May 7, 2011
Lexington, Ky. - Meagan Aull went 4-for-4 with five RBI to lead No. 18 Kentucky softball to a 10-2 victory in six innings over No. 23 Auburn Saturday afternoon.
Auburn's record dropped to 37-16 overall and 14-13 in the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky improved to 36-12 overall and 14-8 in the SEC. Auburn and Kentucky play the series, and regular season, finale Sunday at noon CT.
"Kentucky came out and really got after it," Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. "They swung the bats really well. Chanda Bell did a good job pitching for them today too. We had some hard hit balls, especially with the two home runs, but we couldn't string anything together."
Lauren Schmalz started and took the loss to fall to 14-6. Schmalz allowed seven runs, all earned, on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts in three and two-thirds innings of work. Hilary Mavromat relieved Schmalz in the fourth and pitched two innings, allowing three runs, all earned, on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Chanda Bell earned the complete-game win to improve to 13-5. Bell allowed two runs, both earned, on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Kentucky jumped on top early. Megan Yocke singled to open the bottom of the first inning and scored on a triple to left field by Kara Dill. Aull followed with a single that dropped in to shallow right to score Dill and give Kentucky a 2-0 lead.
Kyndall White cut the deficit in half with a leadoff home run in the top of the second inning. It was White's sixth home run of the season and 28th of her career.
Katie Colton tied the game for the Tigers with a leadoff home run over the wall in right-center in the top of the third inning. It was Colton's first home run of the season and second of her career. Colton's last home run came on April 24, 2010, in game one vs. Ole Miss in Oxford.
The Wildcats re-grained the lead in the bottom of the third on Aull's RBI single to right. It came with Yocke aboard, who doubled to open the inning for UK and moved to third on a ground out to first. With two outs in the inning, Samantha DeMartine singled home Aull to make it a 4-2 game in favor of the Wildcats.
Kentucky broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Aull pulled a three-run home run to right make it a 7-2 game in favor of the Wildcats. It was Aull's ninth home run of the season and gave her five RBI for the game.
The Wildcats put the game away in the sixth inning. Rachel Riley gave the Wildcats an 8-2 lead with an RBI double. Riley's double came with Aull (single) and Cervanetes (walk) aboard. Aull scored on the play and Cervantes advanced to third. DeMartine followed with a double that scored Cervantes and Riley to make it 10-2 and end the game on the eight-run mercy rule.