March 1, 2014
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KISSIMMEE, Fla. - One day after getting six hits in two games, Auburn's softball team scored 26 runs on Saturday to win two games over Atlantic Coast Conference teams on the second day of the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic. The Tigers beat Syracuse 10-1 and Maryland 16-3 to move to 16-3-1 on the season and 3-1 in the tournament.
The Tigers totaled 18 hits, including 11 against the Maryland. The opposing pitching helped out in a big way against Syracuse as the Tigers worked 13 walks, with three of their runs coming off free bases. The 13 walks for Auburn is its largest total of the season in one game.
Sophomore Tiffany Howard had the highest walk total of the game (3), while freshman Kasey Cooper, junior Branndi Melero, sophomore Jade Rhodes and sophomore Kelsey Bogaards each had two.
In the pitching circle, Auburn had spot-on performances from both Lexi Davis and Marcy Harper. Davis went the distance against Syracuse, throwing a complete seven innings, giving up only one earned run with five strikeouts for her eighth win of the year. As for Harper, she pitched a strong four innings against Maryland, giving up only one earned run on three hits and striking out four.
Against the Orange in game one, Auburn got on the board early, scoring a run from one of the many Syracuse walks, bringing around Morgan Estell after a Rhodes walk. However, no runs crossed the plate for either team until the fourth inning.
The Tigers added a run in the top of the fourth when Howard laced a double to left-center field, scoring Bogaards all the way from first to make it 2-0 Tigers. For Howard it was her first double of the year and one of her two RBI in the game.
Syracuse cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom half of the fourth inning after a home run by Danielle Chitkowski, but it was Davis' only mistake pitch in the circle all game.
The Tigers went back to work in the top of the fifth, scoring three more times, all off of walks to break open the game at 5-1 and then scored three more times in the sixth coupled with three Auburn hits and two Syracuse errors. The final two runs of the game came in the top half of the seventh as the Syracuse pitchers continued to have a hard time finding the strike zone.
In game two, the Tigers, once again, were the team to score first as sophomore Emily Carosone led off the game with a single. She was then advanced around after a walk by Estell, a sacrifice bunt by Cooper and later scored on a throwing error by Maryland.
Teams stayed scoreless in the second, before Auburn padded its lead in the third inning. Four runs came in during the frame, the big hit coming off the bat of Rhodes, who smoked a laser shot to right-center for a double, scoring Melero, making it 3-0. Rhodes later scored in the same inning, the team's fourth for the half-inning to extend Auburn's lead to 5-0.
Maryland didn't get shut out in the game as it responded in the top of the fourth with a two-run home run by Kylie Datil, Maryland's only extra base hit in the contest to cut the advantage to 5-2. However, Auburn put the game away with an 11-run fourth inning, batting around nearly twice and tallying seven hits and benefitting from three Terrapin errors.
In the big fourth inning, freshman Madi Gipson launched her first home run of her collegiate career, good for three of the Tigers' 11 that were scored. The hit was only her second of the season, but was a big one as it was the only home run for the Tigers in the game.
Auburn returns to the field Sunday as it will take on Radford for its final game of the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic with first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. eastern.
The Auburn game can be heard locally on WEGL 91.1 or online at AuburnTigers.com. Live stats will also be available on AuburnTigers.com throughout the weekend for all games.
For more information on Auburn softball, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter @AuburnTigersSB or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSB.