Auburn softball fell to no. 11 Tennessee, 8-6 in its second match of the weekend’s three-game series after a nail-biting finish Friday, April 3, at home.
The loss broke the team’s spotless home-field record of 21-0 for the 2015 season.
The Vols took the lead in the first half-inning with a homerun by Gretchen Aucoin after Tiffany Howard’s first left field catch of three total throughout the game.
At bat, the Tigers couldn’t muster a run, and gave the inning to Tennessee, 1-0.
The Tigers wouldn’t respond until the bottom of the second with Jade Rhodes’ sixteenth career homerun this season, tying the game 1-1.
In the third, Emily Carosone’s hit merely missed the right-field wall and gave her a double, bringing in Tiffany Howard for another point on the board.
Kasey Cooper then nailed a pitch to center field for a single that allowed Carosone to plate another run, giving Auburn their first lead of the game, 3-1.
The Tigers didn’t hold on to the lead for long, when Tennessee’s Scarlet McSwain nailed one over the fence to plate three for the Vols.
No response came from the Tigers directly after at bat as Auburn headed into the fifth trailing by one, 4-3.
Although the Tigers held Tennessee on defense in the fifth with Lexi Davis on the mound, opposing pitcher Rainey Gaffin dished out three straight strikeouts to Howard, Carosone and Cooper.
“We knew coming in what she threw,” said coach Clint Myers. “We just didn’t know how to execute our plan.”
It wasn’t looking good for the Tigers headed into the sixth, as Tennessee’s Shaliyah Geathers hammered the team’s third homerun of the right, giving the Vols three more runs on the board.
Almost immediately after, Tori Lewis nailed a pitch to far right field and rounded the bases home for another spreading out the score, 8-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Branndi Melero hit a double-turned-triple when the ball slipped past the Tennessee second baseman, Megan Greer.
Haley Fagan’s double and Morgan Estell’s sacrifice pop-fly then brought in Melero for one more run, but that it for Auburn as they headed into the seventh.
On defense, Estell caught an impressive pair of back-to-back center-field hits from Tennessee, but it was Jenna Abbott’s pitch hit to Carosone to throw to first that ended the half-inning with no runs from Tennessee.
“Great play,” Myers said. “She came in and did a great job, she hasn’t pitched in a month.”
At bat, the Tigers were able to recuperate with two base hits from Carosone and Melero, including a pitch hit that allowed Howard to walk.
With the bases loaded, Haley Fagan’s single brought in Howard and after, another single from Rhodes brought in one to make the game 8-6, but it wasn’t enough to surpass the lead and the Tigers left defeated.
“This is a relatively young team,” Myers said. “Can we play better? Most definitely.”
1, 736 fans attended Friday night’s game, making it the highest attendance recorded this season.
Four hundred additional bleachers were added to the third base line to account for a full house in this weekend’s series.
Fans surprisingly filled up the addition before the existing seats that sit closer to the foul ball netting, which could be the reason for the crowd’s preference since most foul balls soared within the higher section of fans.
As promised in pre-season with the scoreboard upgrade, coach Clint Myers invited the packed crowd to a post-game movie showing of a Disney favorite, “Frozen”, complete with a dressed-up “Elsa”.
The concession stand also offered free popcorn to everyone in attendance in exchange for ticket stubs.
The Tigers will take Tennessee again Saturday afternoon, April 4, for the third and final game of the weekend series.
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