AUBURN, Ala. – In the finale regular season game at Jane B. Moore Field, No. 16 Auburn softball's (39-11, 11-10 SEC) comeback bid fell short as No. 15 Georgia (39-13, 11-10 SEC) held on for a 6-3 win in Sunday's series finale to fight off Auburn's series sweep bid.
"It was encouraging to see the relief performance from Shelby Lowe," said head coach Mickey Dean. "The efforts from Sam Yarbrough and Aspyn Godwin in the seventh inning on their senior day brought tears to my eyes. I was so proud of them. We continued to battle throughout the entire game. We just weren't patient at the plate, which was the difference in today's game."
The Bulldogs homered twice in the first inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. A pair of RBI singles for Georgia extended the Bulldogs lead to 5-0 and forced the Tigers to lift starting pitcher, sophomore Maddie Penta (23-6) from the game.
In one of her most dominating appearances of the season, sophomore Shelby Lowe went 4.2 innings in relief. The left-hander kept Georgia off the board for three straight innings before giving up a solo home run in the sixth. Lowe struck out seven to keep the Tigers in the contest.
After being no-hit through the first two innings, Auburn put a pair of runners in scoring position with help of a double to left center from junior Lindsey Garcia. Freshman Nelia Peralta traded an out for a run as her ground ball to second cut the lead to 5-1.
Sophomore Kelsey Schmidt made it a 5-2 ballgame in the fifth as she slugged a solo home run to left field.
On senior day, the seventh inning featured two big moments from Auburn senior class. Samantha Yarbrough entered the game in relief in the top of the seven, retiring the side in order. Aspyn Godwin led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to left field.
Georgia silenced the seventh-inning rally, as starting pitcher Madison Kerpics struck out the side.
UP NEXT
Auburn concludes the regular season on Rocky Top as the Tigers trek to Tennessee for a three-game series. The series opens on Friday at 5 p.m. CT o the SEC Network.
