April 15, 2006
AUBURN, Ala. - Tara Donaldson had her second game-winning RBI in two weeks and Brittany Day won her first game of the season as the 20th-ranked Auburn softball team took both games of a doubleheader, 6-5 and 5-3, over Mississippi State Saturday at Jane B. Moore Field.
The wins gave Auburn its first-ever season sweep of Mississippi State. The Tigers defeated the Bulldogs, 4-1, in Friday's game. Auburn has now won five of its last six and 11 of 14 games against Mississippi State.
"Today, we made some errors, but overcame them with strong pitching and hitting," Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. "Beth (DiPietro) had two solid performances from the circle as did Brittany in the second game. I'm very proud of how this team played today."
Donaldson gave Auburn (29-12 overall, 10-8 Southeastern Conference) its first win of the day in game one, singling home the game-winning run with two outs in the seventh. The seesaw battle saw Auburn and Mississippi State tied at 5 entering the seventh. Donaldson, who was pinch hitting, drove a pitch from Mississippi State starter Ragan Blake down the left field line, scoring Lauren Walton from third.
It was Donaldson's second game-winning RBI in her last four games. She doubled to left center in the sixth Sunday against LSU that gave Auburn its 1-0 win.
"That was a clutch hit today by Tara," Deese said. "She's been a big part of the offense the last week and continued to see the ball well."
The Tigers and Bulldogs (30-19, 4-13) battled throughout the game, with neither club able to maintain a lead for long. Mississippi State opened the game with a two-run home run by Courtney Bures in the first, but saw Auburn chip away its lead with solo runs in the second and third innings.
After the Bulldogs scored three in the fifth, the Tigers answered back with three of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Senior Ashley Griffin led off the inning with a two-run home run to right center off Mississippi State starter Kelli Miller. After Blake relieved for Miller, junior Sara Ghezzi sent a 2-2 pitch to the left center gap, scoring senior Robin Martin from first.
Ghezzi paced the Auburn offense in game one, going 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI. Griffin, junior Kristina McCain and freshman Tatiana Fernandez each had two hits apiece in the win.
DiPietro picked up the win in relief of Holly Currie, improving to 14-4 on the year. DiPietro limited Mississippi State to two hits over 2 1/3 innings for her second victory of the series.
Currie started the game and worked 4 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and five runs. Blake took the loss for Mississippi State after allowing one run and four hits in 2 1/3.
Day picked up her first win of the season in game two after giving up three runs and three hits in a season-high 5 1/3 innings. She struck out four and walked one to improve to 1-1.
"Brittany threw very well today," Deese said. "She hit her corners, and had some very good speed to her pitches. She's maturing very well lately."
The Tigers jumped to the early lead, taking a 1-0 advantage in the second when sophomore Starr Dorsey hit her first career home run over the right center field fence.
Auburn scored three more in the fourth. All three runs came on Mississippi State errors and proved to the difference. The Bulldogs scored their three runs off Day in the sixth before DiPietro came on in relief for the second time Saturday.
DiPietro struck out four and did not allow a hit in 1 2/3 innings. She earned her first save of the season and seventh of her career, which ties her with Mary Petrie for the third-most in team history.
Dorsey and freshman Taryn Gray paced the Tigers with two hits apiece in game two.
Blake took the loss for the third time over the weekend, falling to 16-11 on the season. She threw a full six innings, allowing seven Auburn hits and all five runs. Blake walked one and struck out four.
The wins put Auburn one shy of 30 for the year. With one more victory this season, the Tigers will have won 30 or more games in a season in seven of the team's 10 years.
The Tigers hit the road again next week, traveling to Fayetteville for a three-game series with Arkansas. The teams play two games Saturday and the third Sunday, with each available on WZMG-AM (910) and www.auburntigers.com.
TIGER NOTES: The Tigers wore white uniforms and are 12-5 in them this season ... Starr Dorsey became the sixth Tiger to hit her first career home run this season ... She joins senior Krista Barts and freshmen Tatiana Fernandez, Taryn Gray, Myesha Finney and Ashley Arcuri ... Ashley Griffin's two hits in game one gave her 199 for her career ... One more hit would make her the fourth Tiger in team history with 200 hits or more ... Griffin's home run also gives her 21 in four seasons with the Tigers, tying her with Paige Jones (2002-05) for fifth-most in team history ... Kristina McCain walked twice during the three-game series, and now has 28 this season ... That mark in the fourth-best single-season walk total in AU history.