AUBURN, Ala. – Trailing by a run, senior Makenna Dowell slugged the go-ahead home run to open the offensive flood gates as Auburn softball knocked off Troy, 8-1, Thursday at Jane B. Moore Field to open the Auburn Invitational.
Auburn's (11-1) offense found its rhythm with a season-high 11 hits. Auburn's bench was vital in the offense with a pair of pinch-hit doubles in the sixth to plate two runs.
"Everyone came together this game, even the bench came in and did their job," said Dowell. "It was really awesome to see all of us work together like that offensively."
Dowell went 1-for-2 at the plate with a sacrifice fly and her two-run home run in the third inning. Freshman Sydney Cox recorded her first multi-hit game, slugging an RBI double. Sophomore Lindsey Garcia also tallied two singles For the Tigers.
"Great team effort tonight," said head coach Mickey Dean. "We tried to get as many people in the game as possible, but even the people who didn't get into the game had a huge impact. That's what we need every day."
Freshman Maddie Penta earned the start against Troy (13-4), tossing 3.2 innings. Penta gave up five hits and one walk while striking out five. The lone run she gave up was a solo home run from Kelly Horne. Freshman Shelby Lowe earned the win in relief to improve to 3-0. Lowe held the Trojans hitless, allowing one base runner via a walk. She struck out seven of the 12 batters she faced.
After two scoreless innings, Troy struck first with a two-out solo home run to left field from Horne. Auburn answered in the home half of the inning as senior Tyler King slugged a one-out triple down the line in right before Dowell sent a line drive over the fence in right center for her first home run of the season.
With two after a Garcia single to third and a walk drawn by pinch hitter Alyssa Rivera, graduate student Justus Perry drove in a run with an RBI single to short. The Tigers loaded the bases with a dropped third strike. Dowell delivered once again with a sacrifice fly to center to plate Rivera and extend the lead to 4-1.
The Tigers got two on board in the sixth with a Garcia single through the left side and error by the Trojans' first baseman. Pinch runner Paige Geraghty scored the first run of the inning with some aggressive base running to steal home.
Freshman Denver Bryant came up big in a pinch-hit appearance with a double down the line in left to make it a 6-1 game. Cox continued the offensive onslaught, just missing a home run, with a two-out double to center to plate a run.
Sophomore Maddie Majors plated the final run of the game with her first collegiate hit, an RBI double to right center.
TIGER TRACKS
- Justus Perry is just three hits shy of her 100th career base knock as a Tiger.
- With six putouts at first, Justus Perry is just 12 away from becoming just the sixth Tiger to record 1,000 putouts over her career.
- Maddie Majors slugged her first collegiate hit with an RBI double.
- Shelby Lowe has not allowed a run to score in 19.0 consecutive innings pitched.
- Makenna Dowell knocked her first home run of the season. It was the third of her career.
- Auburn has now won six straight games and is undefeated at Jane B. Moore Field with a 9-0 record.
UP NEXT
The Tigers continue the Auburn Invitational on Friday with a doubleheader against Southern Miss. First pitch on the SEC Network+ is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT. Game two will follow in approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.