AUBURN, Ala. – For the first time in her career, senior Morgan Podany delivered a game-ending hit as she drove in Bree Fornis from third to give No. 12 Auburn a 5-4 win over No. 16 South Carolina Friday night.
Podany's hit caps what was a stellar pitching performance by Ashlee Swindle, who set a career high with eight strikeouts over 6.0 innings, and Chardonnay Harris (8-1), who entered the game in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded and nobody out and struck out two.
"Gosh, what a game … I really have no idea what to say," said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean. "That's why you always battle."
Auburn (33-8, 9-4) got out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first when the Tigers capitalized on two South Carolina errors mixed with three hits and a 14th stolen base by Alyssa Rivera.
From there, the lead grew by a run in the bottom of the third when Kendall Veach hit her 18th home run of the season, which puts the senior three behind Kasey Cooper (21) single-season mark set in 2016. It was also Veach's 37th career home run, which is now the seventh most in program history over a career.
South Carolina (29-12, 5-10) cut its deficit in half with a two-out, two-run home run by Jordan Fabian in the top of the fifth. The Gamecocks struck again in the top of the seventh when Kennedy Clark hit a two-out single to centerfield in the top of the seventh to tie the game.
Bree Fornis led off the bottom of the seventh with a three-base error, before Podany's squared up a 2-2 pitch and sent it into right field for the win.
"The heart rate is back down now," said Podany. "But during that at bat, the thing I was trying to do the most was just to take deep breaths and stay calm."
Auburn will look for its fourth Southeastern Conference series win this season when the two teams square off Saturday at 11 a.m., before wrapping up the weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m.