Tiger Softball Team Beats San Diego State, 1-0, in Pitchers Duel
Box Score
February 21, 2004
Sara Dean |
SAN DIEGO â€" Sara Dean laced a single to right field to bring home Shannon Anderson for the lone run of the game as Auburn beat tournament host San Diego State on Saturday night in the Campbell/Cartier Classic.
The real story in the game was the pitching of freshman Beth DiPietro, who shutdown the Aztec offense to earn the win and improve to 3-0. She picked up the first shutout of her career after allowing just four hits and striking out six while walking one.
"Beth did a fantastic job," said head coach Tina Deese. "She was very confident and did a nice job hitting her spots all night. I can't say enough about her composure on the mound tonight."
San Diego State looked to rattle the freshman early as Murphy smacked a double and Cruz reached on an infield single. After Bree Boyer sacrificed the runners over, DiPietro got Jamie Burton to strike out and Brittany Green to ground out to end the threat.
"I wasn't concerned during the second," Deese said. "We had some options that we could use, but I was confident in her ability at that time and she did nice job working out of the jam."
In the sixth, Lauren Walton reached on a miscommunication between the first and second basemen that led to the second sacker, Green, fielding the throw from pitcher Cori Janelli without her foot on the bag.
Shannon Anderson took Walton's place on first after a fielder's choice. She advanced to second on a wild pitch to set up Dean's clutch hit.
"Sara Dean continues to come through for us," Deese said. "When we need a hit, I want her at the plate. She proved again why she is one of the best hitters in softball."
Two innings prior, the Tigers seemed to have a rally going as Ashley Griffin led off with a single but suffered a pair of base-running mistakes. Griffin could have moved to second on an Anderson sacrifice, but failed to realize the ball was not caught on the fly and hesitated, allowing Janelli to throw her out at second.
Anderson had a similar mistake on what would have been a Dean single to right and was forced out at second.
The Tigers second game of the day, a 10 p.m. CT start against Washington, was called due to inclement weather.