March 8, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 2 Auburn softball team used a 10-run first inning and a solid pitching outing from the staff to rack up a 14-0 win against Alabama State Wednesday night. The Tigers (20-2) picked up their 12th shutout of the season in the five-inning contest at Jane B. Moore Field.
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"We're playing the way we need to play," said head coach Clint Myers. "The defense is good. We've been getting some timely hitting. We're barreling more balls. Our quality at-bats are going up. We're moving in the right direction to start the SEC and we'll go from there."
Auburn totaled 11 hits from eight different sources, including multiple hits by Haley Fagan, Madi Gipson and Kendall Veach. The trio also contributed three RBI apiece and each had one extra-base hit.
Makayla Martin got the win in the circle to improve to 9-2 on the year. She accumulated four strikeouts in two innings of work. Kaylee Carlson tossed one scoreless frame in relief, while Ashlee Swindle closed the game out in two stanzas without allowing a run to cross the plate.
The Tigers asserted their dominance right from the start, scoring 10 runs in the first inning - a season-best.
Veach opened the docket with a three-run double, while Gipson followed that up with a run-scoring triple to right. Morgan Podany secured an infield single to bring in the team's fifth run of the inning.
After a bases-loaded walk from Carlee Wallace, Fagan delivered with a two-run double to the left-center gap to make it 8-0. Gipson then notched her second hit of the inning with a single back up the chute that brought in two and capped the biggest stanza of the season.
In the second, Kasey Cooper tallied her team-leading 25th RBI of the season on a sacrifice fly. Fagan - the next batter to step to the plate - took a two-strike pitch and flared it to left to bring in Wallace and extend Auburn's lead to 12-0.
Jenna Abbott kept the momentum going in the third when she drilled a first-pitch single to left field that brought Emily Spain in. KK Crocker ended the scoring barrage when she grounded out to the shortstop, scoring Bree Fornis.
Swindle then worked around just one hit in the final two innings to close out the team's 20th victory of the season.
The Tigers open up SEC play this weekend and will take on No. 12 LSU at Jane B. Moore Field, March 10-12.