April 24, 2015
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AUBURN, Ala. -- A six-run sixth inning led the No. 8 Auburn Tiger softball team to a 9-1 win in six innings over Arkansas Friday night at Jane B. Moore Field, while also getting a great pitching performance from junior Marcy Harper in the circle.
A crowd of 1,274 watch the Tigers match last season's win total of 42 games and witness the Tigers' 20th run-rule win of the season.
Harper, who was not scheduled to pitch today, pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and striking out five Arkansas batters for her ninth win of the year.
"Marcy threw phenomenal and she was not even scheduled," Auburn head coach Clint Myers said. "I told her we were going to surprise her like that. Lexi Davis had a hard time getting loose, so Corey (Myers) made the call late and Marcy just went out there and shut them down. It was a great performance by her."
Offensively, redshirt sophomore Haley Fagan led the way with a 2-for-3 game, both singles, while also scoring a run. Also, her defense was a spark for the Tigers as she made multiple plays deep in the hole at shortstop to keep the Razorback runners off-base.
Senior Branndi Melero opened the scoring in the bottom of the third for Auburn as her single drove in Emily Carosone to give Auburn a 1-0 lead.
Auburn (42-8, 14-5 SEC) tacked on two more in the bottom of the fourth off of a Carlee Wallace home run to push the lead to 3-0. The home run was Wallace's eighth of the season.
The Razorbacks (15-31, 1-18 SEC) got a run back in the top of the fifth after Jessica Harrison homered to left field to score Arkansas' only run of the game.
Arkansas continued to put the pressure on Harper and the Tigers after the homer, loading the bases with two outs in the fifth, but Harper got out of the jam and the kept the 3-1 lead alive.
The Tigers continued its stellar defense into the sixth when Auburn notched its conference-leading 22nd double play after the Razorbacks got a lead-off single by Stephanie Canfield.
Auburn closed out the game by tacking on four runs on two Arkansas errors in the sixth and scoring all six runs in the frame with just two hits. Auburn scored the last four runs on either a wild pitch, a walk, a hit by pitch and a sacrifice fly. The final RBI came on the sacrifice fly by senior Morgan Estell to score Carosone and end the game.
"Everything we say, good pitching, good defense, and timely hitting, will win you a lot of ball games and that is what you saw tonight," Myers said. "It was a great crowd. They were into it. It was a fun night."
Auburn's next game will be Saturday with first pitch set for 6 p.m. The game can be seen on SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN app.
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.