Feb. 18, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. - Makayla Martin tossed 8.1 scoreless innings and struck out 13 to guide the No. 2 Auburn softball team to wins against Evansville and Creighton Saturday evening at Jane B. Moore Field. The Tigers (8-1) defeated the Purple Aces by a score of 5-3 before taking down Creighton, 9-0, in five innings in the second day of the Plainsman Invitational.
"[Martin] was lights out tonight," said head coach Clint Myers. "The ball had life. She was in the mid- to upper-60s."
The San Diego, Calif. native allowed only four runners to reach base all night and held opponents to a .148 battling clip across the two contests.
Martin received insurance from Haley Fagan and Alyssa Rivera, who each paced the offense with two hits. Kasey Cooper and Carlee Wallace brought in 4 and 3 RBI, respectively.
In the first game, Courtney Shea, Emily Spain and Victoria Draper all drew walks in the second frame to load the bases with one out. Wallace then reached on a fielder's choice, but it was enough to score Shea and give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Two innings later, Auburn raced across four runs to bump its margin to 5-0, highlighted by four walks and two illegal pitches.
Evansville (0-4) was able to make the game interesting by scoring two runs in the fifth and one run in the seventh. However, Martin - who was relieved earlier in the game - came back into the game and induced a groundout to send the Tigers to a 5-3 win.
"Good teams figure out ways to win," stated Myers.
Auburn put up crooked numbers in the second and third innings in the night cap against Creighton to secure the victory.
Draper beat out an infield single with the bases loaded and two outs that brought in the contest's first run. Wallace then laced an RBI single before Cooper followed that up with a bases-clearing double that scored three and made it 5-0 in favor of the home team.
Spain flared a single through the right side of the infield that brought in Carmyn Greenwood in the third to extend the margin. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Madi Gipson and Wallace put the Tigers up 8-0.
In the home half of the fourth, Rivera popped a double into left field that scored Brittany Maresette and capped Auburn's night at the plate, 9-0.
Meanwhile, Martin had something special cooking in the circle.
The sophomore totaled eight strikeouts and did not allow a single baserunner through the first four innings. Her bid for a perfect game was broken up with one out in the top of the fifth on a single up the middle.
Martin sent down the next two batters to notch a career-high 10 strikeouts and propel the Tigers to their seventh straight win.
Auburn concludes its home tournament Sunday with a 2 p.m. tilt against Mercer.