The Tigers were swept by in-state rival Alabama in softball’s version of the Iron Bowl last weekend.
Saturday’s double header had Auburn lose 5-4 in the first game and an overwhelming 12-1 loss in the second. A victory in Sunday’s game was in the Tigers’ grasp, but Alabama’s two-run blast in the fifth inning put the Tide on top for the 4-2 win. Auburn is now 33-14 overall and 9-1 in the conference.
“I’m proud of the way our team came back and played today, after two tough games yesterday,” Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. “We made some nice plays today, but you have to give credit to Alabama. They got a couple big hits and that was enough.”
Sophomore hurler Anna Thompson was on the mound for Sunday’s game in its entirety. She allowed six hits, four earned runs and three home runs, but struck out eight.
The first moonball of the game came from last week’s SEC player of the week Charlotte Morgan. Morgan’s 2-out solo shot over the left-center wall tied the game up at one. The Tigers put up a run in the second inning after Kyndall White scored from third base as first baseman Jorja Bell’s chopper bounced past the Alabama shortstop.
Auburn took back the lead in the fourth inning when center fielder Krista Clyde shifted her base-running game into high speed as she scored from second base on another Bell single with two outs. Clyde reached first base on fielder’s choice and then stole second base.
The game turned to Alabama’s favor in the fifth inning as Crimson Tide senior Dani Woods two-run homer beamed over the right field wall to give Alabama a 3-2 lead. The boost in team morale had Alabama hand Auburn a three-up, three-down bottom of the inning.
Alabama’s lead became more comfortable in the final inning as Woods hit another long ball, this time bouncing off the scoreboard in left center.
With a 4-2 deficit, Auburn took offense with a vengeance.
Bell jump-started the inning as she sent the ball sailing over the heads of the infielders and rolled to the wall in right field for a sliding double.
Starr Dorsey followed up with a pop up to second base for the first out, and Alicia Hunolt, who came in the game as a pinch hitter for second baseman Cassie Trosclair, grounded out to third base. Brittany Scott held the fate of the game in her appearance at the plate, but a fly-out to shortstop made the 4-2 score final.
The series started out promising as Auburn was neck-and-neck with Alabama forcing extra innings in a game tied at 4. The Tide’s Kelly Eubanks’ two-out homer to left field in the top of the eight inning gave Alabama the 5-4 win when Auburn couldn’t answer back on offense.
The game took an exciting turn in the fifth inning when Auburn, who was down by three, earned two runs to make it a 4-3 game with smart base running and a Myesha Finney single to center field. In the bottom of the seventh.
Auburn rallied and forced extra innings. Scott had a one-out single, then moved to second when Finney was hit by a pitch.
Catcher and offensive threat Tatiana Fernandez was intentionally walked to load up the bases. After a strikeout for the second out, White walked and allowed Scott to cross the plate with ease and tie up the game.
The second game of the series was a hard loss for the Tigers who were dominated from the first pitch. Auburn used all four of their pitchers to try and shutdown the Tide, but its offense was unstoppable.
Alabama already had eight runs before Auburn got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Tigers had just five hits and four errors to Alabama’s 10 and none, respectively.
Auburn will return to the diamond Wednesday April 23 to take on Troy at 6 p.m. The Tigers then travel to Gainesville for a three-game series April 26-27 before heading home for the final series of the season against Kentucky May 3-4.
