Feb. 15, 2015
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AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 17 Auburn softball team secured its 12th win in a row Sunday afternoon, defeating Winthrop 15-4 in five innings, claiming the Tiger Invitational title. The win is also Auburn's 11th run-rule victory out of the 12 possible games played. Of its 11 run-rule wins, none have made it past the fifth inning.
The Tigers continued their offensive onslaught to start the season, notching 15 runs on 11 hits on the Winthrop pitching staff. 10 different players recorded at least one hit Sunday afternoon, while redshirt sophomore Haley Fagan led the way as the only Tiger with more than one hit, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs scored and three RBI. Two of her RBI came off another big homer in the fourth inning, her fourth of the year and first of the weekend.
As for the pitchers, junior Marcy Harper got the start in the circle. She threw a solid three innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits, two of those runs coming in the fourth inning.
To prevent any more damage, the Auburn pitching staff pulled Harper and looked to sophomore Jenna Abbott to finish out the game. Abbott threw the final two innings and gave up only one run on two hits in her seventh appearance of the season. Harper ended up earning the victory as she is now a perfect 4-0.
Auburn began the game just like it had done many times before, scoring four times in the opening frame, three coming off the bat of junior Jade Rhodes. After junior Tiffany Howard, who was fresh off a two triple day, led off the game with her third triple in as many games, junior Emily Carosone brought her home with a deep sacrifice fly to left field, giving Auburn the 1-0 lead.
A Kasey Cooper walk led to a Fagan single, her first of the day, bring Rhodes up with a chance to break the game open. Rhodes delivered with her fourth homer of the year, a towering home run over the left field wall, giving her team a 4-0 lead. Rhodes finished the game 1-for-2 and is currently tied for the team lead in RBI (18) with teammates Carosone and senior Branndi Melero.
The Tigers added five more runs in the second inning, which started with a solo Carlee Wallace home run. Wallace went 1-for-2 on the day and has now hit a homer in four of her last five games.
The home run by Wallace forced Winthrop to make a pitching change, but it didn't seem to help much as the new pitcher allowed two RBI walks, making it 7-0 Tigers in the second inning.
Later in the inning, with the bases still loaded, freshman Courtney Shea came through with the 2 RBI single through the right side pushing the lead to 9-0 before even two innings had been played.
Auburn added three more runs in the top of the fourth as it looked to put the game out of reach, but Winthrop tried to stage a small comeback, scoring four in the bottom half of the fourth, making it 12-4 Tigers. Had Winthrop scored one more, it might have extended the game past the fifth inning.
However, the Tigers put any doubt to rest as they scored three more runs of their own in the top half of the fifth, getting production from its bench after most of the starters had been taken out in the fourth.
Junior Maria Mitchell and freshman Whitney Jordan each came up with the RBI knock in the fifth, giving Auburn the 15-4 lead it finished with in the victory.
Through 12 games this season, Auburn offense has shown its muscles as it has scored 139 runs to its opponents' 26 runs. 68 of those runs have occurred in the first inning, including four today, making up 49 percent of Auburn's total runs this year.
Going into Sunday's game, Auburn had the most productive offense in the Southeastern Conference, scoring 25 more runs than Georgia, which went into Sunday with 99 runs scored.
The Tigers will be back on the field on Wednesday when they face Georgia State again at Jane B. Moore Field, two days before going on the road for its first games away from home this season. First pitch for Wednesday is slated for 5:30 p.m. and can also be seen online on SEC Network+. SEC Network+ is only available via the Watch ESPN app or WatchESPN.com.
Fans can order their tickets for this season online at AUBTix.com, over the phone by calling 1-855-282-2010 or in person by visiting the Auburn Arena Ticket Office, which is open 7:45 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. Tickets are still available for the full season, pick-six mini-packs and individual games.
For more information on Auburn softball, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter @Auburn_Softball or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSoftball.