April 10, 2013
Auburn, Ala. - Morgan Estell went 4-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI to lead the Auburn softball team to a 6-1 victory over Troy Wednesday night at Jane B. Moore Field.
Auburn improved to 27-15 overall, while Troy fell to 18-21. The Tigers return to action this weekend in Knoxville against the No. 5 Tennessee Lady Vols. Saturday's game will be televised by CSS and is slated for a 10:30 a.m. CT start.
"This was a good win tonight," Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. "Marcy did a really good job pitching tonight. She only allowed the one hit and just one walk. Offensively, Morgan Estell had a tremendous game for us. It was really good to see her swing the bat like she did tonight."
Marcy Harper improved to 15-6 with the complete-game victory. Harper's win tied her with Anna Thompson for the most wins by an Auburn freshman pitcher. Harper allowed one run, unearned, on one hit with one walk and nine strikeouts.
Rachel Rigney started and took the loss for Troy to fall to 8-10. Rigney allowed four runs, all earned, on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts in three and two-thirds innings.
Estell put the Tigers on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff home run. It was Estell's third home run of the season as it hit off the light pole in right field for a 1-0 Auburn lead.
Estell gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Tiffany Howard reached on a fielder's choice and moved to second on a wild pitch. Estell then took a 1-1 pitch off the top of the wall in left, just missing her second home run of the game, for a double. Howard easily scored on the play for a two-run cushion for the Tigers.
McKenzie Kilpatrick made it a 3-0 game with a one-out, solo home run over the scoreboard in left in the bottom of the third inning. It was Kilpatrick's third home run of the season.
Estell went yard again to give Auburn a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. It was Estell's fourth home run of the season and the first multi-home run game of her career.
Estell picked up her fourth RBI of the night in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Estell slapped an infield single between the pitcher and third base. Liana Wuchte, running for Caitlin Schultze (single), scored on the play to make it 5-0.
Troy broke up the shutout bid in the top of the sixth inning, taking advantage of two Auburn errors to plate a run. With one out, Branndi Melero dropped a fly ball off the bat of Chandler Griffin for an error. Griffin was able to take second on the play. The next batter, Kacie McAllister put down a sacrifice bunt that Harper fielded cleanly but threw wildly to first for an error. Griffin was able to score on the throwing error to make it a 5-1 game. Harper was able to end the rally with a strikeout of Rigney.
The Tigers were able to take advantage of two Troy errors to plate a run in the bottom half of the sixth. Emily Carosone reached on an error by shortstop Bailey Blake who failed to field a slow roller. After Kilpatrick drew a one-out walk, the runners advanced on a double steal. On a strikeout of Schultze, catcher Hannah Renn threw down to third attempting to pick off Carosone. The throw was off the target and sailed into left field, easily scoring Carosone for the 6-1 final margin.