AUBURN, Ala. –Powered by 19 extra-base hits, including seven home runs, Auburn softball kept its undefeated fall record intact with a sweep of Coastal Alabama and Enterprise State Sunday at Jane B. Moore Field.
Scoring at least 10 runs in a pair of innings, Auburn took down Coastal Alabama 25-3 to open Sunday's slate. In the finale versus Enterprise State, the Tigers held on to a two-run lead until busting the game wide open in the fifth inning, ultimately cruising to a 13-0 win.
It was a total team effort for Auburn on offense as all seven of its home runs came from a different Tiger. Auburn totaled 38 hits, including 12 doubles, to close the doubleheader with a .516 batting average and a 1.048 slugging percentage.
Junior Rose Roach led the team with a 4-for-5 effort, adding a double, four runs scored and an RBI. Freshman Chalea Clemmons had a strong performance at the plate with three hits, including two doubles, and five RBI. All three of senior Nelia Peralta's hits were doubles and she joined Clemmons with five RBI. Junior Amelia Lech slugged her third home run of the fall season with a grand slam in the first inning versus Coastal Alabama.
Auburn's pitching staff turned in another dominating performance, allowing just one earned run over 12 innings. Sophomore Emmah Rolfe continued her scoreless inning streak, allowing just two hits and a pair of walks. Rolfe struck out eight batters over four innings to lead the staff.
Junior Annabelle Widra allowed one hit over three innings while striking out six. At the plate, she added two hits, including a home run. The freshman duo of Clemmons and Malayna Tamborra split the victories for the Tigers. The pair combined for eight strikeouts over five innings. Tamborra also slugged her first home run of the fall.
The offense set the tone in the opening inning versus Coastal Alabama, scoring 11 runs with the help of five extra-base hits. The first-inning onslaught was highlighted by a two-run homer from junior Makayla Packer, RBI doubles from the trio of Anna Wohlers, Roach and Peralta and a grand slam off the bat of Lech.
Auburn continued the offense in the second frame. The Tigers loaded the bases with three straight singles. A Coastal Alabama error plated a pair of runs before Peralta drove in a third with a sacrifice fly to left. Senior KK McCrary pushed the score to 15-0 with an RBI double to left center.
The fourth inning featured eight hits, including six for extra bases, as the Tigers plated 10 runs. Auburn used doubles from Packer, Clemmons and sophomore Millie Roberts and home runs from Riley McNemar, Skylar Elkins and Tamborra to extend the lead to 25-1.
Coastal Alabama's first run of the game came in the third inning as the Coyotes took advantage of a Tiger miscue on a sacrifice bunt to manufacture an unearned run. The Coyotes would not score again until the fifth inning when the teams switched to situational play, starting the frame with runners on first and second base.
Rolfe earned the start in game one, tossing two scoreless frames. Keeping the Coyotes hitless, she issued one walk and struck out three. Clemmons tossed two innings of relief, earning her first win of the fall. She was charged with one unearned run but did not give up a hit. The lefty struck out four. Tamborra tossed the final inning for the Tigers and recorded a strike out.
Auburn pounced early in Sunday's finale as Clemmons put the Tigers up 2-0 with a base-clearing double in the first inning.
That score held until the bottom of the fifth. Following an Abbey Smith bunt single and stolen base, McCrary picked up her second RBI of the afternoon with a single to left center. Peralta delivered the big hit of the inning as she cleared the bases with a double to score three runs and push the lead to 6-0.
Junior Aubrie Lisenby started the scoring in the sixth with an RBI double. Clemmons added a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 8-0 before Auburn used a two-out rally to score five additional runs. Widra sparked the rally with a three-run blast to right field before Wohlers followed suit later with a two-run homer of her own.
Widra tossed three innings of one-hit softball, striking out six of the 10 batters she faced. Tamborra tossed a pair of innings, giving up one hit and striking out three. Rolfe pitched the final two frames, picking up five strikeouts.
The Tigers conclude their fall season on Sunday, Oct. 22 with a doubleheader slate versus Gulf Coast State and Wallace State. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
