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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn defeats Villanova, North Dakota State on first day of Tiger Invitational

<p>Justus Perry (18) prepares to swing during Auburn softball vs. Villanova on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.</p>

Justus Perry (18) prepares to swing during Auburn softball vs. Villanova on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.

Two up, two down to start the Tiger Invitational.

Auburn defeated Villanova by mercy rule with an 8-0 victory through five innings on Friday afternoon before taking down North Dakota State 4-1. 

This was the first-ever meeting between Auburn and Villanova and the Tiger’s third-straight victory by mercy ruling. Auburn pitching only allowed two hits against the Wildcats, as pitchers Lexie Handley and Ashlee Swindle dominated from the circle with the pair finishing with three strikeouts apiece in a shutout outing. 

Handley got the start before leading the game off with two strikeouts.

In the bottom of the first, Casey McCrackin reached base for the 24th consecutive game, reaching on the first of the Wildcats' seven walks.

In the bottom of the third frame, Carmyn Greenwood put Auburn on the board with a two-run single to right field. Two batters later, Brittany Maresette hit a two-run triple to put Auburn up 4-0.

Auburn had a combined no-hitter until the top of the fourth before Olivia LaQua singled to first base. In the bottom of the inning, McCrackin hit a sacrifice fly to advance the Tiger’s lead to 5-0. 

Justus Perry hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth before later scoring on an error, followed by Maresette scoring off of a single by McCrackin.

Before its loss to Auburn, the Bison entered this game with a seven-year streak of beating at least one ranked team per season.

“That’s a good team we beat, they’re good,” said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean. “I thought we played hard, we need to clean some things up, but as a head coach the one thing you ask for is to play hard and you can’t ask for much more than that.”

For the second-straight game, pitching and timely hitting pushed the Tigers to add a digit in the win column. Makayla Martin went the distance and recorded seven strikeouts while allowing five hits.

Alyssa Rivera had the lone home run of the day, her fourth of the season.

“It’s the effort to just come out here and give it all you got,” Rivera said. “I knew that ball was a goner when I hit it. I want to come out here and give full effort and full potential and make the best out of it.”

The Bison tied the game at one apiece in the top of the third behind an RBI single by Stephanie Soriano. Auburn answered with McCrackin and Rivera knocking in two runs, pushing the score to 3-1. 

Auburn held the score 3-1 until Rivera had her third hit and third RBI of the day, propelling the Tigers to their final score of 4-1.  

The second day of the Tiger Invitational continues on Saturday at Jane. B Moore Field, as Auburn hosts Eastern Illinois at 2 p.m. before a rematch game against the Bison at 4:30 p.m. 

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