April 4, 2014
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 19 Auburn softball team took a late 2-1 lead in the sixth inning on the No. 6 Florida Gators, but gave up three runs in the next half inning to fall, 4-2, and suffer its second-straight loss. Auburn is now 31-7-1 overall this year with a 6-4 record in the Southeastern Conference.
The Tigers had a solid outing from starting pitcher Lexi Davis through five innings, giving up only one run to the Gators with three strikeouts and two hits. Unfortunately, Florida scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to re-take the lead and earn the victory over Davis. The loss drops Davis' record to 16-6 this season after giving up four earned runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
Auburn took its first lead of the day late in the game after a pair of hits from redshirt junior Morgan Estell and junior Branndi Melero. Both were responsible for two of the only three Auburn hits in the game as the AU offense struggled to get to Florida starting pitcher, Hannah Rogers. Rogers threw a complete seven innings for the Gators, giving up two earned runs on three hits with six strikeouts.
Davis and Rogers matched each other pitch-for-pitch through the first two innings before Florida struck first with a run in the bottom of the third. After Aubree Munro led off the frame with a double that just got past a diving Melero in right field, the Gators advanced her over on a sacrifice bunt by Kathlyn Medina. The next batter, Kelsey Stewart drove her in on a single to give UF the 1-0 lead after three.
Davis settled down after giving up the lone run, keeping Florida scoreless through the fourth and fifth innings. Her teammates seemed to have bailed her out in the top of the sixth, scoring twice to take the 2-1 lead.
Emily Carosone led off the frame with a walk to bring up Estell. Estell, who was 0-for-2 in the game, at the time, laced a double into the left-centerfield gap. As the ball rolled all the way to the wall, Carosone raced around the base paths from first to tie the game at 1-1. It was Estell's team-leading 15th double this season.
Auburn took the lead two batters later as Melero singled around Estell for her only hit of the game. Melero finished the night 1-for-3 with only the one RBI, but upped her conference-leading total to 57 for the season. The Tigers were wanting to add more in the inning with only one out, but Florida got the 1-6-3 double play to end the threat and only a one-run lead for Auburn.
With Davis back in the circle to work the sixth, the Tigers looked to be sending the game to the final inning after getting a quick pop-up and ground out by the Gators. However, with two outs, UF's Stephanie Tofft singled, followed by a walk by Taylor Schwarz. Taylore Fuller was able to tie the game on a single to centerfield and then advancing to second on the throw from Estell, who nearly got Schwarz out at third. After the hit, it was 2-2 with still two outs and Florida runners on second and third.
Munro cleared the bases for the Gators in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out double to push her team ahead 4-2. Auburn finally got out of the inning, but not before UF had the two-run lead going into the seventh inning, which Rogers finished off for her 15th win of the year.
Game two of the series will be on Saturday at Katie Seashole Pressley Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., and is set for 4 p.m. CST start. It will be televised on ESPNU with Pam Ward and Michelle Smith on the call.
All games this weekend can be heard locally on WEGL 91.1 or online at AuburnTigers.com with Kasey Langley on the air. Live stats will also be available on AuburnTigers.com throughout the weekend.
For more information on Auburn softball, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter @AuburnTigersSB or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSB.