AUBURN, ALABAMA (EETV) - After knocking off Alabama State this week, the Auburn Tigers welcomed the No. 7 Florida Gators to Jane B. Moore Field. The Tigers used two home runs to gain the lead and never let it go knocking off the Gators 3-1 on a cool Friday night.
It was the first time these SEC foes had played each other since days before the pandemic stopped the world. The task at hand was simple. After dropping their last SEC series in Lexington to Kentucky, Auburn had to take on a historically great Florida program. They also had the task of facing one of Florida's best pitchers in recent history in Elizabeth Hightower. The Tigers didn't flinch, they took the challenge in stride.
"I just aged 10 years,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “That was two great pitchers going at it right there, and even three when we brought Shelby (Lowe) into the game. We got two pitches that we were able to send out of the park, and that was the difference in the game. I love these kids. They work hard, and I appreciate all the work they put in. It's one game, but they worked hard this week and listened to the talks we'd had. It paid off."
Auburn had Maddie Penta on the mound to counter the Florida ace. The first 3 innings were all about defense. Including two fantastic defensive plays by Lindsey Garcia at the top of the second. Besides those plays, it was a pitchers duel. At the bottom of the third with zero outs, Auburn loaded the bases. Hightower was able to guide the Gators out of the inning without allowing a run.
That changed in the bottom of the fourth when Aspyn Godwin stepped up to the plate. As she crushed a ball that went past the scoreboard giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The home run party was delayed, but resumed in the bottom of the 5th when Nelia Peralta sent a ball to over the fence for a solo home run to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
After a sac fly gave the Gators a run at the top of 6th inning, it was 3-1 going into the top of the 7th. With Penta rolling on the mound she was able to get the first out. However two runners were able to get on base, Mickey Dean decided to pull Penta and bring Shelby Lowe to get the save.
After a hard ball was hit to right field, the bases were loaded. After plenty of pitches the count was 3-2 with only one out. The Florida fans who had been quiet for most of the game were making noise and it seemed like Florida was going to escape with a win. However Lowe had other plans and struck out the batter to a roar of Tiger fans. The next batter was met with the same fate as she struck out on three pitches.
This was Maddie Penta's 18th win this season and Lowe was credited with the save, her fifth of the season. This was the first time Auburn had defeated Florida in nearly three years. The Tigers record improves to 29-4 on the season, and will be taking on the Gators once again tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Jane B. Moore Field.
