March 14, 2015
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OXFORD, Miss. - Junior Jade Rhodes completed a feat not seen from an Auburn player in 14 years. The first baseman hit three home runs in Saturday night's SEC opener against Ole Miss, leading the No. 12 Tigers over the Rebels, 14-3 in five innings. The win moves Auburn's record to 27-2 and is the Tigers' 17th run-rule victory.
Rhodes completed a 3-for-3 night, bringing home seven RBI, which was also a new career-high. Rhodes became the first Auburn player to hit three home runs in a single game since Mary Petrie hit three against Tennessee in 2001.
Her seven RBI is also a new single-game high for an Auburn player this season. Four other players this year had six RBI in one game before Rhodes brought home seven tonight. This season, Rhodes now ties for the team-lead in home runs (11) and has 36 RBI this season.
"It feels great, but I wouldn't have had all these home runs without my teammates," Rhodes said after the game. "They were back there, cheering me on. If they didn't get into scoring position, I wouldn't have had those home runs. I was feeling good and seeing the ball well. I wanted to take a good momentum from batting practice."
Auburn got a lot of offensive output from more than just Rhodes. The Tigers tallied 14 hits in Saturday's game and redshirt sophomore Haley Fagan had three hits in the game as well. Her three hits tied a new season-high as two of her three hits were doubles
The Auburn pitching didn't miss a beat either as junior Marcy Harper got the start, tossing three strong innings and giving up only three earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and only one walk. The win is her seventh of the year and second in as many appearances.
Junior Rachael Walters came in to pitch in relief after Ole Miss scored one in the fourth off a solo home run. Harper had put two more Rebels on before getting pulled with nobody out, but Walters was able to stop the surge, getting three quick outs to end the frame and the threat.
Walters came back out in the fifth to finish things off, going three-up and three-down to finish with two strikeouts in two innings of work.
The Tiger offense was in control of the game from start to finish. After a scoreless first inning, Auburn struck first with three runs off the first Rhodes home run. Ole Miss responded in the bottom half of the second with two runs of their own, but the Tigers made sure that was the closest it would get the rest of the game.
Auburn batted around in the third, scoring four times, two coming off the second Rhodes home run. Earlier in the inning, Fagan brought around two on a double off the centerfield wall as Auburn forged ahead to a 7-2 lead.
In the fourth inning, Auburn unloaded its lineup, batting around for the second time in the game. However, the inning didn't look promising from the start. Both Kasey Cooper and Branndi Melero opened the frame with strikeouts and Ole Miss looked to be headed back to the dugout quickly.
Auburn's offense then began to work its two-out magic. First, Fagan hit her second double of the night, followed by an Estell walk to bring up Rhodes. Rhodes launched her record third home run to bring around two runs and make it a 10-2 game.
Following the homer, Courtney Shea hit a bloop single down the left field line to keep the inning going. Jenna Abbott and Tiffany Howard both walked to load the bases, bringing up Emily Carosone. Before Saturday night, Auburn had seven grand slams this season, three off the bat of Carosone. On the first pitch, Carosone belted her fourth grand slam of the season into the night, pushing Auburn's lead to 14-2.
Carosone now has 11 home runs this season, tying with Rhodes for the team-lead, who had eight coming in.
Auburn and Ole Miss will be back on the field for game two of the three-game series Sunday as the two teams will face off at 4:30 p.m. The game will be Auburn's first nationally televised game of the season as it can be seen on ESPNU. Trey Bender and Cheri Kempf will be on the call.
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.