March 21, 2015
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AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 9 Auburn softball team earned its second sweep in as many weeks Saturday, defeating No. 12 Kentucky, 4-1 in the first game of the doubleheader and 9-7 in game two. The three-game sweep of the Wildcats marks Auburn as the only undefeated team left in the Southeastern Conference and is the program's first ever 6-0 start to the conference season.
Auburn got plenty of timely hitting in both games. A staple of the majority of Auburn's games this season. However, the pitching staff, once again, came through with clutch performances, upping the team's overall record to 32-2.
The Tigers are currently on an eight-game winning streak, with their last loss coming at Cal State Fullerton two weeks ago. The sweep of the Wildcats is Auburn's first since 2008.
"It was a long day," Auburn head coach Clint Myers. "This was the first time we had to face a ball club like this. Our philosophy is good pitching, good defense and timely hitting. I think we saw all of those things take place today. If we continue to grow as a team, execute and pay more attention to detail, then we have a great shot."
Junior Rachael Walters got the win in game one, coming in to relieve Marcy Harper in the middle of the fourth inning. Harper had a good start, going 3.2 innings and only giving up one earned run. But, that run tied the game at 1-1 and Harper had loaded the bases after before being pulled.
When Walters got the call to come out of the pen, she shut down Kentucky's offense the rest of the way including getting out of that bases loaded jam in the fourth. Walters is still a perfect 11-0 on the season as she only gave up two hits with four strikeouts over 3.1 innings.
In game one, the Tigers got on the board early in the first with an RBI double by senior Branndi Melero. She finished the game as the team's only player with a multi-hit performance going 2-for-4 with the lone RBI.
Kentucky tied it up at one in the fourth, forcing the early exit of Harper, but the Tigers were able to re-take the lead in the fifth after sophomore Kasey Cooper led off the inning with a crazy play that got her all the way to third base. Cooper hit a high fly ball to centerfield and looked to be an easy out for Kentucky's Sylver Samuel. However, as Samuel went to make the catch, she dropped it as it hit her glove allowing Cooper to keep running and get into third base.
The error was one of Kentucky's three in the game and Cooper was brought home two batters later on the sacrifice fly by Haley Fagan to give Auburn the 2-1 lead.
Another shutout inning by Walters in the sixth gave way to the Tigers getting more insurance in the bottom half of the inning. Junior Emily Carosone hit her 14th home run of the season, a two-run shot, marking the final runs of the game. Carosone continues to lead the team in the category and has four home runs in her last six games.
Carosone is now just four home runs away from the all-time Auburn single-season home run record of 18 set last year by current sophomore Kasey Cooper.
In game two of Saturday's double-header, Auburn looked to well on its way to a possible run-rule victory over the Wildcats to finish off the sweep, scoring six runs in the first inning after Kentucky scored one in the top half of the inning.
Walters got the start, but was unable to get out of the first, giving up one earned run and two hits with more potential runs on the way.
Junior Lexi Davis was brought in out of the bullpen with no outs in the first inning and the bases loaded with still no score. Kentucky was able to bring one of those runs home on a single by Breanne Ray, but Davis kept the damage at a minimum as the Wildcats had the 1-0 lead.
The brief Kentucky lead in the first was its first of the series before Auburn retook that lead in a big way and never relinquished it.
The Tigers batted around in the first, getting six runs on six hits to take the five run lead. The big hits coming on a two RBI single by Fagan and a two RBI double by junior Jade Rhodes. Both combined for four of the six RBI for the Tigers in the first inning and finished with a team-high three RBI each in the game.
Fagan finished the game 3-for-4 with a double and one run scored. Rhodes went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a double and a home run. Her 14th home run of the season came in the bottom of the fifth inning as Auburn had built up a 9-2 lead on the verge of a run-rule win.
The Tigers couldn't get that extra run in the sixth inning to win the game early and allowed Kentucky to make a small comeback in the seventh. The Wildcats scored five runs in the top of the seventh as Davis couldn't finish the game. After throwing six great innings, Davis gave way to Harper, who saw her second appearance in as many games to finish it out.
Davis picked up her 14th win of the season and is still undefeated at 14-0. She pitched a full six innings, scattering six hits with five earned runs and three walks.
Hidden in the box score after Fagan and Rhodes' three RBI game, junior Tiffany Howard went 4-for-4 in the contest with one run scored and one RBI. It's the first four-hit game for a Tiger this season and is her team-leading 16th multi-hit game of the season.
After the successful weekend, Auburn goes back on the road next week starting with a double-head at No. 10 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. Game times are set for 4 and 6 p.m. central and both games can be seen on ESPN3.
The Tigers will then resume its conference schedule playing a three-game series at Missouri in Columbia with the first game scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday's game will both be televised on the SEC Network. Game times are set for 7 and 12 p.m., respectively.
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.