Shelby Lowe – 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

Recap: Auburn softball drops 14-inning heartbreaker to Georgia

A late Georgia rally forces Auburn to exit early from the SEC Tournament.

Softball fans were treated to a classic with the third game of the SEC Softball Tournament between No. 10 seed Auburn and No. 7 seed Georgia. However, the host Tigers were on the losing end.

Tied 2-2 going to the 14th inning, Auburn’s [autotag]KK McCrary[/autotag] blasted a three-run home run to right field to put the Tigers ahead, 5-2. However, Georgia responded by hitting two home runs in the bottom frame to walk away with the 6-5 1st round win over Auburn on Wednesday at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn.

The 4-hour and 21-minute marathon, an SEC record, began with Auburn jumping out to a 1-0 lead on an Icess Tresvik single that scored McCrary in the 1st inning. Georgia responded by scoring two runs in the bottom frame to take the 2-1 lead.

Amelia Lech hit a ball deep enough to left field to score the speedy Makayla Packer to tie the game at 2-2 in the 2nd inning. Both teams would fail to plate runs over the next 10 innings before McCrary’s three-run homer broke the spell in the 14th inning. Over the drought, Auburn recorded just three hits and stranded eight base runners.

Georgia responded to McCrary’s slam by hitting a three-run shot of their own. Jayda Kearney tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the 14th with her three-run blast and Sarah Gordon delivered the final blow by hitting a solo home run with two outs in the inning to put the game to bed.

McCrary and Packer recorded two hits in the contest with McCrary winning the RBI race with three. In the circle, [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] and [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] combined to strike out 10 batters while allowing 11 hits and walking eight. Penta struck out six batters and allowed three hits while walking six batters over nine full innings of work. Lowe finished the final 4 2/3 innings by striking out four and walking two while allowing eight hits.

Auburn will now await its NCAA Tournament fate. According to Softball America’s recent bracketology, the Tigers are forecasted to compete in the Tallahassee Regional hosted by Florida State alongside FAU and Chattanooga.

Auburn named a ‘dark horse’ to win SEC Tournament

Maddie Penta and Shelby Lowe gives Auburn the opportunity to matchup well with any opponent.

Auburn softball begins its run at the SEC Tournament on Wednesday as the No. 10 seed in this year’s field, with their first matchup against the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs at 4 p.m. CT.

The matchup will be interesting as the SEC’s home run-leading Bulldogs matchup with the SEC’s strikeout leader in Auburn’s [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag]. As tournaments will tell you, it is not about which team is the best at the season’s end, but which team gets hot at the right time. This is why Auburn is considered a sneaky favorite to come away with the SEC Tournament crown on its home field.

In its SEC Tournament preview, D1Softball’s Rhiannon Potkey lists Auburn as a “dark horse” to win the SEC Tournament. The Tigers enter the tournament with momentum after winning two low-scoring affairs against rival Alabama last weekend, and it could carry on into this weekend’s action.

Auburn’s offense may not have shown up in several clutch situations this season, but Auburn’s pitching staff can give the Tigers a chance to win any game they play writes Potkey:

Maddie Penta and Shelby Lowe give any team a chance to pull off some upsets and make a run. Penta has been a workhorse her entire career. The reigning SEC Pitcher of the Year is 14-10 with a 1.82 ERA in 173.1 innings pitched and with 224 strikeouts. Lowe is pitching her best since injuries sidetracked the lefty as a sophomore; senior can see her career coming to a close and is rising to the moment. The Tigers have the same issue as South Carolina (and Alabama)–their offense goes dormant for long stretches. If they can get some more production or at least clutch hits, they could be dangerous as they try to send head coach Mickey Dean into retirement with a strong finish.

Penta leads the SEC with 224 strikeouts, a whopping 42 more than the next pitcher, Tennessee‘s Karlyn Pickens. [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] has been a great supporting pitcher by striking out 69 batters over 73.0 innings with an ERA of 2.59. If both pitchers are performing well this week, and the Tigers’ bats begin to warm up, Auburn could easily make a deep run in this year’s SEC Tournament.

Recap: Auburn softball drops series finale to Ole Miss

Auburn could not keep up with the Rebels in Sunday’s finale, thus dropping another SEC series.

After beginning the series on a hot note, Auburn dropped the final two games of its road series with Ole Miss, including Sunday’s finale.

Auburn held a 2-1 lead over the Rebels in the 3rd inning, but Ole Miss rattled off six unanswered runs to claim the 7-2 win over the Tigers on Sunday at Ole Miss Softball Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi.

Ole Miss jumped 1-0 in the 1st inning on a groundout by Aynslie Furbush that allowed Jalia Lassiter to score from 3rd base. Auburn answered with an RBI single by [autotag]Amelia Lech[/autotag] and a solo home run by [autotag]KK McCray[/autotag] to give the Tigers the 2-1 advantage.

The solo home run would cap scoring for Auburn as Ole Miss would jump back in front thanks to three straight home runs. Furbush and Delaney Rummell would smash two-run home runs while Jamie Mackay added a solo round-tripper. Taylor Malvin scored the game’s final run in the 6th inning on an error.

“We didn’t play well,” Auburn head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag] said postgame. “There’s no other way to describe it. We didn’t hit well. We didn’t pitch well. Our defense was susceptible. We’re going to have two really good days of practice ahead us to get ready for that last series of the regular season.”

Auburn recorded six hits in Sunday’s loss, with [autotag]Icess Tresvik[/autotag] carrying the load with two. The combination of [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] and [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] combined to allow six earned runs on nine hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Auburn will now prepare for its final regular season series of the season. Auburn will host No. 17 Alabama for a three-game set beginning Thursday at 7 p.m. CT.

Recap: Penta ties single-game strikeout record in Auburn’s extra inning win over Ole Miss

Auburn’s ace made the difference in Auburn’s low-scoring affair with Ole Miss.

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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Auburn softball remains outside of USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll after Kentucky series

The Tigers continue to receive votes in the USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll as the SEC schedule begins to wind down.

Auburn softball may have dropped its most recent series to Kentucky, but they found a way to win the final game of the series thanks to a great effort in the circle by [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] and several heads-up scoring opportunities.

As the SEC schedule begins its final turn, Auburn remains outside of the top 25 rankings in this week’s USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll.

Ten SEC teams make up this week’s top 25 from USA TODAY and NFCA, with South Carolina joining Auburn in the receiving votes category. Ole Miss is the lone SEC squad that did not receive top-25 consideration this week.

Tennessee is the SEC’s highest-represented club this week. The Lady Vols won two of three games over LSU last weekend, which gives them a one-spot bump to No. 3 in this week’s poll. Coincidentally, the series loss pushed LSU up to No. 6. Texas A&M rounds out the SEC in the top 10 by earning a No. 10 ranking after it swept Ole Miss over the weekend.

Georgia and Florida each dropped to No. 11 and No. 12 respectively. Missouri dropped one place to No. 14 while Arkansas jumped a place to No. 15 after winning the series at Alabama. As for the Crimson Tide, they fall three spots to No. 17.

Mississippi State checks in at No. 18 after taking a week off of SEC play, and Kentucky jumps to No. 21 after its series win at Auburn.

Here is a look at this week’s USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Last Week
1	Texas	38-6	791	1
2	Oklahoma	42-4	772	2
3	Tennessee	34-8	720	4
4	Oklahoma State	39-8	666	6
5	Duke	39-6	652	3
6	LSU	35-10	592	7
7	Stanford	36-10	590	5
8	Washington	30-8	566	8
9	UCLA	27-9	554	12
10	Texas A&M	37-9	536	11
11	Georgia	36-11	516	9
12	Florida	37-10	466	10
13	Virginia Tech	35-9-1	403	15
14	Missouri	35-13	377	13
15	Arkansas	32-12	360	16
16	Florida State	36-10	294	18
17	Alabama	31-12	291	14
18	Mississippi State	30-13	240	17
19	Arizona	31-13-1	235	19
20	California	31-14	235	19
21	Kentucky	29-15	120	24
22	Clemson	31-15	117	21
23	Boston University	40-4	110	23
24	Oregon	26-16	100	22
25	Louisiana	33-15	74	25

Others Receiving Votes

Northwestern (25), South Carolina (21), Texas State (19), Virginia (9), Miami (6), Auburn (4), Grand Canyon (3), Baylor (2), Eastern Kentucky (1).

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.

N🚫-N🚫 ALERT!

Maddie Penta and Shelby Lowe combine for the 35th no-hitter in program history! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/vjMdZyiR6e

— Auburn Softball (@AuburnSoftball) April 10, 2024

Recap: Auburn picks up pair of wins in War Eagle Classic

The Auburn softball team put on a show in front of a large pre-A Day crowd with a pair of wins in the War Eagle Classic.

The Auburn softball team put on a show in front of a large pre-A Day crowd with a pair of wins at Jane B. Moore Field on Friday in the War Eagle Classic.

After struggling in SEC play the past couple of weeks, the Tigers were happy to play a pair of non-conference games to get back on track.

The opener was all Tigers in a 9-1 route of Conference USA opponent Louisiana Tech, while the nightcap saw Auburn squeak by ACC opponent Georgia Tech in a 1-run victory.

Here is a rundown of the action from both contests.

Game One: Auburn 9 Louisiana Tech 1

	Runs	Hits	Errors	LOB
Auburn	9	10	0	4
Arkansas	1	4	3	5

It’s never a good sign when a team has almost as many errors as they do base hits. That’s exactly the kind of game LA Tech it had on Friday afternoon on the Plains. Auburn starter [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] (5-3) wasn’t dominant by any means, but she was able to work her way around trouble in multiple innings through a 5-inning, 6-strikeout, 1-run performance.

On the offensive side of things for the Tigers, things started early and often. Auburn put up three runs in the first two innings before a six run 5th ended the game due to mercy rule.

Anna Wohlers and KK McCrary started things off with back-to-back long balls in the final inning before Tech’s defense unraveled to ultimately seal its fate. After a trio of hits from [autotag]Makayla Packer[/autotag], [autotag]Nelia Peralta[/autotag], and [autotag]Icess Tresvick[/autotag], Amelia Lech sent a fly ball to center field.

Tech center fielder Alexis Gilio made the catch but delivered an errant throw in, allowing the “merry go round” to go into motion as each Tiger baserunner advanced 60 feet.

A few pitches later, Mariah Penta reached on another error, allowing yet another unearned run to score. Icess Travick, who advanced to third on the error, stole home and was ruled safe after a Louisiana Tech challenge. After Skylar Elkins walked on four pitches, Annabelle Windra delivered the final blow on a walk-off RBI single to give Auburn its second mercy-rule victory in a row.

Game Two: Auburn 4 Georgia Tech 3

	Runs	Hits	Errors	LOB
Auburn	4	7	1	5
Georgia Tech	3	7	1	5

While Auburn smoothly sailed through the first game of the day, the Tigers had to come from behind in dramatic fashion to claim victory in the nightcap.

Ace pitcher [autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag] (S, 1) got the ball in the second game of the day and was immediately met with resistance. Although Penta has been dominant at times this season, the first-inning continued to be her kryptonite on Friday.

The senior allowed three Yellow Jacket runs in the first inning but was able to settle down over the next five. She finished her night with 6 innings pitched, 3 runs (1 earned) and 9 strikeouts.

Auburn’s bats weren’t able to get anything of substance going until the bottom of the 6th when they blitz’d Georgia Tech’s Sophia Voyles and Kinsey Norton for 4 runs.

The big hits came from Amelia Lech and Mariah Penta, who drilled back-to-back RBI doubles to flip the script of the game. After ending game one with her bat, Annabelle Windra picked up the win on the mound in game two with a scoreless 7th inning to secure a 2-0 day for her Tigers.

Next up

The undefeated day improved Auburn’s record to 19-11 on the season. The Tigers play two more today against the same opponents with a chance to sweep the War Eagle Classic on A-Day.

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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.