The No. 19 Auburn Tigers (35-14, 11-7 SEC) were victorious in two out of three games against the No. 14 Alabama Crimson Tide (34-15, 10-8 SEC) at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama this weekend.
The series opener on Friday night was postponed to Saturday during the game. Alabama was able to pick up a 6-1 win in the first game of the series in Saturday's doubleheader.
Junior Shelby Lowe started the first game for Auburn and allowed two runs off of four hits and struck three batters out in 4.1 innings on the mound. Graduate Montana Fouts got the start for Alabama and pitched the whole game. Fouts allowed one run off of three hits, walked two batters and struck out seven in seven innings of work.
Alabama took the lead in the bottom of the first inning and never gave it up. The only Auburn run came from a solo home run by junior Denver Bryant in the top of the sixth inning.
Auburn was able to bounce back in the second game by picking up a 5-1 win.
Junior Maddie Penta got the start for Auburn in game two and pitched a complete game. Penta allowed one run off of three hits, walked one batter and struck out seven in seven innings of work. Redshirt Sophomore Alex Salter got the start for Alabama and allowed four runs off of four hits, walked one batter and struck out three in four innings of work.
Bryant opened up the scoring for Auburn with a three-run shot to left field in the top of the first inning.
Alabama's only run came in the bottom of the first inning when freshman Kenleigh Cahalan singled up the middle to bring in senior Jenna Johnson.
Junior McKayla Packer scored on a sac fly by sophomore Nelia Peralta in the top of the second inning. The last run of the game came from a solo shot to right field by sophomore Bri Ellis in the top of the sixth inning. The Tigers had evened the series with a 5-1 victory.
“We stayed with it all day,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “It wasn’t the prettiest performance, but it was a good day overall. We need to be better on defense. We rushed a couple plays that we didn’t need to rush.”
Auburn was able to pick up a 3-1 win in the series finale to clinch the series win.
“I’ve been telling people all year that if you don’t come watch this team play, you are missing it,” head coach Dean said. “That was one hell of a matchup between (Maddie) Penta and (Montana) Fouts. That was fun to watch. Maddie kept her composure. They threatened. We made mistakes, but she kept her composure.”
Penta and Fouts both started for Auburn and Alabama respectively and both pitched complete games. Penta allowed one run off of six hits, walked one batter and struck out eight in seven innings of work. Fouts allowed three runs off of seven hits, walked one batter and struck out 11 in seven innings of work.
Auburn got the scoring started with a solo home run by senior Carlee McCondichie in the top of the third inning. Alabama put one across to even it up in the bottom of the fourth inning when junior Bailey Dowling grounded out to short to bring in Johnson.
Auburn tacked on two more runs in the top of the sixth inning when Ellis singled to center field to score sophomore Kenadie Cooper and Bryant doubled to left center to score freshman Skylar Elkins. That would be enough to earn the Tigers a series victory.
Auburn will be back in action next weekend when the Tigers travel up to Columbia, South Carolina for a three-game set with the South Carolina Gamecocks (32-15, 7-11 SEC). First pitch is set for 5:00 p.m. CDT on Friday, 1:00 p.m. CDT on Saturday and 12:00 p.m. CDT on Sunday. All three games will be broadcasted on SEC Network+.
