced to third on two later groundouts.

With two outs and the Wildcats close to getting out of the inning, [autotag]Aubrie Lisenby[/autotag] slapped a ball over to third, which then resulted in a throwing error by the Northwestern third baseman and a run scored by the Tigers.

While the Wildcats had a chance to tie it in the 7th with a runner on third, [autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag] fielded a grounder and fired it to the plate where Lisenby protected the shutout.

The second game of the twin bill began positively for the Tigers as [autotag]Anna Wohlers[/autotag] drew a walk before giving way to [autotag]Amelia Lech[/autotag], who hit an RBI double to give Auburn the early 1-0 lead over USC Upstate (8-8).

The Spartans then made a huge statement to open up the 2nd, as they quickly got the bases loaded before Denver Lauer sent a grand slam over the left field wall to give her a team a 4-1 lead.

What did the Tigers do as a result? Well, Rose Roach bunted for a single before [autotag]Skylar Elkins[/autotag] blasted a two-run home run to left field, cutting the deficit to one. It was Elkins’ first homer in her collegiate career.

Peralta hit a two-run shot of her own to give the Tigers the lead again in the 3rd, and Roach hit an infield single that would score [autotag]Makayla Packer[/autotag] later in the inning. Auburn scored four in the 4th to put the nail in coffin, securing the 10-4 win.

[autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] recorded her third-straight shutout in the win over Northwestern. She pitched the full seven innings, striking out 10, only walking one and only giving up four hits. [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] earned the win in the victory over USC Upstate, striking out four, giving up just one run and one hit in her 6.0 innings of relief for [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag].

On the offensive side, Lech and Roach were the only Tigers to have a multi-hit performance in either game. Lech ended the day at 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a double, while Roach finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and three singles.

Auburn looks to build on this success with another doubleheader on Sunday, taking on North Texas at 12 p.m. CT and USC Upstate in a rematch at 3 p.m. CT.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Tyler on Twitter @traley34

Auburn softball opens Puerto Vallarta College Challenge with extra-inning win

The No. 21 Tigers needed late-game heroics to win its first game in Mexico.

The No. 25 Auburn Tigers began their stay at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge a day earlier than expected by playing its first game of the weekend on Wednesday rather than Thursday due to impending rain.

Wednesday’s opener against Wichita State played out similarly to the Tigers’ season opener with Virginia Tech last Friday, where the game needed extra innings to complete. However, Auburn managed to sneak out with an 8-6 win over the Shockers.

Auburn led Wichita State, 6-1, heading to the bottom of the 7th inning before the Shockers stormed back to force extra innings. With two outs in the inning, Wichita State’s Bailey Urban nailed a grand slam to cut the Auburn lead to 6-5, and a wild pitch two at-bats later allowed another run to score to force extra innings.

[autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag] and [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag] teamed up to play the role of hero in the top of the 8th inning to seal the win. Roach grounded out to allow [autotag]Axe Milanowski[/autotag] to score from 3rd base to push the Tigers ahead by one run. One at-bat later, Peralta singled up the inning to score [autotag]Skylar Elkins[/autotag] to extend the Tigers’ lead to 8-6.

Wichita State failed to answer, as they went down in order in the bottom half of the 8th inning to end the game.

Roach was the Tigers’ top batter in the game by going 1-for-3 at the plate with three RBI. Peralta and Elkins followed suit with two RBI each. Maddie Penta allowed three hits over 6.1 innings of work in the victory, striking out 10 batters.

Auburn returns to the field Thursday to face UC Davis and No. 16 Utah at noon and 2:30 p.m. CT respectively. FloSoftball will handle the broadcast of each game.

Auburn softball picked to finish 5th by SEC coaches

The Tigers are looking to build on its most successful season since 2017.

Auburn softball enjoyed its most successful season since 2017 last season and is poised to capitalize in 2024.

The preseason SEC coaches poll has been released for the 2024 season, and head coaches from the conference predict that the Tigers will finish fifth this season after Auburn earns 100 points in the preseason forecast.

Auburn earned 43 overall wins in 2023 and finished the tough SEC slate with a 15-9 record. Included in those 15 wins were a sweep of Missouri and series wins over Alabama and LSU. This season, Auburn will meet eight teams ranked in D1Softball’s preseason poll beginning with No. 7 Clemson and No. 14 Utah during the Puerto Vallarta Challenge Feb. 15-17.

Auburn will boast a solid pitching staff this season led by [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag]. The senior from Chesapeake City, Maryland has struck out 677 total batters while posting an ERA of 1.75 in 106 appearances over the last three seasons on the Plains. Notable lineup pieces such as [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag], [autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag], and [autotag]Makayla Packer[/autotag] also return to [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag]’s club this season.

Auburn begins the 2024 season on Friday, Feb. 9 by hosting Virginia Tech and Belmont on day one of the Tiger Invitational at Jane B. Moore Field.

Here’s a look at the 2024 SEC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll

2024 SEC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll

(First-place votes in Parentheses)

Place	School	Points
1.	Tennessee (6)	137
2.	Georgia (6)	136
3.	LSU	106
4.	Arkansas	103
5.	Auburn	100
6.	Alabama	88
7.	Florida (1)	77
8.	Texas A&M	75
9.	South Carolina	68
10.	Kentucky	53
11.	Missouri	28
12.	Ole Miss	24
13.	Mississippi State	19

Maddie Penta included in D1Softball’s D100 player rankings

Penta won 27 games and struck out 303 batters in 2023.

Auburn softball’s [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] had a season to remember in 2023.

The junior ace logged 220.2 innings of work over 43 appearances. Over that span, she struck out 303 batters and walked just 55 batters. D1Softball considers Penta to be one of the best players in college softball, which is why she is ranked highly in the publication’s D100 player rankings. D1Softball places Penta in the No. 14 slot in this year’s list.

Plenty of people agreed that Auburn was going to be a tough out in the postseason. Why? The Tigers were led by Penta. She was one of two players with 300-plus Ks this season, striking out 10 or more in 10 games. Penta averaged around 70 MPH on her fastball and riseball, which allowed her to use a changeup that had a 45 percent.

Penta will return to the Tigers’ roster for the 2024 season, joining several key returners such as [autotag]Makayla Packer[/autotag], [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag], and [autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag].

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Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Titan takedown: Auburn earns win in Clemson Regional opener

The Tigers advance to the winners bracket of the Clemson Regional by crushing Cal State Fullerton on Friday.

Auburn Softball entered the Clemson Regional with a chip on its’ shoulder after just missing the opportunity to host an NCAA regional.

In the Clemson Regional opener on Friday, Auburn took out its’ frustrations on Cal State Fullerton. The Tigers used an eight-hit effort, plus a big swing by Bri Ellis, to earn a 12-2 run-rule win over the Titans on Friday at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson.

Head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] says that his team used a “stay where your feet are” approach to the game with Cal State Fullerton, which paid off.

“We weren’t looking forward, we weren’t looking backward. We were focused on today’s game, and we stayed there the entire five innings,” Dean said Friday. “We didn’t carry any bricks. If we made a mistake, we just moved forward. That’s what it is all about. It’s about your teammate having your back, trusting in your teammates, and believing in your teammates. That’s when you can go out on the field and play free and easy.”

Auburn struck first in the bottom of the 1st inning on a pair of RBI by [autotag]KK McCrary[/autotag] and [autotag]Lindsey Garcia[/autotag] to give Auburn the 2-0 lead. In the 2nd inning, Bri Ellis answered Fullerton’s RBI single by crushing a grad slam to extend the lead to 6-0. The grand slam would be Ellis’ lone official at-bat, as she would walk twice and get hit by a pitch throughout the remainder of the game.

Makayla Packer would score two runs over the next two innings on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single. McCrary and Garcia scored their second runs of the day, while [autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag] and [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag] would score the games final runs in the 4th inning to seal the win.

Auburn ended the day with eight total hits and four players would end the game with multiple RBI. That bodes well for Auburn, as they shut down Myka Sutherlin, who entered the weekend with 227 strikeouts, which was 10th best in the country. Sutherlin ended the game by allowing five hits and seven runs while issuing three walks, and striking out just one batter.

“We just stuck to our plan,” McCrary said after the game. “We talked about the changeup. We attacked that early in the count. I just approach the plate when I’m facing two outs like I have nothing to lose. We know we belong here. We’re trying to take a few games.”

Maddie Penta got the win for the Tigers by tossing 4.0 innings and allowing one earned run on three hits while striking out three batters. [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] struck out a batter in her lone inning of relief.

Auburn now advances to the winners bracket to face host Clemson, who defeated UNC Greensboro, 17-2 on Friday. First pitch is set for noon CT on ESPN.

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Auburn tops Ole Miss with comeback, advances to SEC softball tournament semifinals

Auburn erased a four-run Ole Miss lead to advance to the SEC Softball Tournament semi-finals.

The No. 3 seed Auburn Tigers (40-16, 15-9 SEC) earned an 8-7 comeback victory over the No. 11 seed Ole Miss Rebels (30-26, 8-16 SEC) in the quarterfinals round of the SEC Tournament.

“It’s easy to win the pretty games,” said Auburn head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag]. “It’s difficult to win the ugly games. We had to continue to fight back all game long. Being able to answer right back after they scored six runs in the third inning was a huge key to the game. Annabelle (Widra) came into the game and gave up only one earned run. Those two things put our defense and hitters into a position to win that game.”

Junior right-hander [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] got the start for Auburn and allowed an uncharacteristically high five runs off of seven hits, walked four batters and struck four out in 4.1 innings. Sophomore right-hander [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] earned the win for the Tigers in 2.2 innings of relief in which she allowed two runs off of four hits, no walks, and struck two batters out.

[autotag]Lindsey Garcia[/autotag] got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning with a single up the middle that drove in two runs.

The Rebels took control in the third inning, scoring six runs.

Auburn battled back but was unable to even the score until [autotag]Icess Tresvik[/autotag] hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at seven.

“We worked too hard to let someone beat us easily,” Tresvik said. “We can’t dwell on the little things. We have to flush it and keep fighting. We are all big competitors. We hate losing. We’ve played them before. We knew what to expect. We just had to dig deep mentality and keep fighting.”

[autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag] put the Tigers on top later in the inning with an RBI single through the right side of the infield.

That was all of the scoring in the Tigers’ 8-7 victory over the Rebels which earned them a spot in the next round.

Auburn will take on the No. 10 seed South Carolina Gamecocks (36-19, 9-15 SEC) in the semifinals on Friday at 3:00 p.m. CDT. The broadcast will be available on ESPN2.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Daniel on Twitter @DanielJLocke

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Auburn softball drops second game of series to Mississippi State

Auburn goes for the series win on Sunday.

After picking up a win in the first game of the series, the Auburn Tigers (38-16, 14-9 SEC) fell 5-4 in nine innings to the Mississippi State Bulldogs (28-23, 7-15 SEC) in the second game of the series at Jane B. Moore Field yesterday afternoon.

“We fought,” said Auburn head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag]. “We have to put ourselves in better defensive positions and clean things up on defense on Sunday. It’s little things, but defense is who we are. We need to return to that.”

Junior left-hander [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] got the start for Auburn and allowed four runs off of seven hits, walked one batter and struck out four in five innings of work. Sophomore right-hander [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] pitched the remaining four innings and allowed one run off of three hits and struck two batters out.

Senior right-hander Aspen Wesley got the start for Mississippi State and allowed two runs off of two hits, walked three batters and struck out two in two innings of work. Freshman right-hander Josey Marron went the rest of the way for the Bulldogs and allowed two runs off of three hits, walked three batters and struck out seven in seven innings on the mound.

Mississippi State got the scoring started in the top of the second inning when graduate catcher Jackie McKenna singled to right field to bring in a run.

Auburn took the lead in the bottom of the second inning when sophomore shortstop [autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag] singled to center field to bring in two runs.

The Bulldogs jumped back in front in the top of the fourth inning when shortstop Madisyn Kennedy hit a two-run homer to left center.

Auburn tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Roach hit a sac-fly to center field to score junior third baseman [autotag]Denver Bryant[/autotag]. The Tigers took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth inning when sophomore left fielder [autotag]Abbey Smith[/autotag] scored on an error while base running.

Mississippi State struck back in the top of the sixth inning when McKenna reached on an infield single to drive in the tying run. In the top of the ninth inning, graduate left fielder Chloe Malau’ulu singled up the middle to bring in the go-ahead run. The Tigers were not able to answer back in the bottom of the inning and the Bulldogs picked up the 5-4 victory and evened up the series.

The rubber match is set for Sunday at 11:00 a.m. CDT. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Daniel on Twitter @DanielJLocke

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