LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jumping out early with a three-run first inning, No. 18 Auburn softball (27-3, 6-2 SEC) kept the pressure at the plate and silenced the high-powered No. 8 Kentucky (21-7, 2-3 SEC) offense, evening the series with a 6-3 victory at John Cropp Stadium on Saturday.
"When this team is comfortable on the field, they are fun to watch," said head coach Mickey Dean. "We're young. We're not always going to be pretty, but we are going to be beautiful for you at the end."
Going the distance in the circle, sophomore Maddie Penta (17-1) worked around seven hits and a pair of walks to hold the Wildcats to just three runs. The right-hander struck out four to bring her season total to 147. The mark surpassed Lexi Davis (2014) for the fifth most strikeouts recorded in a season by an Auburn sophomore.
"Surprisingly, despite how cold it was, all my pitches were working well, especially my rise ball," Penta said. "I just kept getting ahead of batters and trusting my defense behind me, that's all you can do."
At the plate, junior Carlee McCondichie turned in the lone multi-hit performance for the Tigers as she went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored at the bottom of the lineup. Junior Lindsey Garcia went yard for the second consecutive game with a three-run bomb in the first inning. Sophomore Nelia Peralta also turned in a multi-RBI performance driving in two.
Despite the freezing temperatures, Auburn 's bats came out on fire in the top of the first. Sophomore Makayla Packer led off the game with an infield single to second base. Perfecting the hit and run, freshman Jessie Blaine moved Packer to third with a single to shallow right.
Garcia made the most of the RBI opportunity with her second home run of the series as her no doubter to right field put Auburn up 3-0.
"We've been guessing too much at the plate," said Garcia. "Today, we were focused on hunting the ball. When a pitch we like that is in our zone comes up, we attack it."
The Tigers took advantage of a costly Kentucky error in the second inning as athrowing error on McCondichie's bunt allowed the speedy Tiger to reach second. McCondichie took third on a wild pitch before scoring on a sacrifice fly to deep center off the bat of Peralta.
After a quiet third inning at the plate, Auburn led off the fourth inning with a walk and a single up the middle from freshman Rose Roach. McCondichie continued the pressure as she slapped a single through the right side to drive in a run.
Following a sacrifice bunt to move two into scoring position, Peralta pushed the Tiger lead to 6-0 as she drove in her second run of the game with a ground ball to second.
Penta kept Kentucky scoreless through the first three innings before Renee Abernathy plated the first Wildcat runs of the game with a two-run home run to left field. The Wildcats threatened in the bottom of the fifth as a pair of singles and an Auburn error loaded the bases with no outs. Penta and the Tiger defense got out of the jam, allowing to just one run to score on a fielder's choice.
Kentucky brough the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but a huge double play turned the momentum back in favor of the Tigers. Penta forced a fly out to left to secure the complete-game performance.
UP NEXT
Auburn goes for the series win in the rubber game in Lexington. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT on the SEC Network+.
