Feb. 8, 2014
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AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn Tiger softball team made it three-straight on Saturday after it defeated Morehead State, 12-0 in five innings, and ULM, 9-2, to stay perfect at the Plainsman Invite. The Tigers clubbed out 11 hits against the Eagles in their first game and then continue the hit parade in game two with nine runs on seven hits against the Warhawks.
"We're starting to understand the concept of consistency," Auburn head coach Clint Myers. "We're taking our plan and working hard to execute it. We have to become better at recognizing good strikes to hit and not just strikes. When we went fishing and out of the zone, zeroes were on the board. If we do things that we talk about daily, good things happen and they're starting to understand that."
Even with the enormous offensive output, the Auburn pitching staff only allowed two runs and six hits combined in both games as sophomore Marcy Harper picked up her first win of the season against Morehead State. Harper went 3.0 innings and gave up no runs and no hits with two strikeouts.
Sophomore Lexi Davis went the distance against ULM, picking up her second win in as many nights and her first complete game of the year.
"Marcy threw well and even Hilary (Mavromat) came in and did a good job." Myers said. "Lex had a nice seven-inning effort to follow. Our mentality is to throw strikes, play good defense, get timely hitting and we'll have a good chance of winning. We had good defense, nice plays tonight and the pitchers throwing strikes. When those things are going, the bats just have to start working."
Senior Hilary Mavromat was the only other pitcher to make an appearance on Saturday. Coming in relief of Harper in the fourth inning against Morehead State, Mavromat pitched two strong innings, giving up only one hit with three strikeouts.
In game one against the Eagles, four Tigers tallied multi-hit games with junior McKenzie Kilpatrick and redshirt junior Morgan Estell launching the two home runs in the game. Kilpatrick now has two homers on the year, her last coming in the season-opener against Troy. For Estell, it's her first of the year as she finished with three RBI.
Auburn's game against the Warhawks proved tough in the beginning as the game was knotted at two runs after four and a half innings of play. In the bottom of the fourth, the Orange and Blue put up five runs in the home column to take an 8-2 lead. The final three runs of the inning came off a triple by junior Branndi Melero, who later scored on the same play after ULM suffered two errors. The triple scored two runs along with Melero's to push Auburn's lead to six runs.
The Tigers added one more in the fifth when sophomore Kelsey Bogaards launched her first long ball of the year over the left field fence, sending the Auburn crowd to its loudest of the game. Bogaards finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with one RBI coming off the solo home run.
Auburn returns to the field Sunday for the final day of the Plainsman Invite at Jane B. Moore Field. It will face Notre Dame at 11 a.m. and Tennessee Tech at 1 p.m. The first game of the day for all teams will be at 9 a.m. when Notre Dame faces off with Morehead State.
The Auburn games can be heard locally on WEGL 91.1 or online at AuburnTigers.com. Live video and live stats will also be available on AuburnTigers.com throughout the weekend for all games.
All home games at Jane B. Moore Field this year will require a purchased ticket unless otherwise specified. All ticket information can be found here on AuburnTigers.com.
For more information on Auburn softball, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter @AuburnTigersSB or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSB.