Feb. 18, 2006
AUBURN, Ala. - Holly Currie threw her second career no hitter, striking out 15 of the 16 batters she faced, as the 20th-ranked Auburn softball team defeated Mercer, 19-0, in a five-inning contest Saturday at the War Eagle Classic.
Currie walked the first batter of the game she faced, then went on to strike out the next 15 batters she faced, a career-best. Of her six appearances from the circle this season, five have resulted in her striking out 10 or more. Currie was just two off tying Kristen Keyes for the Auburn single-game record.
"I really felt great out there," Currie said. "It was great to get the run support. It really makes it easy to focus on pitching when you get a lead like that."
Currie threw her first perfect game last season, striking out 13 in a win over the College of Charleston. On Saturday, Currie needed just 81 pitches to record her second career no hitter.
"There's really no words to describe what Holly did today," Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. "She had perfect control, save for that first at bat, and made Mercer swing the bat. It's a really great feat to get 15 outs by strikeout."
Offensively, the Tigers (8-1 overall) came up one shy of tying a program-record for hits, rapping out 20 against the Bears. Junior Ashley Griffin paced the attack by going 4 for 4 while freshman Tatiana Fernandez came up a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. She hit her second home run of the season, a solo shot in the second inning.
Junior Sara Ghezzi also hit her second home run of the year, this one coming during the Tigers' seven-run first. The three-run shot hit the left field scoreboard and put Auburn up, 6-0.
Ten different Tigers had at least one hit in the victory, including Currie, who went 3 for 6 with three RBI. Sophomore Starr Dorsey went 3 for 3 with two RBI, and junior Lauren Walton was 2 for 5.
Stephanie Rossman picked up the loss for Mercer, falling to 1-2 on the year. She allowed six hits and seven runs in two innings of work.
Auburn's second game of the day, scheduled for 5 p.m., against Furman, was cancelled due to cold weather in the Auburn area. The Tigers will play again Sunday at 2 p.m. CT., against Lipscomb. Catch the game live on www.auburntigers.com and WZMG-AM (910).
TIGER NOTES: Auburn wore its white uniforms for both games ... The team improved to 3-0 in its white uniforms this season ... Auburn scored six runs and posted five hits against Mercer before the Bears recorded their first out ... The top half of the first took 22 minutes after the game, which had been scheduled originally for 12:30 p.m., began at 2:23 p.m. because of inclement weather in the morning.