Tag: SEC Softball

Maddie Penta, Shelby Lowe combine for no-hitter in Auburn’s drubbing of UAB

Maddie Penta and Shelby Lowe teamed up to strike out seven batters in Auburn’s blowout win over the Blazers on Tuesday.

It has become normal for Auburn pitchers to toss gems against non-conference opponents. Tuesday’s action was no exception.

[autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] and [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] combined to strike out seven batters while allowing zero runs or hits in Auburn’s 9-0 run-rule win over UAB Tuesday night at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn. The no-hitter was Auburn’s 35th of all time, and the first for the Tigers since last Wednesday’s game against Samford when Auburn’s staff combined to toss the fourth perfect game in program history.

Penta picked up her 12th win on Tuesday by tossing four innings of shutout softball, striking out five batters. She suffered two blemishes in the game, one took place in the 1st inning when she hit the second batter of the game, and the next was a base-on-balls in the 4th inning. Lowe took over in the 5th inning, striking out two of the three batters she faced to lock down the win.

Auburn head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] was pleased with the effort his two pitchers gave in the circle.

“We got off to a nice start,” Dean said postgame. “We continued to build off that. Our pitchers worked ahead. We averaged 15 pitches an inning, which is exactly where we want to be. We did a nice job.”

Auburn’s work at the plate began early as they ended the 1st inning with a four-run cushion. [autotag]Icess Tresvik[/autotag] scored two runs on a single to right field while [autotag]Mariah Penta[/autotag] drove home two additional runs on a double to left field. A fielder’s choice by UAB allowed [autotag]Anna Wohlers[/autotag] to score in the 2nd inning to extend Auburn’s lead to 5-0, which paved the way for another big inning.

Auburn added three more runs in the 3rd inning thanks to two RBI singles by Wohlers and [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag]. The final blow was delivered by [autotag]Riley McNemar[/autotag], who sent Axe Milanowski home on a sacrifice fly.

Auburn will look to carry the momentum earned from Tuesday’s win to Baton Rouge this weekend. The Tigers will face No. 6 LSU this weekend for a three-game set beginning Friday at 6 p.m. CT.

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Auburn softball receives votes in USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll following week nine’s action

The Tigers have a tall task ahead of them this weekend at No. 6 LSU.

Auburn softball took a step away from SEC action last week by hosting Lousiana Tech and Georgia Tech for the War Eagle Classic. The Tigers finished 3-1 on the weekend and will return to conference action with confidence.

Following week nine’s action, Auburn remains in the “remaining votes” category of the latest USA TODAY/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Auburn is one of two SEC teams in the category this week, joining Kentucky.

Ten SEC teams make up this week’s poll, with Tennessee leading all SEC teams at No. 4. The Volunteers climb two spots this week after taking two of three games from No. 7 Georgia over the weekend in Knoxville. On the flip side, Georgia dropped four spots in the rankings due to the loss.

Auburn’s next conference opponent, LSU, drops one spot to No. 6 after losing last weekend’s series to No. 9 Florida in Gainesville. Texas A&M and Alabama are next in line at No. 11 and No. 12 respectively. The Aggies and Crimson Tide will battle this weekend in Tuscaloosa in what will be a pivotal series in the SEC.

Missouri, Mississippi State, and Arkansas round out the SEC’s representation in the top 20, with South Carolina checking in at No. 22. Ole Miss is the lone SEC program not to receive coaches poll consideration this week.

Complete week nine rankings from USA TODAY/NCFA

Rank Team Record Points Last Week
1 Oklahoma 35-3 770 1
2 Texas 31-6 766 4
3 Duke 33-3 760 2
4 Tennessee 30-6 666 6
5 Oklahoma State 33-6 647 7
6 LSU 31-5 643 5
7 Georgia 31-8 620 3
8 Stanford 31-6 604 8
9 Florida 33-6 550 10
10 Washington 26-7 486 9
11 Texas A&M 31-8 443 13
12 Alabama 29-8 409 14
13 UCLA 22-9 409 12
14 Missouri 30-10 373 11
15 Virginia Tech 28-9-1 358 15
16 Mississippi State 28-10 337 16
17 Arkansas 28-10 250 18
18 Florida State 28-10 250 18
19 Clemson 27-11 238 17
20 California 29-11 156 20
21 Arizona 24-12-1 128 21
22 Oregon 22-13 113 24
23 South Carolina 28-12 105 22
24 Boston University 29-4 82 23
25 Texas State 32-9 68 NR

Others Receiving Votes

Louisiana (25), Baylor (19), Kentucky (17), Miami (17), Kansas (8), FAU (5), Virginia (5), Nevada (3), Northwestern (2), Auburn (1), Grand Canyon (1).

Dropped Out

No. 25 Baylor

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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.

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Auburn softball receives votes in USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll following Tennessee series

The Tigers remain in top 25 consideration despite dropping its fourth-straight SEC series over the weekend.

Auburn softball dropped its fourth-straight SEC series of the season last week by dropping two of three games to the visiting Tennessee Lady Vols.

Despite the setback, Auburn is still in consideration for a top-25 slot in the latest USA TODAY/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. In week nine’s edition of the poll, Auburn remains in the “receiving votes” category by receiving two votes,

Tennessee fell two spots in this week’s poll despite winning the series at Auburn. The dip was partly due to Duke’s sweep of No. 15 Virginia Tech, which rocketed them to No. 2. LSU also jumped Tennessee in the rankings by sweeping No. 13 Texas A&M.

Ten SEC squads check in to this week’s poll, with Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, and Florida representing the conference in the top 10. Auburn, Ole Miss, and Kentucky are the only three SEC members that did not enter this week’s rankings.

Auburn softball will depart from SEC play this weekend to host the War Eagle Classic. The Tigers will host Louisiana Tech and Georgia Tech as part of the two-day affair that begins Friday at Jane B. Moore Field.

Complete week nine rankings from USA TODAY/NCFA

Rank Team Record Points Last Week
1 Oklahoma 34-1 800 1
2 Duke 29-3 727 5
3 Georgia 29-5 707 3
4 Texas 29-5 678 2
5 LSU 29-4 658 6
6 Tennessee 28-5 652 4
7 Oklahoma State 29-6 642 8
8 Stanford 27-6 599 7
9 Washington 25-5 560 9
10 Florida 31-5 524 10
11 Missouri 29-7 453 12
12 UCLA 20-8 14
13 Texas A&M 28-7 397 11
14 Alabama 26-8 348 13
15 Virginia Tech 25-8-1 318 15
16 Mississippi State 25-9 297 17
17 Clemson 24-10 275 16
18 Florida State 24-9 265 19
19 Arkansas 22-11-1 143 20
20 California 26-10 209 18
21 Arizona 22-11-1 143 20
22 South Carolina 26-10 139 22
23 Boston University 27-3 95 25
24 Oregon 20-12 69 24
25 Baylor 19-12 46 23

Others Receiving Votes

Texas State (38), Kentucky (17), Louisiana (12), Nevada (10), Kansas (9), FAU (8), Miami (8), Virginia (3), Auburn (2).

Dropped Out

None

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Alabama moves down in latest USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll Top 25

A recent series loss to a conference opponent has Alabama softball sliding in the latest USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll

Alabama Crimson Tide softball is having a strong season as the team continues in-conference play against other impressive SEC programs. A recent series loss to the Kentucky Wildcats on the road, split 2-1, led to a slight fall in the latest Coaches Poll.

Up next for head coach Patrick Murphy and the Crimson Tide is a brief homestead against Ole Miss before heading to Birmingham to play a one-game series against Samford. From there, the Crimson Tide will return to Tuscaloosa to face Texas A&M Aggies.

It’s a long season with plenty of opportunities to improve and rise up the rankings, but as things currently stand, Alabama sits at No. 14 and has an overall record of 26-8.

Check out the full USA TODAY/NFCA Softball Coaches Poll.

Rank Team Record Points Prev.
1 Oklahoma 34-1 800 (32) 1
2 Duke 29-3 727 5
3 Georgia 29-5 707 3
4 Texas 29-5 678 2
5 LSU 29-4 658 6
6 Tennessee 28-5 652 4
7 Oklahoma State 29-6 642 8
8 Stanford 27-6 599 7
9 Washington 25-5 560 9
10 Florida 31-5 534 10
11 Missouri 29-7 453 12
12 UCLA 20-8 431 14
13 Texas A&M 28-7 397 11
14 Alabama 26-8 348 13
15 Virginia Tech 25-8-1 318 15
16 Mississippi State 25-9 297 17
17 Clemson 24-10 275 16
18 Florida State 24-9 265 19
19 Arkansas 25-9 261 20
20 California 26-10 209 18
21 Arizona 22-11-1 143 21
22 South Carolina 26-10 139 22
23 Boston University 27-3 95 25
24 Oregon 20-12 69 24
25 Baylor 19-12 46 46

Others Receiving Votes

Texas State (38), Kentucky (17), Louisiana (12), Nevada (10), Kansas (9), FAU (8), Miami (8), Virginia (3), Auburn (2).

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama softball as the 2024 season progresses.

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Auburn snaps No. 4 Tennessee’s long win streak with Sunday victory

A clutch 6th inning at the plate lifted Auburn to a win over No. 4 Tennessee on Sunday.

Auburn softball dropped a pair of four-run games to No. 4 Tennessee this weekend, and looked to show fight on Sunday in hopes of earning a win in the series.

The Tigers struck first in the 1st inning, and added insurance runs in the 6th inning to clinch a Sunday victory, defeating the Lady Vols, 4-1 at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn.

In addition to Auburn’s clutch hitting, [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] was a force in the circle. In a complete game effort, Penta struck out seven batters while allowing a run on five hits. Auburn head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] knows that Tennessee’s bats are lethal, and commends Penta’s strong effort in the win.

“(Tennessee’s) hitters are like piranhas… If they get off to a good start, it’s going to be a long game,” Dean said. I thought Maddie (Penta) and our defense did a nice job in those first three innings and then you threw the two runs on top. It kind of kept them in a lull. It took us seven innings, but in that last inning, we got that insurance. We had that big defensive play in right field. We work on this stuff all the time. That was key to winning the ball game.”

Auburn set the tone of the game early by scoring two runs in the 1st inning. After Penta retired the side in order in the top half of the inning, two runs scored in the bottom frame on an infield single by Icess Tresvik, which resulted in an error on Tennessee shortstop Laura Mealer.

The Lady Vols answered in the top of the 4th inning thanks to an RBI single by Taylor Pannell, but momentum would be erased in the 6th with an RBI triple by Nelia Peralta and an RBI single by Amelia Lech.

The win is the 700th of Dean’s collegiate career, it also snapped a 20-game Tennessee win streak.

The Tigers return to Jane B. Moore Field on Wednesday to face in-state foe Samford. First pitch between the Tigers and Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m. CT.

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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.

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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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Auburn checks in at No. 25 in USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll for third straight week

The Tigers hang on to a top 25 ranking ahead of this weekend’s road trip to Texas A&M.

Auburn softball had another tough SEC weekend by dropping two of three at home to Arkansas at Jane B. Moore Field. The series loss, although detrimental to its place in the SEC standings, had zero effect on Auburn’s position in the coaches’ poll rankings.

The Tigers begin the week at No. 25 in the latest USA TODAY/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, a place they have been for the last three weeks. The series win over Auburn boosted Arkansas to No. 18, a two-spot increase from last week’s update.

This week, Auburn travels west to Texas A&M to battle the Aggies, one of the hottest teams in the SEC. The Aggies took two of three from Mississippi State over the weekend to improve its record to 25-3. The series win over the Bulldogs lifts Texas A&M one spot to No. 12.

The SEC remains one of the toughest conferences in the nation, as 11 of its 13 programs hold a spot in this week’s coaches poll.

Complete week seven rankings from USA TODAY/NCFA

Rank Team Record Points Last Week
1 Oklahoma 27-1 794 1
2 LSU 24-1 771 2
3 Texas 24-3 727 3
4 Oklahoma State 24-3 692 4
5 Georgia 23-4 666 5
6 Duke 22-2 637 6
7 Tennessee 22-4 610 8
8 Washington 20-4 584 7
9 Stanford 22-5 545 9
10 Florida 25-4 512 10
11 Clemson 21-6 461 12
12 Texas A&M 25-3 432 13
13 Alabama 22-5 392 14
14 UCLA 17-6 371 15
15 Missouri 22-6 369 11
16 Virginia Tech 21-4-1 306 18
17 Florida State 21-4 293 15
18 Arkansas 22-6 245 20
19 California 21-7 193 17
20 Mississippi State 21-6 190 21
21 Arizona 20-7-1 130 22
22 Baylor 16-8 101 19
23 South Carolina 21-7 78 23
24 Boston University 20-3 66 24
25 Auburn 14-6-1 59 25

Others Receiving Votes

Oregon (55), Louisiana (43), Kansas (40), Kentucky (25), Texas State (19), Miami (6), Grand Canyon (1).

Dropped Out

None

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 Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Alabama moves up in latest USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll Top 25

Alabama softball continues to trend upward in the latest national softball top-25 rankings!

With some late-game heroics, Alabama softball avoided the sweep against No. 5 Georgia on the road and will now look to bounce back with a few non-conference games before getting back into SEC play.

The Crimson Tide will face Samford and UAB at home over the next few days and then host No. 16 Virginia Tech.

In the latest rankings, Patrick Murphy and his team move up a single spot despite the recent losses. This team has top-10 potential and has plenty of time left in the season to make significant progress in the rankings.

Playing in the SEC, Alabama will be tested over the next couple of weeks with some intense in-conference competition. In the latest rankings, the Tide find themselves a the sixth-highest-ranked SEC program.

Keep in mind that next season, Oklahoma and Texas will join the conference. They rank No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, in the latest top-25.

Check out the full USA TODAY/NFCA Softball Coaches Poll.

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Oklahoma 27-1 794 (26) –
2 LSU 24-1 771 (6) –
3 Texas 24-3 727 –
4 Oklahoma State 24-3 692 –
5 Georgia 13-4 666 –
6 Duke 22-2 637 –
7 Tennessee 22-4 610 +1
8 Washington 20-4 584 -1
9 Stanford 22-5 545 –
10 Florida 25-4 512 –
11 Clemson 21-6 461 +1
12 Texas A&M 25-3 432 +1
13 Alabama 22-5 392 +1
14 UCLA 17-6 371 +1
15 Missouri 22-6 369 -4
16 Virginia Tech 21-4-1 306 +2
17 Florida State 18-8 280 -1
18 Arkansas 22-6 245 +2
19 California 21-7 193 -2
20 Mississippi State 21-6 190 +1
21 Arizona 20-7-1 130 +1
22 Baylor 16-8 101 -3
23 USC 21-7 78 –
24 Boston University 20-3 66 –
25 Auburn 14-6-1 59 –

Others Receiving Votes

Oregon (55), Louisiana (43), Kansas (40), Kentucky (25), Texas State (19), Miami (6), Grand Canyon (1).

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama softball as the 2024 season progresses.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM.