Feb. 24, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. - No. 2 Auburn had its most complete day on the diamond this season after defeating UMass-Lowell, 13-0, and North Dakota, 8-0, in consecutive shutouts that were decided by run-rule in the Tiger Invitational.
"We really had some good at-bats," said head coach Clint Myers. "It was a complete day; great pitching, great defense."
The Tigers (12-1) totaled 20 hits, including five home runs, at the plate. Conversely, the pitching trio of Kaylee Carlson, Makayla Martin and Ashlee Swindle surrendered just five hits in the circle.
Offensively, Kasey Cooper, Haley Fagan and Alyssa Rivera led the charge with three hits apiece. Casey McCrackin, Kendall Veach and Carlee Wallace also chimed in multiple hits in the 11 innings of play.
The pitching staff stymied the opposition all day long, amassing six strikeouts and touting a .143 opponent batting average.
Auburn has recorded three consecutive non-conference shutouts for the first time since March 6-9, 2016.
In the opening game, the Tigers blasted three home runs as the designated road team to pace the offense to a 13-0 win against UMass-Lowell (1-5).
Wallace opened the affair with a leadoff home run on a 2-1 pitch that cleared the center field wall. One inning later, McCrackin smacked her second career roundtripper - a three-run shot - to extend Auburn's lead to 4-0.
The game was put out of reach in the top of the third. Courtney Shea laced an RBI single with two on to bring home the first run. Whitney Jordan then belted a three-run homer off the scoreboard to clear the bases and make it 8-0.
The Tigers loaded up the bases and scored two more when Cooper and Fagan drew back-to-back walks.
Bree Fornis brought in Auburn's 11th run of the afternoon on a fielder's choice. She and Emily Spain later scored when Rivera rifled a two-run single up the middle to make it 13-0.
Carlson tossed the opening three frames and allowed only one hit while striking out two. Swindle came on and closed out the win with two scoreless stanzas of relief.
In the second game, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in an 8-0 win versus North Dakota (6-6).
Cooper started things off when she tattooed the first pitch and took it the other way over the left-center fence, putting the home team up 1-0.
Rivera followed suit with a two-run home run in the second for her first career roundtripper.
In the fifth inning, McCrackin drilled a two-run single with the bases loaded and two outs to extend the Tigers' lead to 5-0.
Auburn loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and Veach brought it the team's sixth run of the game with a six-pitch walk.
Shea - the next batter - got the job done with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Cooper. Two hitters later, Rivera flared a run-scoring single through the right side to end the game by run-rule, 8-0.
The Tigers resume their annual home tournament Saturday when they take on Yale at 2:30 p.m. and No. 13 James Madison at 4:45 p.m.