Kasey Cooper batted in four RBIs, the Tigers bashed 12 hits and Ashlee Swindle picked up her second career win, as No. 9 Auburn took down the Alabama State Hornets on Wednesday evening in Montgomery. The six inning, run-rule victory was the first double digit outing for Auburn since the April 1st beatdown of UGA by a score of 13-4.
Swindle (2-0) worked the first four innings, allowing four hits and a single run in 55 pitches. The run was the first scored on the freshman in the last nine innings of action. The Hornets offense altogether batted in nine hits, ending much of the stanzas stranding runners on base. Senior first baseman Perri Hindy knocked in the run, while shortstop Laura Aguilar finished 2 for 3 at the plate.
Kasey Cooper spearheaded the offensive efforts in Auburn’s non-conference finale with her four RBIs and three-run homer in the top of the fourth. Freshman Alyssa Rivera scored a pair of runners, tallying a 2 for 3 clip along with freshman Carmyn Greenwood.
Rivera’s two-RBI single highlighted the top of the third inning, a frame in which Auburn (40-8, 12-6 SEC) spotted the Hornets a 4-0 lead. Cooper’s homer pushed the lead to 7-0 one inning later.
The Tiger bats caught fire in the sixth inning, scoring seven runs to double the score and land at the final mark of 14-1. Kendall Veach kicked off the action with an RBI single, followed by a pair of walks. Pinch-hitting freshman Justus Perry added two more with a double, as the stanza closed with KK Crocker coming home off a wild pitch and Cooper grounding out to score Draper.
The Auburn defense turned three double plays on the night, adding to their nation-leading mark of 39. The Tigers win over ASU (14-29) was the last non-conference contest of 2017, as Auburn now looks ahead to Mississippi State this coming weekend. The Bulldogs and Tigers are set to clash in game one on Friday, with the first pitch set for 6 p.m. CST at Jane B. Moore Field.
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