AUBURN, Ala. – SJ Geurin silenced No. 13 South Carolina (35-13, 10-10 SEC) at the plate, limiting the Gamecocks to one hit, as Auburn softball (30-20, 6-17 SEC) claimed a 7-0 win Saturday at Jane B. Moore Field to clinch the series win.
“When someone in this conference gets into the backend of the game, and they still having a difficult time trying to figure you out – that was just unreal watching that today,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “The first couple innings, we were watching her from the side. You could see the ball floating. She had command. She was working ahead. They were on their heels. We needed that. It couldn’t have come at a better time. It was so cool to see her go inning by inning and be methodical.”
Geurin retired 15 straight Gamecocks to open the contest, taking a perfect game bid into the sixth. South Carolina broke that up with a walk and its lone hit of the contest, but Geurin answered with five straight outs to deliver South Carolina’s first shutout loss of the season.
She struck out three in the outing and relied on her defense to close out the game. The lefty improved to 19-9 in the circle. It was Auburn’s first one-hitter in SEC play since Maddie Penta held Mississippi State to a lone hit on May 7, 2023.
Auburn totaled nine hits at the plate and used a three-run first inning to jump out early on South Carolina starting pitcher Nealy Lamb.
Anna Wohlers went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI and her third triple of her senior season. AnnaLea Adams added a pair of hits to extend her hit streak to nine consecutive games. She added an RBI and her eighth double of her freshman campaign. KK McCrary rounded out the multi-hit performances with a 2-for-3 effort and added an RBI.
The Tigers loaded the bases in the top of the first with singles from Abbey Smith and Adams and a walk issued to Icess Tresvik. A passed ball brought in the first run of the game before McCrary made it a 2-0 Auburn lead with an RBI single to right field. The Tigers traded the second out of the inning for a third run.
That 3-0 lead held until the fifth inning when Adams doubled home Nelia Peralta to extend the lead to 4-0. The Tigers added three runs in the sixth as McCrary led off the frame with a single to left ahead of Wohlers, who tripled down the line in right field to score the run. Aubrie Lisenby picked up an RBI with a single through the right side.
Georgia Lessman, who entered the game as a pinch runner, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch to cap Auburn’s 7-0 win.
UP NEXT
Auburn will go for it first series sweep of a ranked SEC team since 2018 in Sunday’s series finale. First pitch on the SEC Network+ is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.