Auburn softball stumbles in extra innings to South Florida

Amelia Lech’s second home run of the afternoon extended the game to the ninth inning, but South Florida (44-14-1) scored five unanswered in the top of the frame to take down Auburn Softball (32-23) 12-7 in extra innings Friday at JoAnne Graf Field in the opening game of the Tallahassee Regional.

Auburn softball stumbles in extra innings to South FloridaAuburn softball stumbles in extra innings to South Florida
Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Amelia Lech’s second home run of the afternoon extended the game to the ninth inning, but South Florida (44-14-1) scored five unanswered in the top of the frame to take down Auburn Softball (32-23) 12-7 in extra innings Friday at JoAnne Graf Field in the opening game of the Tallahassee Regional. 

“We came out aggressive,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “We had a lot of good things going at the beginning. South Florida is a good team. You don’t win 40 games in a season for no reason. They took advantage of the openings that they got. I didn’t feel like we fought less. The game just didn’t go our way today. We had opportunities throughout the game but couldn’t come through. We struggled closing out innings in the circle. One thing we’ve got to do is not make it bigger than it is. We still get to get up tomorrow morning and get back at it.”

Auburn put up five runs in the first inning, but South Florida scored six over the middle innings to take its first lead of the game. Aubrie Lisenby tied the game in the sixth with an RBI single, which ultimately led to extra innings. After the two teams traded one-out, solo home runs in the eighth, South Florida scored five in the top of the ninth to win the game. 

Lisenby led the Tigers at the plate with a 3-for-4 effort, tying her season high in hits. Entering the game with just two home runs this season, Lech doubled her home run total after knocking two and driving in four of Auburn’s seven runs. Rose Roach, KK McCrary and Abbey Smith also all turned in multi-hit games for the Tigers. 

Auburn’s offense came out firing with singles from Nelia Peralta and McCrary to put traffic on the bases with one out for Anna Wohlers. Wohlers lined a ball to right center to drive in a run. The Bulls were able to make a play at the plate to keep the Tigers from adding to its lead on the play. 

Two outs didn’t slow down the offense. After Icess Tresvik reached via a walk, Roach drove in a run with a single to left center. Lech broke open the game with three-run blast down the left field line to push the first-inning lead to 5-0.  

South Florida used a two-out rally in the top of the second to chip into the lead. With two on via a walk and a single, a two-out single to center from Kathy Garcia-Soto plated a pair of runs. USF’s Josie Foreman knocked a two-run home run in both the third and fifth innings to put the Bulls in front 6-5. 

After the Tigers chased USF starting pitcher Payton Dixon out of the game in the first frame, Auburn struggled to put together hits against reliever Anne Long. Long scattered three hits to keep Auburn off the board until the sixth inning. 

With Belle Sardja in the circle for the Bulls, Auburn mounted a sixth-inning rally to tie the game. Roach led off the frame with a triple to right center to put the tying run in scoring position. Lisenby locked the game up at 6-6 with an RBI single up the middle. Smith followed with a single through the right side to put two on for the Tigers.

Pinch runner Georgia Lessman tried sneak home on an errant throw on a pick-off attempt at third base with two outs on the board, but the Bulls made the out at the plate to end the threat. The umpire crew reviewed the play for obstruction, but the call was upheld to send the game to the seventh inning tied up.

After a scoreless seventh, South Florida and Auburn both traded solo, two-out home runs in the eighth inning to send the game to the ninth. Lech was Auburn’s two-out hero in the bottom of the eighth, connecting for her second home run of the contest.

With the bases loaded and no outs, South Florida plated five runs off a hit by pitch and a grand slam from Camille Ortiz-Martinez to take the deciding 12-7 lead.

Auburn brought the top of the order to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. AnnaLea Adams drew a one-out walk, but that was the lone Tiger to reach in the final frame. 

Haley Rainey, SJ Geurin and Malayna Tamborra all saw time in the circle for the Tigers. Rainey made the start and went two innings before being relieved by Geurin. The left-hander struck out five over her six innings of work but suffered the loss to fall to 20-11. Tamborra tossed the final frame, allowing just one hit. 

UP NEXT

Auburn will face either (5) Florida State or Robert Morris in an elimination game on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be available on ESPN+. Any additional linear coverage will be announced later this evening.