Auburn shuts out Jacksonville State
Some timely hitting and a dominant pitching performance were enough for Auburn to beat Jacksonville State 3-0 Wednesday at Jane B. Moore Field.
The Tigers (33-13, 9-6 SEC) jumped out to an early lead thanks to some two-out hitting by Bri Ellis. After Nelia Peralta led the bottom of the first inning off with a walk, Ellis smashed her 11th home run of the season to center field to give Auburn a 2-0 lead.
“I went up to the plate a little excited,” Ellis said. “I swung at a ball over my head, and I don’t usually do that. I told myself during the at bat let it get deep and trust your hands. It was a good pitch to hit.”
The blast is the 31st of her Auburn career, moving her into 10th all-time in program history.
Those runs would prove to be enough as the trio of maddie penta, Shelby Lowe, and Annabelle Widra who combined to throw Auburn’s 19th shutout of the season.
“All three of our pitchers worked ahead,” said head coach Mickey Dean. “That forced JSU to hit their pitches. We played some great defense behind them. We’re taking pride in our defense. Defense is what gets you to where you want to go.”
Penta got the start and allowed two hits in three innings of work. She struck out three batters and walked one. The junior now has 601 strikeouts, making her just the fourth Auburn player to reach that mark.
Lowe and Widra both worked two innings and allowed just one hit each.
The Tigers got some breathing room in the fifth when Icess Tresvik led the inning off with a line drive home run to left field.
“They were throwing me outside the zone,” Tresvik said. “I knew that they were going to make a mistake and throw me an inside pitch. That’s exactly what happened.”
The Tigers will return to action Friday when they head to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama (33-13, 9-6). Games one is set to start at 8 p.m. CT and will be on the SEC Network.
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