AUBURN, Ala. – It was another dominating day in the pitching circle by the pitching staff highlighted by junior Maddie Penta's third no-hitter as No. 20 Auburn softball (14-1) shut out North Dakota State (5-7) and Merrimack (1-4) to sweep Saturday's doubleheader at Jane B. Moore Field.
A hit by pitch in the third inning was all Penta allowed against the Bison. As she struck out seven en route to her third individual no-hitter of her collegiate career. Penta combined for a fourth no-hitter with former Tiger KK Dismukes last season. Penta now stands 8-0 in the circle.
"I'm my biggest critic," Penta said. "The last few innings weren't great. I was missing my spots. I was getting behind on batters. We made it work. You spin the ball enough. You throw the ball hard enough., you can make it work."
Lindsey Garcia walked off the Tigers win over NDSU with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to pick up a 9-0 victory. The home run was the third of the season for Garcia and her second grand slam of her senior campaign.
"I'm just seeing it and driving it," Garcia said. "I'm doing anything I can for my time. We're trying not to let moments get too big. We know how to play. We know how to hit, so just hit something hard and everything will fall into place."
With fresh faces seeing action against Merrimack, Auburn knocked off the Warriors 7-0 in Saturday's finale.
Auburn holds a 10-0 record on the Plains after sweeping its competition on the second day of the Plainsman Invite. Nine of Auburn's 14 wins have now come via run rules while the Tiger pitching staff has recorded nine shutouts.
"I thought Maddie did a really good job of managing their batters in the first game," said head coach Mickey Dean. "It was a fast game, which kept our players engaged. They threw different pitchers at us, but we adjusted, had two big innings, and put the game away. The second, we were a little slow to get going. We scored in all but two innings, which is good. I just want to be a little cleaner on defense."
Carlee McCondichie had the hot bat for the Tigers on Saturday as she went 5-for-7 at the plate and tied Garcia with a team-leading five RBI. Bri Ellis knocked four hits on Saturday, including the 25th home run of her Auburn career.
Locked in a pitchers' duel through the first three innings against the Bison, Auburn broke through in the fourth with an RBI double to right from Garica. After swiping her team-leading sixth stolen base of the season, Garcia scored on an infield but single perfectly executed by Icess Tresvik.
Aggressive base running continued in the inning as Tresvik stole a pair of bases before scoring on a Makayla Packer single through the left side. Nelia Peralta drew a walk to join Packer on base before McCondichie singled to deep short to drive in Packer and extend the lead to 4-0.
That score held until the sixth inning as McCondichie turned in a multi-RBI performance with a one-out single to center to score Packer. The Tigers loaded the bases for Garcia with an error and walk before Garcia delivered the game-ending swing.
The Tigers returned to first inning scoring against the Warriors in Saturday's nightcap as McCondichie drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double up the middle.
Auburn worked two-out magic in the second to plate a pair of runs. Knocking her first hit of the season, Cox doubled ahead of a Rose Roach infield single. McCondichie struck yet again, clearing the base with a single up the middle to put Auburn up 3-0. Cox added an RBI single in the fourth, turning in a perfect 2-for-2 night at the plate against Merrimack.
Ellis sparked Auburn's three-run fifth inning with a solo home run. The Tigers would plate two more runs in the fifth with a bases-loaded walk and fielder's choice to push the score to 7-0.
Shelby Lowe earned the start, giving up a pair of hits and striking out three in her two innings of work. Annabelle Widra earned the win in relief, improving to 5-0 in the circle. Widra scattered three hits and struck out five over three innings.
In her best outing to date, freshman Emmah Rolfe tossed two hitless frames to end the game. Rolfe gave up one walk and struck out a season-high five.
Auburn ends its homestand on Sunday with a rematch against North Dakota State scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
