March 12, 2016
By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. -- No. 1 Florida. No. 3 Auburn. One late-inning comeback by the Tigers. Then another by the Gators.
No wonder Auburn coach Clint Myers said the fans clearly got their money's worth Saturday night, though it was Florida that cashed in with a 6-3 victory. Kayli Kvistad made that so when she hit a 3-run homer in the seventh to settle the clash of Top 3 teams in their Southeastern Conference opener.
They'll play again at 4 p.m. Sunday in Jane B. Moore Field.
Kirsti Merritt hit a 3-run homer for Florida in the third. Auburn scored a run in the fourth on a Jenna Abbott sacrifice fly, and then added two in the sixth to tie the game and set up the dramatic finish.
"The difference in the game was we made two pitching mistakes and they capitalized," Myers said. "We had some balls we could have hit, and we just didn't."
The heavyweight teams brought in glowing records in front of a season-high 2,059 fans. When the night was done, Florida improved to 25-0. Auburn, losing for the first time in 15 games, fell to 22-2.
"For the first SEC game with this team and a freshman out there pitching (in Makayla Martin), I thought we did a great job. I would say this is going to be a very interesting series," Myers said.
The close game brought close calls.
"We're not going to make excuses. We're not going to put any blame" Myers said. "We have to be better than we were tonight.
"There's a reason they're 1 and there's a reason we're 3. It was a heck of a ballgame."
Auburn's dramatics came in the sixth. The Tigers, trailing 3-1, loaded the bases with no outs, then scratched out one run on a double play groundout and scored another run on an error.
"That was a nice comeback in the sixth. We did the things we needed to do," Myers said.
Kvistad flipped that in the seventh.
Auburn had its moments. "Look at defense we played. It was phenomenal," Myers said.
Martin allowed three runs in 3.2 innings. "How many extra bases has she given up still? She's probably the only pitcher in the country who has given up one extra base hit, and she's been in nine games." Lexi Davis didn't allowed an earned run in three innings. Rachael Walters finished up.
"We just have to continue to grow. We're not going to change our game plan," Myers said.
The series continues at 4 Sunday and will conclude at 6 p.m. Monday.
Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @AUGoldMine