Down but not out, the Auburn Tigers stormed back in the sixth inning to take down Mississippi State 5-2 to open the series Friday night.

“We had been having good at-bats the whole game,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “We just weren’t scoring runs. I told them I was proud of them because they showed real maturity. When you’re having that many hits and not scoring, it can be frustrating. You can kind of lose it, but we didn’t. We stuck with it.”

The Tigers entered the inning trailing 2-1 but Jessie Blaine and Nelia Peralta singled to start the inning and Aubrie Lisenby put down a sacrifice bunt to put both runners in scoring position.

Bri Ellis stepped up and hit the first pitch she saw off the wall to put the Tigers ahead 3-2 and secure the win.

“Striking out my at-bat before really stung,” Ellis said. “And that was in another big moment, so this time, I really wanted to get a hit. I just had to try something different. I got a good pitch, and I’m glad I swung at it.”

Auburn added on three more runs thanks to a Mississippi State error and a fielder’s choice.

The five runs were more than enough support for maddie penta who struck out 10 Bulldogs in a complete game performance. She allowed just two runs on four hits as she improved to 24-5 on the season.

The Tigers will go for the series win Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network+.

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Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire