AUBURN, Ala. – Trailing by a run in the bottom of the sixth, Alyssa Rivera slugged her sixth home run of her senior season to lift Auburn softball (16-11) to a 2-1 victory over Georgia State (7-16) at Jane B. Moore Field Wednesday night.
The victory was Auburn's seventh come-from-behind victory of the 2020 season.
Redshirt junior Lexie Handley had a brilliant night in the circle, holding the Panthers to no hits through four innings. Bailee Richardson broke up the no-hitter in the top of the fifth with a solo home run to right field.
The Tigers were kept silenced until the sixth, using pinch-hitter freshman Lindsey Garcia as an offensive spark. Garcia knocked a double to lead off the sixth and turn over the lineup to Rivera, who put the Tigers on top with the two-run homer.
Rivera led the Tigers at the plate with her 1-for-2 performance, driving in the two runs off the dinger. Rivera also drew a walk in the contest. Junior Makenna Dowell was the only Tiger to turn in a multi-hit performance as she went 2-for-2 with two singles and drew a walk.
Handley tossed the complete game to improve to 4-6 in the circle. The leftie allowed just two hits, giving up the solo home run, and walked one in the contest. She fanned three over her seven innings of work.
SCORING RECAP
Top 5
Bailee Richardson slugged a solo home run to right field, her second of the season, to give Georgia State the first lead of the game.
Georgia State 1; Auburn 0
Bottom 6
Pinch-hitter Lindsey Garcia led off the game with a double to center, turning over the lineup to the top of the order. After not being able to execute a sacrifice bunt, Alyssa Rivera made up for it with two-run bomb to deep center.
Georgia State 1; Auburn 2
TIGER TRACKS
Alyssa Rivera – Drawing a walk in her first at-bat, extended her reached base streak to 12 consecutive games. Slugged her team-leading sixth home run of the season, it was her 28th of her career. She now stands tied for 10th place with Kyndall White (2008-11) in Auburn history for career homers. With two RBI, Rivera now has six multi-RBI games this season and 30 over her career.
Makenna Dowell – Recorded her seventh multi-hit game of her junior season, the eighth of her Auburn career.
WHAT THEY SAID
Head Coach Mickey Dean
"We did a good job. We had control in the circle. We played good defense and we had timely hitting. That's what the game came down to."
Redshirt junior Lexie Handley
"I had a good warmup and I think after a long week on the road we were ready to be back at home. I was certainly excited to be back home and play on our field again. Anytime we can play softball it's a great day."
UP NEXT
Auburn opens its Southeastern Conference home slate with a three-game series against No. 23 Missouri. The series kicks off on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT on the SEC Network +.