April 23, 2014
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AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 22 Auburn Tiger softball team defeated Alabama State 5-3 Wednesday night in its final non-conference game of the 2014 season. Auburn found itself down 3-0 early in the first inning after a Hornet home run, but battled back to score four in the first two innings and then one more in the sixth off nine hits for the victory.
Throughout the game, Auburn softball was helping raise money for the East Alabama Medical Center as part of its Strikeout Cancer campaign. Over $400 dollars were raised during the game for cancer research and members of the Auburn softball staff and players wore pink in support of cancer awareness.
"What we're out here supporting is the cause," Auburn head coach Clint Myers said. "For a female sport where breast cancer is very relevant, anything we can do to stop or cure this dreadful disease is what we want to do. I've had friends, who were young, and died of breast cancer and that's not supposed to happen. Anything we can do to eliminate this type of disease, we have to support."
Head women's golf coach and cancer survivor Kim Evans was on hand to throw out the first pitch in support of the Strikeout Cancer campaign.
"Coach (Kim) Evans is a phenomenal individual," Myers said. "She emulates exactly what it means to be an Auburn Tiger. She's got the commitment, the drive and the heart and everything you would expect and want. To come out and throw the first pitch for us, we're honored. She had this disease that we pray nobody ever gets again, and she fought it. She's a fighter, a competitor and she beat it. That's what we wanted to do, recognize the people that have beaten this awful disease. Life is so precious. These people emulate what we want out of our ladies."
As for the game itself, Auburn donned its pink jerseys and found itself in a hole early as Alabama State took a 3-0 lead off a three-run home run by Meagan Dixon. The Tigers' starting pitcher, senior Hilary Mavromat was able to settle down and get out of the inning, then went on to pitch two more scoreless innings on the way to her second win of the year.
Auburn came right back in the bottom half of the first, scoring two on a couple of hits by redshirt junior Morgan Estell and sophomore Austyn West. Estell led off the inning with a single through the right side and then advanced around on a Kasey Cooper walk and then a Madi Gipson ground out. Gipson was awarded the RBI on the play, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
West made it one more, scoring Cooper from second on the single through the left side for her only RBI of the game, giving her 17 for the season.
The Orange and Blue took the lead in the bottom of the second, which was jump started by a lead-off double by sophomore Kelsey Bogaards. It's only Bogaards' second double of the year and fifth extra-base hit of the season. After her, the speedy Ashley Leon and Tiffany Howard both beat out infield singles, scoring Bogaards to tie the game at 3-3. Howard finished the game 2-for-3, marking her seventh multi-hit game this year.
With Leon on third and Howard on second, AU took the 4-3 lead after Cooper hit a high fly ball to left field, nearly going out for a home run, but it was plenty deep to score Leon. Cooper now has 62 RBI this year, still good for second on the team behind Branndi Melero.
Neither team was able to push across a run in the middle innings, but Auburn did add one more in the bottom of the sixth. After two quick outs, Howard was clutch getting on base before stealing second, her third swipe of the year. She was able to advance to third and eventually scored as the ball ricocheted off her leg from the throw from the catcher and ended up rolling all the way into the outfield. With her two hits tonight, Howard now has 11 hits in the last six games.
Auburn returns to the home field on Friday to face Texas A&M in its final home conference series of the year. Friday's game one is slated for a 6 p.m. start at Jane B. Moore Field. Saturday and Sunday's games will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday will also be Senior Day for Hilary Mavromat, Maris Medina and Kristyn Richards.
For more information on Auburn softball, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter @AuburnTigersSB or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSB.