ATLANTA – No. 20 Auburn softball built a three-run lead in the first inning, but Georgia Tech completed the comeback to walk off a 5-4 win Wednesday night at Shirley Clements Mewborn Field.
“We came out and fought with our at bats and competed early on in the game,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “At the end of the day, we’re not in the position we were in if we put the game away. We had opportunities. There were a couple points where the energy was low and almost a ‘ride it out’ type of feel. That’s not going to cut it. We’re on the road against a good team. They wanted to beat us, and we didn’t want it as bad as they did. It’s the fourth game in a row where we are saying this. We got to figure out why that is.”
Nelia Peralta led the Tigers at the plate with a 1-for-2 effort. She slugged a first inning home run to extend her hit streak to nine consecutive games. KK McCrary found first-inning success with a double and added an RBI. Aubrie Lisenby knocked a pinch-hit single in the seventh.
The Tigers used a trio of pitchers in the midweek contest. Haley Rainey had a sharp relief appearance, allowing just two hits in her four innings of work. Chalea Clemmons was tagged with the loss, falling to 4-3 on the season.
Peralta got the Tigers on the board first with her fifth home run of the season. Her solo shot ricocheted off the scoreboard in left center. A walk to Anna Wohlers and the McCrary double put two in scoring position for AnnaLea Adams with one out. The freshman came through in the RBI opportunity, driving in a run on a fielder’s choice. McCrary scored the third run of the opening frame, advancing home during a Georgia Lessmann stolen base attempt.
The Yellow Jackets chipped into the Tiger lead in the bottom of the second. Gracyn Tucker led off the inning with a solo home run. A walk and passed ball put a runner in scoring position with two outs before an RBI single to right field from Paige Vukadinovich made it a one-run game.
Auburn used free passes in the top of third to get a pair of runners on base with back-to-back, one-out walks. McCrary turned on the jets to beat out a double play, reaching safely at first and earning an RBI on the groundball to shortstop to push Tiger lead to 4-2.
The fourth inning saw Georgia Tech cut it to a one-run game once again. A hit by pitch to lead off the frame ultimately turned into a run. Georgia Tech moved the runner to third on a groundout and a wild pitch before Vukadinovich singled up the middle for her second two-out RBI of the contest.
Rainey and Tech’s Sophia Voyles quieted the offenses, trading scoreless fifth and sixth innings.
A one-out walk put the tying run on base for the Yellow Jackets in the bottom of the seventh before a two-out home run walked off the game in favor of Georgia Tech.
UP NEXT
The Tigers return to Jane B. Moore Field this weekend to host No. 5 Texas A&M in the first home series of Southeastern Conference play. The series begins Friday at 5 p.m. CT on the SEC Network+.