April 20, 2013
Auburn, Ala. - Lexi Davis allowed one run on three hits while eight of nine Auburn batters reached base at least once as the Tigers cruised to a 7-1 victory over South Carolina in softball Saturday afternoon in front of 1,603 fans at Jane B. Moore Field. The 1,603 fans was the largest of the season and the seventh-largest in the program's history.
Auburn improved to 28-19 overall and 7-13 in the Southeastern Conference. South Carolina fell to 24-20 overall and 3-14 in the SEC. The Tigers and Gamecocks conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m.
"I'm really proud of the job Lexi Davis did today," Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. "She did a good job mixing her pitches and was working ahead a lot of the at-bats. The really didn't get a lot of good swings against her. Offensively, it seemed like everyone was contributing today all the way through the lineup. We've got to take this and carry it forward into tomorrow."
Davis improved to 8-8 with the complete-game victory. Davis allowed one run, earned, on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Davis retired the first 13 South Carolina hitters of the game, getting nine ground ball outs in the span.
Audrey Broyles started and took the loss to fall to 7-8. Broyles allowed five runs, three earned, on five hits with two walks and no strikeouts in one and two-thirds innings.
The Tigers jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning. Morgan Estell led off with a single to center and was followed by Tiffany Howard who reached on a bunt single. Emily Carosone followed with a ground ball that Dana Hathorn booted at second base, which allowed Carosone to reach and Estell to score giving Auburn a 1-0 lead.
With runners at second and first, Broyles dropped a short pop-up off the bat of Caitlin Schultze for an error to load the bases with two outs. Kelsey Bogaards picked up an RBI the hard way when she was hit by a pitch to force Howard home and push the Tigers' lead to 2-0.
Auburn broke the game open in the bottom of the second. Brooke Lathan gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead with a one-out, bases-loaded single that plated Estell (walk). Broyles was able to pick up the second out when Caitlin Jordan hit into a fielder's choice which forced Howard out at home. With two outs and the bases loaded, Schultze hit a sharp single up the middle to score Carosone and Lathan to give the Tigers a 5-0 lead.
Estell gave Auburn a 6-0 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of third that scored Branndi Melero, who reached on a one-out double. After an infield single by Howard put runners on the corners, Carosone lofted a sacrifice fly to center that plated Estell to make it a 7-0 game.
After retiring the first 13 batters of the game, Davis gave up a one-out double to Chelsea Hawkins in the top of the fifth. Davis, however, rebounded to retire the next two South Carolina batters to end the inning.
The Gamecocks broke up the shutout bid in the top of the sixth. Codee Yeske singled with one out and was followed by a single from Samie Garcia. A wild pitch moved the runners to third and second. Alaynie Page brought Yeske home with a ground out to make it a 7-1 game. Davis would hold the Gamecocks to one run, though, as she forced a ground from Hathorn to end the inning.
Davis closed out the Gamecocks in the top of the seventh, retiring the side in order to seal the 7-1 victory.