Auburn may have been down, but the Tigers were never out.

Nelia Peralta had a lot to do with it.

The senior shortstop combined for three home runs between both games Saturday, as the Tigers came from behind in both games of their doubleheader to beat Appalachian State and Southern Illinois.

"I think it just kind of shows what this team is capable of and made of," said head coach Chris Malveaux. "You have to be a certain person to be able to go through that and have something in you to just fight, fight, fight and call and make something happen. We want to be champions and that is the kind of stuff that you have to have to be a champion."

Game 1: Appalachian State, W 10-9 (9 innings)

Appalachian State went up by as many as six runs early, but Auburn never stopped chipping away. Peralta had a two-run home run in the fourth, and thanks to some strategic base running by Icess Tresvik, the Tigers added another run later in the frame to make it a three-run deficit.

Auburn got another run in the sixth, but entered the seventh inning still trailing by two. In the seventh, Abbey Smith led off with a walk, and two batters later, Tresvik knocked her in with an RBI single to make it a one-run game.

Down to the final out, KK McCrary stepped up to the plate with Tresvik on second. McCrary hit a line drive to center field that got down, scoring Tresvik to tie the game and send it to extras.

The Mountaineers retook the lead in the top of the ninth, before Peralta hit her second home run of the game in the bottom half — a two-run, walk-off blast.

"We got tested today," Tresvik said. "They punched a lot harder than us in the first couple innings. We knew that we were the overall better team. We work so hard, just to let a team come try to take over our field, so it was a battle today. It made it exciting, it made it fun and I'm glad we pulled through."

Game 2: Southern Illinois, W 9-7

It looked like Auburn was going to cruise to another victory against Southern Illinois when Tresvik's three-run home run in the third inning made it 4-0 in favor of Auburn.

Then the fifth inning happened.

Southern Illinois put up seven runs in the frame, capped off by a grand slam but the Salukis that silenced the home crowd and gave them a 7-4 lead. It all happened without Auburn recording an out, and suddenly, the Tigers found themselves trailing in a game once again.

Peralta stepped up again, this time in the sixth.

"She's gifted, but she loves it when the lights are on," Malveaux said of Peralta. "She's got so many tools. She's just a gifted player. She's a competitor. She has a lot of pride in what she does. She has pride in her game and it matters to her. She wants to be up in that moment."

Two errors by Southern Illinois gave Auburn two base runners, and with two outs, Peralta launched a ball high into the air to left. It cleared the wall and tied the game at seven.

"I was looking hard, and I got exactly what I wanted, and I knew as soon as I hit it, and hey, tied the ball game, so that's all that mattered," Peralta said.

One batter after Peralta, Tresvik gave the Tigers the lead with her solo home run. Anna Wohlers got in on the fun, making it back-to-back-to-back home runs and giving Auburn a 9-7 lead. The Tigers shut the door in the seventh to advance to 4-0.

Auburn wraps up the weekend with a game against North Carolina Sunday. First pitch is set for 11:30 a.m. CST.