Feb. 20, 2015
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TAMPA, Fla. - The 16th-ranked Auburn softball team didn't get its first day of the USF Wilson/DeMarini Classic off to a great start Friday, falling to defending Ivy League-champion Dartmouth, 4-2, suffering its first loss of the 2015 season. However, the Tigers bounced back in a big way in its second game, taking out host-school USF, 6-2, moving to 14-1 on the year.
Redshirt senior Morgan Estell came through with what turned out to be the key RBI in the game after hitting a sacrifice fly in the top of the third, scoring sophomore Kasey Cooper. Estell finished the game hitless, but had a two-run home run in game one against Dartmouth, her second homer of the year.
Redshirt sophomore Haley Fagan provided the insurance runs in the fifth inning, hitting a towering home run to right-center field to plate two and give the Tigers the 5-2 lead. Fagan finished Friday afternoon's game with USF 2-for-2, totaling three hits on the day combined with four RBI against USF.
In the circle, junior Rachael Walters was lights out, earning her fourth victory of the year after going five strong innings and only giving up two runs on three hits with a season-high five strikeouts. After giving up a run in the first and third inning, Walters tossed two scoreless innings, striking out the side in her final inning of work.
After struggling to score in its first game against Dartmouth, Auburn got back to its scoring ways in the first inning against the Bulls, scoring two runs after benefitting from three first inning walks and a two-run single from Fagan.
USF cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first, making it 2-1 Tigers, but Walters settled down after the first, surrendering only two hits for the remainder of her innings.
Both teams scored once in the third as USF continued to struggle to find the strike zone, walking three-straight batters to start the inning. Estell delivered the big sacrifice fly to score Cooper and was the last run the Tigers needed.
In Auburn's first game of the day, it was Dartmouth that got on the board early, taking a 2-0 lead after an inning and a half. However, Estell came through big time in the bottom half of the second, hitting the two-run homer to tie it up, for her second homer of the year.
Even with the new found momentum after the Estell homer, Auburn continued to struggle at the plate never stringing together more than two hits an inning for the remainder of the game.
The Big Green scored two more in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead and then held on for the victory. Starter Marcy Harper was saddled with the loss, giving up all four runs over three and two-thirds innings and dropping her record to 4-1 on the year.
Junior Lexi Davis did a good job in relief, surrendering only one hit over the final 3.1 innings and striking out five. Over her two relief appearances today, Davis pitched over five innings, giving up no runs and scattering three hits, while striking out nine.
Auburn gets back on the field on Saturday when it faces Marshall at 9 a.m. central at the USF Softball Stadium. That game will be the team's final game of the round-robin format as it will play a second game later in the day with the opponent still to be determined.
Live stats for tomorrow's game with Marshall will be provided via GoUSFBulls.com.
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.