AUBURN, ALABAMA. (EETV) - Auburn softball was bounced in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Gainsville Florida on Wednesday. The Tigers fell victim to No. 24 Missouri and pitcher Jordan Weber with a final score of 1-0.
Weber pitched a scoreless game for Missouri and only allowed four hits, all of which dropped in for singles.
Maddie Penta took the mound for Auburn and actually allowed fewer hits than Weber with just three. The only run of the game came after Penta walked Maddie Snider with one out in the fourth. Snider would advance to second on a pass ball and Jenna Laird would bring her home with a two-out double.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game with the two pitchers in the circle,” said head coach Mikey Dean. “They were able to come through with the quality at-bat. That was the difference in the game.”
Auburn had their own scoring chance in the second inning with the bases loaded and just one out. Missouri would come up with a clutch double play to get out of the inning and put a stop to Auburn’s best scoring chance of the game.
Penta pitched a complete game for the Tigers and matched her season-high in strikeouts against an SEC opponent with 11.
Even in the loss, Penta put her name in the record books, the sophomore’s 258 strikeouts this season is the most of any sophomore in program history. The Chesapeake City native is now in sixth for both single-season strikeouts and career strikeouts for the Tigers.
Auburn anxiously awaits for Selection Sunday to see what they will be up against if they want to make it to Oklahoma City.
