Pitching dominates in Auburn’s 5-0 victory over Alabama St.
AUBURN, Ala. (BVM) — The Tigers softball team tallied its 22nd win of the season on Tuesday, improving to 23-12. They demonstrated dominant pitching all night long, shutting out an Alabama State squad searching for its 10th win of the season. They would fall to 9-23.
In her 15th start, Maddie Penta dealt six innings of shutout, two-hit ball. She struck out 11 batters and limited hard contact all night. Both of the hits she allowed were soft-contact pop ups that managed to find grass.
Putting aside her recent inconsistencies, Penta notes that this game, “was a good opportunity to go out, work on some things and helped my confidence.”
Penta credits Auburn’s hitting as well in support of her strong start. Head coach Mickey Dean describes Auburn’s offense as, “timely hitting” adding, “it’s all about when you have the hits.”
The first hit for either squad came from an Abby Tissier single in the bottom of the third inning. She would be driven in by a Maria Engelkes double off the right center field wall to open scoring for the Tigers.
Auburn’s efficient run scoring and effective base running was capped on a hectic interference call allowing a free run for the Tigers in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Tigers feel as though they are in a good place as they look to pick back up in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play.
Dean points to his team’s fundamentals and grounded approach as he and his team gear up for more SEC competition.
“You have to be able to hold on to what you’re taught,” he says, “You have to be able to take that and use it in a game. That’s called learning.”
Catcher Abby Tissier spoke on the current form of the Tigers.
“I think we’re in a really good spot. I know that we were challenged early in the season, and I would much rather see us get challenged early in the season rather than late, so I think that our best days are ahead of us.” Tissier said.
Auburn gears up for one more out-of-conference game at Georgia State on Wednesday before resuming SEC play with a three-game series against the Kentucky Wildcats.
