Gritty Tigers muscle out a pair of comeback wins at Tiger Invite

Gritty Tigers muscle out a pair of comeback wins at Tiger InviteGritty Tigers muscle out a pair of comeback wins at Tiger Invite
  • Game 1
  • Game 2
Box Score

AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn softball displayed the grittiness that co-head coaches Chris and Kate Malveaux preach as the Tigers (4-0) remained undefeated with comeback wins over Appalachian State (1-2) and Southern Illinois (0-3) Saturday at Jane B. Moore Field.

“Between games, I told the team that it doesn’t matter who you are facing,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “App State came out and hit us in the mouth. They got us on our heels, but we were able to regroup. Our goal is to be champions and responding like we did is what champions are made of.” 

Auburn faced an 8-2 deficit versus the Mountaineers before storming back to tie the game off a KK McCrary single in the seventh to force extras. App State took a 9-8 lead in the ninth, but it was Nelia Peralta’s two run blast that walked off the win for the Tigers.

The Tigers jumped out early against the Salukis, but a seven-run fifth inning saw Auburn needing late-inning heroics once more. Auburn got just that in the sixth inning as Peralta, Icess Tresvik and Anna Wohlers delivered back-to-back-to-back home runs to lift Auburn to a 9-7 win. 

Peralta was the star on Saturday as she closed the doubleheader 7-for-10 with three home runs, one double, five runs scored and seven RBI. Tresvik totaled a pair of home runs and added five RBI over Auburn’s two games. Wohlers added three hits, including her solo home run, and a pair of RBI. She recorded the 100th RBI and the 150th hit of her collegiate career on Saturday. 

Auburn’s pitching staff combined for 13 strikeouts. SJ Geurin (2-0) and Haley Rainey (1-0) earned the victories in the circle.

AUBURN 10, APP STATE 9

A solo home run in the first inning for the Mountaineers set the tone for what would become a slugfest. Auburn answered with a Peralta double and Tresvik walk to set the table. Kylie Brockman delivered with the two-out, basing-clearing double to put Auburn in front 2-1. 

App State used three hits and was aided by an Auburn error to plate three runs in the third inning before a two-run home run in the fourth pushed the Mountaineer lead to 8-2.

Auburn began its comeback in the home half of the fourth as a Peralta two-run homer and the speed of Tresvik, who manufactured a run by stealing home, cut the score to 8-5. Auburn added its sixth run in off an Amelia Lech sacrifice fly.

The seventh-inning heroics began with a leadoff walk from Abbey Smith. Tresvik drove her in with a single to right field before McCrary tied the game with an RBI single to center.

After a scoreless eighth, Appalachian State used a pair of singles in the ninth to take a one-run advantage. A Smith walk to lead off the home half again sparked the Tiger rally. Peralta’s second homer of the game provided the walk-off lift for the Tigers. 

Four Tiger pitchers saw action in the contest. Geurin was the workhorse in relief to keep Auburn in the game. She tossed six innings and totaled six strikeouts. Rainey recorded the final two outs in relief to earn her first win as a Tiger.

AUBURN 9, SIU 7

Auburn jumped out early in its second contest versus the Salukis with a Wohlers RBI double in the opening frame. Tresvik pushed the lead to 4-0 with a three-run blast in the third. Tiger errors proved costly in the fifth inning as SIU plated seven runs aided by a grand slam to take a 7-4 lead. 

It was the sixth inning that Auburn did its damage as the Tigers went back-to-back-to-back with home runs from Peralta, Tresvik and Wohlers to take a 9-7 lead. 

Rainey and Geurin handled the duties in the circle with Geurin earning the win in relief. The pair combined for six strikeouts.

UP NEXT

Auburn concludes the Tiger Invite on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. CT against North Carolina. Sunday’s contest will air on the SEC Network+.