Auburn softball stepped out of conference play for a midweek matchup with Tennessee State and came away with a 6-1 win at Tiger Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.
Auburn (19-7, 1-2 SEC) received an exceptional performance from freshman starting pitcher Marcy Harper, who threw seven innings and gave up one run on four hits. Harper also recorded a career-best 10 strikeouts. The win was good for Harper's fifth complete game and improved her record to 9-2.
The game was scoreless till Auburn struck first in the fourth inning when freshman Emily Carosone singled up the middle, scoring sophomore Branndi Melero and giving Auburn a 1-0 lead.
Auburn added another run in the fifth inning to push the Tigers' lead to 2-0. Freshman Kelsey Bogaards led off the inning with a single and stole second. After advancing to third on a passed ball, Bogaards scored after a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Tiffany Howard.
Auburn added some insurance runs with some two-out magic in the seventh inning. Melero sent a double through the left side and scored sophomore Morgan Estell. Then a Tennessee State fielding error on a Carosone grounder allowed Melero and Howard to score, giving the Tigers a 5-0 lead.
Senior Caitlin Schultze singled through the left side and scored Carosone to cap off a four-run inning for Auburn.
Harper came back in to pitch the seventh and surrendered one run on an Audrey Sensing double to left field that scored Tedra Alford, but Harper hunkered down to record her ninth win and fifth complete game of the season.
Auburn takes on Middle Tennessee State Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
