AUBURN, Ala. – Memories of last weekend's loss are now far behind the Auburn softball team as the Tigers ran their winning streak to four games following an 8-0 win over Villanova and a 4-1 victory against North Dakota State to start the Tiger Invitational.
In the opening game for Auburn (9-3), the Tigers used a combination of pitching and offense to move past the Wildcats in five innings. It was Auburn's third-straight run-rule win since dropping to Texas Tech last weekend. That streak, however, was broken against the Bison later in the evening.
Lexie Handley got her second start in the circle in as many weekends, but lasted only 2.2 innings against Villanova before Ashlee Swindle was called upon to go the remaining 2.1. The duo combined to strike out six batters and surrendered only two hits and kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard.
At the plate, Brittany Maresette led the way with two hits, including a two-run triple which extended Auburn's lead to four runs in the bottom of the third. The Tigers added a single run in the fourth, before plating three in the bottom of the fifth, which was highlighted with a Casey McCrackin game-ending single.
Alyssa Rivera, who recorded her 100th career in the fourth inning against Villanova, got the Tigers' scoring started against NDSU with a solo home run to right-center field in the bottom of the second. The Bison answered with an unearned run off Makayla Martin the following half inning, but the preseason All-SEC selection kept NDSU off the scoreboard as she struck out seven to earn her fifth win of the season.
Following a McCrackin run-scoring double in the third, Rivera struck again with a run-scoring single to McCrackin. The junior right fielder capped a 3-for-3 performance with a third run-scoring hit in the fifth.