March 10, 2012
Auburn, Ala. - The No. 20/19 Auburn softball team improved to 20-3 with a pair of wins Saturday at the War Eagle Classic. The Tigers defeated Drexel 13-0 in five innings and Evansville 3-1. Auburn concludes play in the tournament Sunday with a 2 p.m. game against Presbyterian.
"We came out strong in the first game, obviously, scoring nine runs in the first inning," Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. " Elizabeth Eisterhold continued to deliver the big hit with runners on base today. She has really come through for us this weekend. We had to fight through the second game. Angel (Bunner) did a good job making an early lead hold up."
Against Evansville, Elizabeth Eisterhold drove in two of Auburn's three runs and pitcher Angel Bunner held off a seventh-inning rally as the Tigers won 3-1.
Bunner earned the complete-game win, improving to 8-0. Bunner allowed one run, earned, on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
Kendall Kautz started and took the loss to fall to 1-1. Kautz allowed three runs, all earned, on two hits with two walks and one strikeout.
Lauren Guzman doubled to open the bottom of the first and moved to third a fielder's choice that did not register an out by Brooke Lathan. Elizabeth Eisterhold plated Guzman and moved Lathan to third on a ground out to short that give Auburn a 1-0 lead. After reaching on a hit by pitch, Caitlin Jordan broke for second on a steal attempt. Jordan was thrown out but Lathan scored easily, breaking for home on the throw to second, to give Auburn a 2-0 lead.
Eisterhold continued her RBI binge with a two-out, solo home run to left in the bottom of the third inning. It was Eisterhold's sixth home run of the season, 28th of her career and her ninth RBI of the weekend.
The Tigers would be held scoreless after Eisterhold's home run, stranding runners in the fourth and sixth innings.
Evansville mounted a rally in the top of the seventh inning. Niki Rahming doubled to open the inning and scored on Kayla Fortner's double off the wall in right to make it a 3-1 game. Bunner recovered, however, to register three consecutive outs to strand Fortner at second and end the game.
Against Drexel, the Tigers scored eight runs before the Dragons recorded an out in a nine-run first inning and cruised to a 13-0 win in five innings. Pitcher Jenee Loree earned the complete-game win to improve to 6-1. Loree allowed one hit with no walks and five strikeouts.
Auburn wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, pushing across nine runs the plate in the top of the first. Lauren Guzman (single), Brooke Lathan (single) and Elizabeth Eisterhold (walk) reached to open the game and load the bases. Caitlin Jordan was hit by a pitch to force Guzman home for the first Auburn run. Amber Harrison followed with a bloop single to left that plated Lathan to make it a 2-0 game.
A four-pitch walk to Baylee Stephens forced Eisterhold home and pushed the lead to 3-0. Another walk, this time to McKenzie Kilpatrick, forced home the fourth run of the inning and chased Allen from the game. Caitlin Schultze followed with an infield single that was fielded in the pitcher's circle by second baseman Sylvia Llamas who had no play at home as Harrison scored. Llamas then turned to throw to first but hit relief pitcher Jessica O'Hara in the head, allowing Stephens to score for a 6-0 Tigers' lead.
With two on and no outs, Branndi Melero crushed a double off the wall in right to score Kilpatrick and Schultze for an 8-0 lead. After a ground out, Lathan reached on an infield single which kept Melero at third. Eisterhold, however, followed with a ground out to short that plated Melero for the final run of the inning, giving Auburn a 9-0 lead.
Eisterhold gave the Tigers a 10-0 lead in the top of the third with a two-out single, scoring Lathan (double). Jordan followed with a towering home run to left to push the Tigers' lead to 12-0.
Eisterhold delivered again, this time with a leadoff home run to center to open the fifth inning. The dinger was Eisterhold's fifth of the season, 27th of her career and gave Auburn the final 13-0 margin of victory.