AUBURN, Ala. – Battling the elements throughout the evening, Auburn softball (14-4) gutted out an 8-7 victory over in-state foe Troy (12-3) Thursday night at Jane B. Moore Field to open the Jane B. Moore Memorial Tournament.
The Tigers held a five-run lead early in the contest, but Troy was able to cut it to an 8-5 game before a rain delay halted action in the sixth inning. After an hour delay, the game resumed. Troy rallied in the seventh to make it a one-run contest, but the Tigers snuffed out the comeback bid to hang on for the victory.
“Troy loves this type of environment,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “They aren’t afraid. They are going to come in and do whatever they’ve got to do to win. Throughout the game, we went away from our processes and attention to detail. We allowed that game to be closer than it should have been. We gave them a lot. We got away with making a lot of mistakes. They outcompeted us over the last couple innings. We can’t let that happen when we come back out tomorrow.”
Senior McKaela Walker continued her recent tear with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate, slugging two home runs for four RBI. Junior Ma’Nia Womack went 1-for-3 and also slugged a home run. Redshirt sophomore Kyla Stroud picked up an RBI off her lone hit of the contest.
Coming into the game in the third inning, redshirt freshman Abby Herndon earned the victory in relief to improve to 3-1. Over three innings, she allowed three hits and a pair of walks while not allowing an earned run to score. She struck out three in her appearance.
Junior SJ Geurin earned her first save of the season as she tossed the final two frames following the rain delay. She worked around three hits and a pair of walks. She ended the night with one strikeout.
A leadoff walk for the Trojans turned into the first run of the game as Troy used three wild pitches in the inning to manufacture the run. The Tigers answered immediately with a pair of homers from Walker and Womack. Walker added another two-run blast in the second inning to build a 6-1 lead.
The Trojans took advantage of three walks in the third inning to load the bases with no outs. An Auburn error and a pair of singles plated four runs to make it a 6-5 game.
Auburn added a run in the fourth with help of a Trojan error and another run in the fifth off an RBI single from Stroud to build the lead back up to 8-5.
After waiting out the hour delay, the two squads traded a scoreless sixth before Troy’s dramatics in the seventh.
Two walks led off the frame, but Geurin battled back with a pair of quick outs. A single to right field from Presley Ivey scored two to cut it to a one-run game yet again. A Tiger error moved the tying run into scoring position, but a fly out to center secured the win for Auburn.
GAME NOTES
- Auburn has slugged multiple home runs in 10 games this season. The Tigers are 10-0 in those contests.
- Kylie Shaw drew a walk and recorded a single, extending her reached base streak to 18 consecutive games.
- McKaela Walker has slugged four home runs across her last six at bats. Her two home runs Thursday night brought her season total to seven and her career total to nine. Walker has totaled five multi-hit games this season and six for her career. She has added four multi-RBI games this season, bringing her career total to nine.
- Ma’Nia Womack slugged her fifth home run of the season, bringing her career total to seven. She has added five multi-RBI games this season, bringing her career total to seven.
- Abby Herndon recorded her third win of the season and her career. She tied her career high with three strikeouts in the contest.
- With her first save of the season, SJ Geurin brought her career total to five. She is one away from entering Auburn’s career top 10 list.
UP NEXT
Auburn continues the Jane B. Moore Memorial tournament on Friday with a pair of games. Friday’s slate begins at 4 p.m. CT with a rematch against the Trojans. The Tiger will then take on No. 11 Virginia Tech at 6:30 p.m. CT. Both contests are available on the SEC Network+. Fans can listen locally on WEGL 91.1 FM or stream the radio call on the Auburn Tigers website or mobile app.