AUBURN, ALABAMA (EETV)- No. 21 Auburn Softball Flew past the ULM Warhawks, 3-0, on Friday. With the win, the Tigers move to 11-1 on the season. The lone loss this season for Auburn came against No. 3 UCLA last weekend.
This is the second consecutive shutout for the Tigers and they have started 6-0 at home this season.
The Auburn Tigers took a first inning lead and never looked back. The first inning score was from a sacrifice fly by Nelia Peralta which allowed Makayla Packer to score. The final time either team would score would occur in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Sydney Cox dropped a bunt with two runners on. This bunt led to a Warhawk error, causing both runners to score and leaving Cox on second base. From then on out it was a pitching duel, as Shelby Lowe cruised with 13 strikeouts and a shutout to her name.
Lowe's 13 strikeouts were a career-high. The sophomore finished her day with a complete game shutout only giving up two hits and walking one batter. The win moves Lowe's record this season to 6-1 and her ERA slides to 0.84.
“Lowe did a nice job,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “It was a two-hitter, so we’ll take that. She got herself into a little trouble late, but she was able to battle back with strikeouts. We didn’t have the big key hits when we had runners on base. We came into this weekend knowing that we needed to work on our short game. Today, it came through.”
Offensively, the Tigers did it through the short game. Using speed and quickness to move runners instead of hitting for power like they have for most of the season.
Junior Carlee McCondichie went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and run scored. Junior Lindsey Garcia extended her hit streak to six games this season.
Auburn will return to action on Saturday with a double-header against the Delaware State Hornets at 2:30 p.m. CST and Bradley at 5 p.m. CST. All the action will take place in Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn and will be aired on SEC Network+.
