AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) – Auburn softball opened this weekend’s Jane B. Moore Memorial on Friday, taking on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the McNeese State Cowgirls. The Tigers would get off on the right foot, taking down Rutgers 5-0 and McNeese 10-6 to sweep the opening day.
Auburn’s first game of the day was against Rutgers with Haley Rainey starting in the circle. Rainey quickly retired the first three Scarlet Knight batters, sending the game to the bottom of the first still scoreless.
The Auburn bats began with a conservative yet successful approach, with both Nelia Peralta and Icess Tresvik getting on to begin the inning via walks. Anna Wohlers and KK McCrary quickly got out, but a throwing error by Rutgers allowed Peralta to round third and score, giving the Tigers their first lead.
The relentless Auburn running game refused to let up, as Icess Tresvik took third on a wild pitch Skyler Elkins then walked and subsequently stole second, putting two Tigers in scoring position with two outs. Amelia Lech then drew a walk of her own on a wild pitch that would score Icess Tresvik. After that, the inning mercifully came to a close for the Scarlet Knights.
From that point, the two pitching staffs would take over, holding both teams scoreless for the next three full innings, with Auburn holding Rutgers scoreless again to begin the fifth. The bottom of the fifth would see offense make a return to the game, however.
Just like the first inning, the bottom half of the fifth began with a Nelia Peralta walk. Icess Tresvik followed the walk with a single, putting Peralta in scoring position. Anna Wohlers would take care of both runners, however, blasting a three-run homer to right field to give Auburn a 5-0 lead that it would hold until the end of the game.
The winning pitcher for the Tigers would once again be SJ Geurin, her tenth of the young season. Geurin pitched four innings, struck out five, walked one, and allowed zero hits en route to the victory.
Shortly after, Auburn would take the field again for a matchup with the McNeese State Cowgirls. This time Chalea Clemmons would get the start for the Tigers, though the game got off to a rocky start for the sophomore southpaw.
Clemmons was able to get two quick outs to begin the game, but was unable to get past Jada Muñoz. The Cowgirls’ star infielder ripped a ball down the left field line, giving McNeese a 1-0 lead early. The Cowgirls would add another run in the second inning, this one courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Rylee Eyester that scored Brylie Fontenot and extended the Cowgirl lead to two.
Auburn would finally answer in the bottom third, and the answer was emphatic. Anna Wohlers got the party going with an RBI single that scored both Nelia Peralta and Abbey Smith, tying the game.
Aubrie Lisenby would drive the next run in, her RBI single scoring Wohlers. A wild pitch by Maddie Taylor would score KK McCrary, moving Amelia Lech to third and Lisenby to second. The scoring would be capped off by Rose Roach, whose RBI single scored Lech and gave Auburn a 5-2 lead as the game entered the fourth inning.
However, McNeese wasn’t done yet. Jada Muñoz would deliver again for the Cowgirls in the fifth, driving in Samantha Mundine with a double to left center field. The Cowgirl comeback kept chugging along in the sixth, too, as Kassidy Chance singled to left to bring home Reese Reyna and shrink the Auburn lead to just a single run.
That wouldn’t remain the case for long, though, as the Auburn lineup put up its second five-run inning of the evening in the bottom of the sixth. Nelia Peralta drove in Georgia Lessman on a sacrifice fly, and then Anna Wohlers batted in Abbey Smith via an RBI single.
KK McCrary followed that with a single of her own, scoring Icess Tresvik. Finally, Skylar Elkins ripped a two-RBI single that scored both Wohlers and McCrary, extending the Auburn lead to 10-4 with just three outs left for McNeese.
The Cowgirls tried their best to answer, plating two in the top of the seventh thanks to a Nyjah Fontenot triple that scored Brylie Fontenot and Rylie Bouvier. However, the comeback attempt would end there, as Haley Rainey retired Onna McElroy to end the game and give Auburn the sweep of the day.
The Tigers will be back in action Saturday against Louisiana at 3 p.m. and McNeese 5:30 p.m. for day two of the Jane B. Moore Memorial, looking to improve to 4-0 in the event.
