March 14, 2014
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AUBURN, Ala. - Sophomore pitchers Marcy Harper and Lexi Davis tossed two no-hitters Friday night at Jane B. Moore Field, helping the Auburn Tiger softball team to a 9-0 win over Radford in five innings and a 10-0 win over IPFW, also in five innings on the first day of the War Eagle Classic. The back-to-back no-hitters are Auburn's second in school history and first since Kristen Keys and Beth DiPietro did it in 2004 against Ole Miss.
"I thought both of them pitched magnificent," Auburn head coach Clint Myers said. "They controlled the zone and they made pitches when they had to. Those are things we preach all the time. Attack and let the defense work for you and they did that."
Harper started the day against Radford, tallying 10 strikeouts, one off her career-high and five walks. The no-hitter for her was her first of her career. As for Davis, she only allowed one walk and notched six strikeouts. Her no-hitter was her second of her career, last coming in five innings against Army on Feb. 10 of last season.
Hitting-wise, Auburn was just as solid, putting up 19 runs combined on the Highlanders and Mastodons and scattering 18 hits throughout both games. Sophomore Jade Rhodes and freshman Kasey Cooper finished the night tied for the high RBI total (4), going a combined 5-for-9 (.556) with two home runs, one being a grand slam.
"The thing that is encouraging is that we are getting better at-bats," Myers said. "You're not going to get a hit on every swing, but if you are going up there with a plan and you're executing you're plan, it increases the chances of you having success and that is what we are starting to do. We have two more tomorrow and two teams that have played Top-25 teams really well so we have got to go out and do it again tomorrow."
Rhodes went 2-for-3 with two runs scored in the first game against Radford and then followed that with a grand slam in game two against IPFW. The grand slam is Auburn's fourth of the year. Cooper hit her seventh home run of the season against IPFW, part of a 1-for-2, three RBI game. She went 1-for-2 with one RBI against Radford earlier in the day.
Auburn, playing Radford for the second time this season, scored right off the bat in the first inning off an Emily Carosone lead-off home run. The home by the sophomore is her third of the year and marked the 19th time Auburn scored in the opening frame.
The Tigers tacked on three more in the second inning after the bases were loaded on a two-out hit by pitch on Tiffany Howard. In the next at-bat, Carosone was also hit by a pitch, bringing in one run to score to make it 2-0 Auburn. Carosone currently leads the team with 12 hit by pitches.
Two more runs came in as redshirt junior Morgan Estell singled through the right side, making it a quick 4-0 lead after two innings. Estell finished the game 2-for-3 with one run scored and two RBI.
With Harper dealing in the circle on the defensive side of the ball, Auburn continued to hit as it added another run in the third off an Austyn West single, one of West's two hits in the game and her lone RBI, pushing Auburn's lead over Radford even further to 5-0 after three innings.
Auburn finished off the Highlanders in the fourth, scoring four runs on three hits from Estell, Cooper and West. Estell's hit was the only extra base hit of the inning (double), upping her season total to 14 for the year.
In game two against IPFW, Auburn, again, struck early and often on the offensive end. The game opened with the Rhodes grand slam, her first slam of her career and fourth of Auburn's season to make it 4-0.
Two more runs were put on the Mastodons in the second inning after Howard led off the inning with an infield single, part of her 2-for-3 night. Estell, then, walked to bring up Cooper. On a 1-0 pitch, Cooper unloaded a shot to right field, bringing in three to extend the lead to 7-0.
Cooper briefly held the team lead in home runs (7) as junior Branndi Melero made it back-to-back home runs in the next Auburn plate appearance, a solo shot the opposite way that bounced off the front of the Jane B. Moore Field scoreboard. The back-to-back jacks is Auburn's first since Jenna Abbott and Maria Mitchell went back-to-back against Winthrop in February.
The final two runs of the game came in the third inning as Estell hit her second double of the day, scoring Howard from third. Later, Melero had her second RBI of the game, a single through the right side to finish a perfect 2-for-2 game.
Auburn will be back on the field tomorrow for two more games of the War Eagle Classic. It will take on Savannah State at 3:30 p.m. and then Ball State at 5:30 p.m. The day's first game will feature Alabama A&M and Radford at 9 a.m. A full schedule for this weekend's War Eagle Classic can be found here.
All 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. Live stats for all games this weekend will also be available online.
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.