April 26, 2017
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The No. 9 Auburn softball team wrapped up its regular season non-conference slate with a resounding 14-1 run-rule win at Alabama State Wednesday night. The Tigers (40-8) racked up 12 hits from nine sources in the six-inning contest.
"There were some balls hit pretty well tonight," said head coach Clint Myers. "The nice thing about it is we put some back-to-back-to-back hits together as well. The offense came alive, we ran the bases pretty aggressively, the defense was pretty good and the pitching with Ashlee and Jenna - I thought they both did an outstanding job."
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Three freshmen notched multi-hit games as KK Crocker, Carmyn Greenwood and Alyssa Rivera paced the offense with two hits apiece. The trio combined for five runs and three RBI on the night.
Kasey Cooper had a team-high four RBI and drilled her 65th career home run. Victoria Draper tied for the game-high with three runs scored.
Ashlee Swindle earned her second consecutive win in her second career start in the circle. The Jasper, Ala. native went four innings and allowed just one run. Jenna Abbott worked the final two innings and struck out one.
Defensively, Auburn tied a season-best mark with three double plays in the game. The Tigers lead the country with 39 double plays after Wednesday night's contest.
After a quiet opening two frames, the bats broke out in a big way for Auburn as the road team plated seven runs between the third and fourth innings.
Crocker opened the scoring ledger by scoring on a wild pitch. Later in the third, with the bases loaded, Rivera flared a two-run single to the right-center gap to make it 3-0. A sacrifice fly from Courtney Shea scored Carlee Wallace to cap the inning.
The Tigers extended their advantage to 7-0 when Cooper launched a three-run homer to deep center field on the first pitch she saw in the fourth.
Alabama State (14-29) got a run back in the home half of the fourth to cut the margin down to six. The Lady Hornets had the bases loaded with zero outs, but Swindle buckled down to get out of the frame with little damage with help from a double play featuring Cooper, Crocker and Kendall Veach.
In the sixth, Auburn iced the game away with a seven-run inning. Back-to-back hits from Wallace and Rivera put runners on the corners to lead off the frame. Veach then scorched a run-scoring single through the left side.
The bases were loaded when Greenwood hit a single to left, marking the second consecutive game the Birmingham, Ala. native produced multi-hit games. Shea brought home a run on another sacrifice fly and Crocker earned a free pass with the bases juiced to make it 10-1.
Justus Perry then laced a two-run single up the middle to extend Auburn's lead. A wild pitch and an RBI groundout capped the scoring with the Tigers ahead 14-1.
Abbott worked a clean bottom of the sixth and ended the game on a strikeout, sending Auburn to its 40th win of the campaign.
The Tigers return to the field Friday evening when they open a three-game series against Mississippi State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Jane B. Moore Field.