March 23, 2011
Mobile, Ala. - Amber Harrison's two-out, solo home run broke a tie game in the sixth inning and propelled the No. 22/23 Auburn softball team to a 2-1 victory over South Alabama Wednesday night.
Auburn improved to 26-4 overall, while South Alabama dropped to 24-6 with the loss. The Tigers return to action this weekend at home with a three-game series against the Ole Miss Rebels. Game one is slated for a 6 p.m. start Friday at Jane B. Moore Field.
"Angel Bunner did a fantastic job tonight," Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. "She worked out of trouble and was around the plate all night. I'm really proud of the way she pitched. Amber came through for us with the big hit with two outs. This was a good win for us tonight. Now we need to get focused on Ole Miss and getting back into SEC play this weekend."
Angel Bunner threw her fifth complete-game of the season for the Tigers to improve to 8-1. Bunner allowed one run, unearned, on three hits with two walks and nine strikeouts.
Morgan Druhan (8-2) started and took the loss for South Alabama. Druhan went six innings, allowing two runs, both earned, on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Hannah Campbell pitched the final inning, allowing just one hit and striking out one.
Caitlin Stangl gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With one out, Elizabeth Eisterhold and Kelley Smiley drew consecutive walks to put runners at second and first, respectively. Kelsey Cartwright followed with a bunt single down the third base line to load the bases. Stangl then delivered a sacrifice fly to center that plated Eisterhold for Auburn's first run of the game.
South Alabama tied the game in the bottom of the second inning. Haley Hopkins reached when Cartwright bobbled her ground ball at second. Christin Crocker put down a bunt single that rolled to Cartwright at second. Cartwright bobbled the ball attempting to pick it up, allowing Hopkins to advance to third on the error. Crocker quickly stole second to put runners at second and third with no outs. With Julie Moss at-bat, Eisterhold let a pitch from Bunner pass under her glove and roll to the wall, allowing Hopkins to score from third to tie the game at 1-1. With Crocker at third, Bunner retired the next three Jaguar hitters to end the inning with one run crossing the plate.
South Alabama threatened in the bottom of the fifth. Meghan Collins drew a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position when she stole second base. Brittany Wynne entered to pinch-run for Collins at second and moved to third on a ground out to short with just one out. After a walk to Jenny Stevens put runners at third and first, Bunner fanned pinch-hitter Kamee Vessey for the second out of the inning. On a 2-2 pitch to Brittany Fowler popped up to Bunner to end the inning with the go-ahead run stranded at third.
The Tigers broke the tie in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs, Amber Harrison launched a home run off the scoreboard in left-center to give Auburn a 2-1 lead. It was Harrison's fifth home run of the season, with all five homers coming with two outs.
In the bottom of the seventh, Bunner recorded the first out with a swinging strike three on Katy Neal. Bunner followed that with another swinging strike three, this time on Collins for the second out of the inning. Bunner sealed the victory when she forced Haley Richards into a ground out to second base to end the game.