MONTGOMERY, Ala.– In a scheduled 10 inning contest, Auburn softball's offense muscled 17 hits en route to an 18-0 victory over Alabama State Sunday at Barbara Williams Softball Field.
The Tigers slugged seven doubles and scored in six of the 10 innings.
Sophomores Jessie Blaine and Abbey Smith and senior Lindsey Garcia all totaled two RBI in Sunday's contest. Blaine went 2-for-3 with a double with a run score. Smith finish 1-for-2 with a walk, double and three runs scored. Garcia also picked up a pair of hits with a double and scored a pair of runs.
In the circle, the pitching trio of junior Maddie Penta, sophomore Annabelle Widra and freshman Emmah Rolfe split the work. As a staff, Auburn struck out 20 of the 35 batters faced and allowed a lone hit, a triple in the eighth inning.
Penta earned the start and struck out nine in four innings. She issued a walk and earned the victory to improve to 2-0 over the fall season. Widra tossed three innings, striking out six of the nine batters she faced. Rolfe tossed the fall three innings, allowing just one run, one hit while striking out five.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a scoreless first inning, the Tigers loaded the bases with help of two free passes from the pitching circle. Junior Sydney Cox brought in the first run of the game with the third free pass of the inning, a hit by pitch. Sophomore Abbey Smith broke open the scoring as she slapped a double to right field to pick up a pair of RBI.
Senior Carlee McCondichie drove in a run with a ground ball to second before a wild pitch brought home Smith. Following a walk, sophomore Bri Ellis popped up a ball that landed untouched between third base and home plate, allowing the sixth run of the inning to score and Ellis to reach safely with a double.
Errors plagued the Lady Hornets in the top of the fourth as three Alabama State miscues helped plate three of Auburn's five runs of the inning. Blaine had the big hit in the fourth as her single through the left side drove in a pair of runs.
A pair of walks and ground ball to third put two runners in scoring position with one out in the fifth for Aspyn Godwin, who pushed the lead to 12-0 with a sacrifice fly to deep right. Auburn pushed across another run in the inning with help of a late and overthrown ball to first base on a single from junior KK McCrary.
The Tigers scratched across one run in the sixth. With sophomore Kenadie Cooper on base after slugging a double to right center, Widra came up with a two-out RBI single to right field. Auburn took advantage of a leadoff walk in the seventh, manufacturing a run with a sacrifice fly from freshman Millie Roberts.
Auburn didn't waste its last trip to the plate, stringing together a two-out rally to plate three runs. Widra and Blaine sparked the 10th-inning rally with back-to-back singles. Garcia delivered a double to the warning track in center to clear the bases. McCrary drove in the final run with single to left field to cap the Tigers 18-0 victory.
UP NEXT
In the lone out-of-state trip of the fall season, Auburn heads to Panama City, Florida, on Sunday, Oct. 16 for a doubleheader slate. The Tigers will face Pearl River Community College at 10 a.m. CT before taking on Gulf Coast State at 12:30 p.m. CT.
