April 6, 2014
|
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 19 Auburn softball team took No. 6 Florida to an extra inning on Sunday but fell 1-0 for its fourth consecutive loss and a three-game series sweep at the hands of the Gators.
Auburn starting pitcher Lexi Davis and Florida starting pitcher Hannah Rogers, matched each other pitch-for-pitch through regulation as no runs came across for either team. The Tigers touched Rogers up for four hits, all coming from the top of Auburn's order. Davis scattered six hits through 7.1 innings, giving up only the one earned run and allowing three walks. The loss drops Davis' record 16-7 for the season and only her second back-to-back loss outing this year.
Davis hadn't given up more than one hit in any inning on Sunday until reaching the eighth when she let a one out double by Kirsti Merritt get by, which was then followed by the game-winning single by Lauren Haeger. Until the Merritt at-bat, Davis had retired 12 of the last 13 Florida batters.
Much of what helped Davis' outing was the defense behind her, which tallied two double-plays and only committed one error. As a team, Auburn has only committed 22 errors in 41 games, but two occurring this weekend.
Emily Carosone, Morgan Estell, Kasey Cooper and Branndi Melero all finished Sunday's game with one hit, but the squad only has one walk in the game, coming from sophomore Tiffany Howard. For Howard, it was her third walk of the series and her fourth in her last 10 games.
The Tigers recorded their first hit in the very first at-bat of the game as Carosone led off with a bloop single to left field. The hit gave the sophomore her sixth hit in her last five games, but was out on a double-play later in the inning and keeping Auburn off the board early in the game.
The second inning was almost identical to the first as Melero singled to lead off the frame to extend her hitting streak to eight games, but again, was out on a double-play to end the inning and, again, keeping Auburn off the board.
The Tigers' best chance to score might have happened in the third inning as Howard walked with two outs and was followed by Carosone being hit by a pitch. It was Carosone's third time to be hit in the series and conference-leading 23rd hit by pitch this season. The next batter, Estell, singled up the middle and looked to be bringing around Howard to score from second, but the Florida shortstop, Kathlyn Medina, was able to get deep enough on the play and make the throw home to get Howard and end the threat.
Auburn only got one more hit the rest of the way, coming from Cooper in the fourth inning, who was caught stealing in the same inning and was the last scoring threat the Orange and Blue had the rest of the way.
Davis continued to throw well into extras, but suffered the two big hits from Merritt and Haeger to end the game. Merritt finished the game 2-for-4 for Florida, while the winning hit from Haeger was her first of the game.
Auburn now returns home after being on the road for the last seven games and will face No. 15 Missouri on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Jane B. Moore Field. Game time for Friday is set for 6 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday's game will start at 1 p.m. Saturday's game with Missouri will also be televised on Fox Sports.
For more information on Auburn softball, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter @AuburnTigersSB or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSB.