Golden Eagle

Game 1 Summary: Auburn had 2 runs on 5 hits with 1 error. They left 5 runners on base. Maddie Penta pitched the first 7 innings and pitched to the first 2 batters in the bottom of the 8th, walking both of them. At that point she had thrown 133 pitches, seemed to be losing it/getting frustrated, and it appeared to me that she took herself out of the game. She struck out 13, walked 3, and gave up 2 runs. Lowe came in in relief. She threw 8 pitches, walked the first batter she faced and then gave up a hit that scored the winning run. Lowe did not look comfortable. First pitch was wild, allowing the base runners to advance. Three Auburn batters were responsible for Auburn's 5 hits - Garcia had 2, Tresvik had 2, and Lisenby had 1. Overall I thought Auburn was more disciplined at the plate than in previous games. Saw a lot of pitches, only struck out 4 times and walked twice - but couldn't string together hits (0-11 with runners on base, 0-5 with RISP) and hit 12 fly outs 7 ground outs. Florida had 3 runs on 4 hits with 1 error. They left 4 runners on base. They made adjustments the second time through the lineup and made Penta work for outs. Four Florida batters had hits - Wallace, Falby, Walsh, and Kistler. Hightower pitched the first 7 innings. She threw 104 pitches, struck out 3, walked 2, and gave up 2 runs. Trlicek pitched the 8th inning. She threw 17 pitches and struck out 1. If Penta couldn't beat them, not feeling overly optimistic about our chances tomorrow...

Top of 8th: New Pitcher in for Florida - Trlicek Peralta flied out to right field. Lisenby grounded out to shortstop. Garcia - after a long at bat - singled into right field. Ellis struck out on 3 pitches. Bottom of the 8th: Wallace walked. Falby at bat. Wallace stole 2nd. After a very long at bat, Falby walked. Echols at bat. After 1st pitch (a ball) - and 133 pitches overall - Shelby Lowe comes in in relief. First pitch is wild and runners advance to 2nd and 3rd. Second pitch was wild but Godwin caught it. Echols deliberately walked. Bases loaded. Walsh takes a couple balls way out of the zone and then walks it off with a hit to center field. Final: Auburn 2 - Florida 3

Top of 7th: Godwin flied out to left. KK McCrary in to pinch hit for Packer. Flied out to left field. Tresvik HOME RUN to center left field!!! McCondichie flied out to shallow center field. Bottom of 7th: Roe flied out to McCondichie at 2nd base. Kistler base hit up the middle. Longley at bat. Kistler stole 2nd, throw from Godwin not in time. Longley struck out. Wilkie in to pinch hit for Goelz. Maddie strikes her out! After 7: Auburn 2 - Florida 2

Top of 6th: Lisenby struck out looking. Garcia blooper to shallow center field for a base hit. Ellis flied out to 2nd base. Bryant flied out - 1st baseman caught it near the pitcher's circle. Bottom of 6th: Falby with a perfectly-placed bunt for a base hit. Echols flied out to Packer in center field. Walsh struck out. Egan up to bat. Falby stole 2nd, Godwin's throw not in time. Egan struck out. After 6: Auburn 1 - Florida 2

Top of 5th: Godwin almost homered to left field but it went just foul. Eventually walked. Abbie Smith in to run for Godwin. Packer bunted. Out at first. Smith on 2nd. Tresvik hit a fly ball between center field and right field. Kistler and Egan collided and neither caught the ball. Smith scored. Tresvik on 3rd. Blaine in to pitch hit. Grounded out to shortstop. Tresvik remained at 3rd. Peralta flied out to center field. Bottom of 5th: Longley struck out. Goelz flied out to Bryant at 3rd. Wallace struck out. After 5: Auburn 1 - Florida 2

Top of 4th: Lisenby with a base hit up the middle. Cooper came in to run for Lisenby. Garcia flied out to shallow left field. Ellis up to bat. Cooper stole second on a passed ball. Ellis flied out to shortstop. Bryant flied out to shallow left field. Sigh. Bottom of 4th: Walsh flied out to Tresvik in right field. Egan struck out looking. Roe walked after a long at bat. Kistler grounded out to McCondichie at second. Florida making Penta work... After 4: Auburn 0 - Florida 2

Top of 3rd: Tresvik with a base hit (ground ball into left field)! McCondichie pops up to shortstop. Tresvik can't get back to first in time and is thrown out by shortstop. Base running error by Tresvik. Peralta grounds out to 3rd base. Bottom of 3rd: Kistler lined out to McCondichie. Longley hit by pitch takes first. Goelz fouled out to Bryant. Wallace tripled to 3rd base and Longley scores. Garcia tripped and fell running after the ball - would likely have caught it if she hadn't. Falby hit a ground ball that Peralta couldn't field. Wallace scored and Falby on first. Falby stole 2nd. Echols flied out. Florida hitting Penta second time through the lineup. After 3: Auburn 0 - Florida 2

Top of 2nd: Bryant grounded out. Close call and Auburn challenged but the call on the field was confirmed. Godwin fouled out. Packer struck out. Have to say Auburn looks better at the plate - making Hightower throw a lot of pitches. Bottom of 2nd: Walsh flied out - amazing catch by Garcia in left field. Egan struck out. Roe struck out. After 2: Auburn 0 - Florida 0

Top of 1st (Hightower pitching for Florida): Why would Auburn's leadoff batter - Peralta - BUNT as slow as she is??? One up one down. Lisenby struck out - Two up two down. Garcia walked. Ellis grounded out. Bottom of 1st (Penta pitching for Auburn): Wallace struck out. Falby struck out. Echols struck out. Mow 'em down, Maddie!!! After 1: Auburn 0 - Florida 0

#19 Auburn is scheduled to play a 3-game series vs #15 Florida in Gainesville this weekend. GAME 1: Thursday, April 6, at 5:00 pm. Will be broadcast on SEC Network. GAME 2: Friday, April 7 at 5:00 pm. Will be streamed on SEC+. GAME 3: Saturday, April 8 at noon. Will be streamed on SEC+

Thanks! I'll update my previous post.

link?

Thank you for posting this info. I was curious to see how Auburn stacked up against the conference in both overall stats and conference-only stats. As you pointed out the stats show that Auburn is in the middle overall, and also in the middle in conference play. I did read Brooke's bio on the staff roster and understand he has a role in developing AU batters, although I'm not clear on the division of responsibility other than Lenti is the one giving batters direction at the plate. Thoughts about whether Auburn is underperforming or are they about where we should expect them to be? 2023 Overall (all games through Apr 3, 2023) SEC (conference games only through Apr 3, 2023) 1. Florida - BA .338, HRs 41 1. Georgia - BA .323, HRs 24 2. Georgia - BA .332, HRs 61 2. Kentucky - BA .315, HRs 4 3. LSU - BA .323, HRs 29 3. Arkansas - BA .262, HRs 12 4. Kentucky - BA .317, HRs 24 4. Florida - BA .253, HRs 6 5. Tennessee - BA .310, HRs 39 5. LSU - BA .250, HRs 1 6. South Carolina - BA .304, HRs 30 6. aTm - BA .247 HRs 10 7. Auburn - BA .299, HRs 45 7. Auburn - BA .239, HRs 9 8. Alabama - BA .291, HRs 38 8. Alabama - BA .239, HRs 9 9. aTm - BA .284, HRs 31 9. South Carolina - BA .228, HRs 3 10. Arkansas - BA .282, HRs 42 10. Tennessee - BA .215, HRs 14 11. Missouri - BA .276, HRs 31 11. Missouri - BA .206, HRs 6 12. Ole Miss - BA .273, HRs 22 12. Miss State - BA .182, HRs 7 13. Miss State - BA .273, HRs 32 13. Ole Miss - BA .155, HRs 3

I agree! Auburn's offensive woes are frustrating to me (and, I would guess to others, but I can only speak for myself). I understand that some pitchers are really good (e.g., Penta) and very challenging for batters. But elite teams - like Oklahoma - hit even great pitchers the second time through the lineup. Auburn hasn't demonstrated the ability to learn about the pitcher the first time up, make adjustments, and hit the ball the second (or 3rd or 4th) time up. I realize that Dean is the head coach and has ultimate responsibility for the team's development and their performance on the field. However, Lenti is the hitting coach (according to the staff roster) and the 3rd base coach during games. He is the one giving batters direction at the plate. If Dean disagrees with Lenti's management of the hitters, he should address it with Lenti to get it corrected and, if that fails, he needs to fire Lenti and hire someone better. If Dean thinks Lenti is doing a fine job, then maybe they both need to go. IMHO, something needs to change.

The loss of Gonzalez has been hugely impactive, no doubt. But Auburn lost a lot of very good pitchers after last season (Blake Burkhalter, Mason Barnett, Trace Bright, Carson Skipper, and Hayden Mullins were all selected in the 2022 MLB draft). The bullpen this year doesn't compare (yet, any way).

GAME 3 Recap: Auburn 1 - Ole Miss 0 Auburn had 1 run on 1 hit with 0 errors and 3 batters left on base. Maddie Penta pitched all 7 innings, threw 90 pitches, walked 2 batters, struck out 8 and gave up 0 runs. Ole Miss had 0 runs on 2 hits with 2 errors and 2 batters left on base. Vestal pitched 3.1 innings, threw 54 pitches, walked 4 batters, struck out 3 and gave up Auburn's unearned run. Riley (who shut out Auburn on Saturday) relieved Vestal and pitched 2.2 innings, threw 24 pitches, walked 1, and struck out 0. Auburn's run came on what was more or less a trick play. In the bottom of the 3rd, with two outs, Peralta walked. Abbie Smith subbed in to run for Peralta. She stole second and when the attempted throwdown went into the outfield, she stole 3rd. Aubrie Lisenby then walked. When she got to 1st base, she started running towards second and was in a rundown between 1st and 2nd while Smith stole home. Lisenby was then thrown out at 1st. Sad that this is the only way Auburn could score a run, but it won them the ball game. Need to give a shout out to Brie Ellis for her defensive play. Impressive to see her fielding bunts and line drives at first and catching almost every put out thrown to her at first. Wish she could get her bat back on track but her defense is stellar. I hope Maddie Penta has a huge NIL deal (do any AU softball players have NIL deals?) because she has carried this team on her back all season. As @AUSRB noted above, Lowe must not have been available this weekend. If I heard correctly on today's broadcast, Ole Miss has six pitchers - and both Riley and Vestal were able to shut Auburn down yesterday and today. If Lowe isn't going to be in the rotation this year, we need Rolfe and Widra ready to go - and plenty of prayers that Penta stays healthy and available.

Thanks - I noticed Widra wasn't playing but hadn't thought about it being due to Lowe's status. I wondered what was going on with Lowe when Rolfe was brought in to relieve Widra. I obviously don't know what's going on with her but I hope she isn't having problems with her pitching arm again. If she is, Rolfe may get significant playing time this year. She did pretty well today; if she can control her nerves I think she'll perform well.

GAME 2 Recap: Auburn 1 - Ole Miss 4 Auburn had 1 run on 6 hits with 0 errors and 7 batters left on base. Annabelle Widra pitched the first 4.2 innings, threw 73 pitches, walked 1 batter, struck out 4 and gave up all 4 of Ole Miss's earned runs. Emma Rolfe pitched the remaining 2.1 innings, threw 28 pitches, walked 1 batter and struck out 1. Ole Miss had 4 runs on 8 hits with 1 error and 5 batters left on base. Catelyn Riley pitched all 7 innings and only threw 79 pitches. She walked 2 batters and struck out 4. Auburn's only run was unearned. Another Auburn offensive performance that made me want to turn the channel. In the bottom of the first, they had the bases loaded and one out. Couldn't drive in even one run. Swung aggressively at pitches early in the count (see above - Riley only had to throw 79 pitches over 7 innings). Riley took advantage of Auburn's consistent behavior at the plate. She threw low in the zone and got Auburn to ground out over and over and over again. Another thing I've noticed is that they don't run full speed to first when they think it's inevitable that they will be thrown out...things can happen and they should run like the wind until the ball is actually in the first baseman's glove at the base. Seems defeatest, like their lack of discipline at the plate, especially when they get behind. Frustrating that they didn't play well in the one game of the series that was broadcast on the SEC network. One controversial play wasn't (but should have been) called against Auburn. Bryant was on first after a base hit. The next batter hit a ground ball to the short stop who threw to second and got Bryant out. Bryant didn't slide into second and obstructed the second baseman so she couldn't complete a double play with a throw to first. Ole Miss coach complained to officials and replay showed that she had a case but they kept playing. Didn't matter...game was soon over anyway. Will we see Shelby Lowe pitch tomorrow? Announcers seemed to think it would be Penta again...

GAME 1 Recap: Auburn 8 - Ole Miss 2 Auburn had 8 runs on 8 hits with 0 errors and 6 batters left on base. They had 4 HRs (Godwyn, Ellis, Lisenby, and Bryant). Maddie Penta pitched all 7 innings, threw 102 pitches, walked 2 batters and struck out 9. Ole Miss had 2 runs on 2 hits with 0 errors and 3 batters left on base. They had 1 HR. Ole Miss used 3 pitchers across 6 innings. Together they threw 115 pitches, walked 3 batters and struck out 5. The umpire was hit in the face mask by an Ole Miss batter's foul ball and had to leave the game resulting in about a 15 minute game delay. Hope she's okay. Maddie has thrown a LOT of pitches this week. I hope Lowe and Widra can handle Saturday and Sunday games. Auburn travels to Gainesville next weekend and Auburn will need her rested and ready. Great game tonight!

#19 Auburn (26-9 overall, 4-2 SEC conference) is scheduled to play a 3-game series vs unranked Ole Miss (20-14 overall, 1-5 SEC conference) at Jane B Moore field this weekend. GAME 1: Friday, March 31 at 6:00 pm. Will be streamed on SEC+. GAME 2: Saturday, April 1 at 3:00 pm. Will be broadcast on SEC Network. GAME 3: Sunday, April 2 at 1:00 pm. Will be streamed on SEC+

I forgot to watch last night - maybe I'm glad I did. Hate that the team ended the season with several sub-par meets. Did Cassie and/or Derrian score high enough on individual events to progress to finals?

Thanks for posting - fun to watch. I noticed there were 3 slap hits - two by Howard and one by Draper - and the batter was out of the batter's box on all 3 of them!

I also believe that's why he started Penta...just wonder why he didn't start Lowe instead given how many more pitches Penta threw over the weekend? I hope Penta holds up through the rest of the season...she's a beast!

The score was Auburn 6 - Samford 0 after 4 innings. Auburn then scored 4 runs in the top of the 5th bringing the lead to 10-0. CMD brought in Widra to pitch the bottom of the 5th and close out the game. Agree he could have brought in Rolfe instead and given her some more experience. If she had given up 3 runs, the game would have gone to the 6th and possibly 7th. Were they just ready to get on the bus back to Auburn or was this about getting a solid win to boost their resume or ???

I listened to the game on the auburntigers app but missed the pre-game and top of the first inning. Was very surprised to see Penta pitching after she pitched 2 games last weekend. Any clue why? Lowe only lasted 1.1 innings against Missouri - is she injured again or not feeling well or are they resting her for this coming weekend or???