CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 25 Auburn softball (9-1) bounced back Sunday as the Tigers closed the St. Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational presented by Wilson with a 5-1 victory over South Florida (5-2) at the Eddie C. Moore Complex.
"I thought we did some really nice things over the weekend," said head coach Mickey Dean. "We also have some things we are going to show the team when we get back to Auburn, especially over the last two days. That's what this weekend is for. I thought the kids handled themselves well. We had a great bounce-back game."
Auburn had its leadoff runner on base in all seven innings and was able to manufacture its five runs off seven hits.
Sophomore Sydney Cox led Auburn at the plate with a 2-for-4 performance. Freshman Nelia Peralta slugged her second home run of the season while freshman Jessie Blain was 1-for-1 at the plate with an RBI and two walks. Sophomore Denver Bryant slugged an RBI double Sunday.
Sophomore Maddie Penta remained undefeated in the circle with her fourth victory. Penta tossed five innings for the Tigers, allowing just one earned run off three hits and a walk. Penta fanned five in the start.
After leaving a pair stranded in the first, Auburn pushed its first run across in the top of the second.
Junior Lindsey Garcia led off the inning with a single to left field and was followed by a walk issued to Blaine. A double steal moved the pair into scoring position. Carlee McCondichie plated the first run of the game with a quality at-bat as the junior drove in Garcia with a ground ball to short.
Freshman Aubrie Lisenby led off the fourth inning with a walk and was lifted for sophomore pinch runner Paige Geraghty. Geraghty moved herself into scoring position with a stolen base before Blaine singled to left field to drive Geraghty home. Bryant extended Auburn's lead to 3-0 with a double to right center on the first pitch of her at-bat.
Peralta led off the fifth with a solo home run to center. Auburn has now slugged 16 home runs through it first 10 games after hitting only 22 in 2021.
"My plan was not great in my first two at bats," Peralta said. "They brought in a new pitcher. She threw me two balls. I knew I needed to jump on the next pitch. That's what I did."
USF answered in the bottom of the fifth with a double to right field. Back-to-back infield grounders manufactured a run for the Bulls to cut Auburn's lead to 4-1.
Sophomore Makayla Packer led off the seventh with a hit by pitch and more herself into scoring position with a pair of stolen bases. Freshman Bri Ellis drove her home with a sacrifice fly to right.
Packer is now a perfect 22-for-22 in stolen base attempts as she now stands tied for 18th in school history for most steals.
Earning her first save of the season, sophomore Shelby Lowe tossed the final two innings. Lowe struck out five of the six batters she faced.
"Pretty much everything was working for me today," Lowe said. "My job is to go in and shut the offense down. That's what our defense needed in that moment."
UP NEXT
Auburn faces its first midweek test of the season on Wednesday at Jacksonville State. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT.