The No. 20 Tigers got back into the win column Sunday, defeating the Furman Paladins 15-1 and the UAB Blazers 11-3 in the Plainsman Invitational.
Furman came into the game with a 2-6 record. The Tigers came into the game donning a 5-3 record, having just lost to Texas Tech Saturday night.
The Tigers came out swinging but with little success at first. The game remained scoreless until the third inning, when the Auburn offense exploded for eight runs.
“Our bats came alive today,” said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean. “Yesterday they faced two really good pitchers and I thought our offense carried over to today.”
The scoring began when senior Casey McCrackin homered for the fifth time this year, sending Taylon Snow home as well. After a solo home run by Tannon Snow, which went off the scoreboard at center field, the Tigers had quickly garnered a three-run lead.
“I didn’t even realize that it went off the scoreboard,” Snow said.
A bases loaded walk forced by Makenna Dowell gave Auburn a 4-0 lead, and was immediately followed up by a two-RBI single by Morgan Podany. Podany would also steal home at the end of the third, ending the eight-run third inning.
Furman bounced back and scored a run when freshman Savannah Hughes had an RBI groundout that brought home Cammy Pereira.
The Tigers came out swinging again in the bottom of the fourth with Alyssa Rivera hitting a solo home run over the center field scoreboard. Scoring continued with Dowell hitting a sac-fly to send home Bree Fornis, followed by Brittany Maresette sending home Rachel Cook on an RBI single and giving Auburn an 11-1 lead in the game.
McCrackin wasn’t finished racking up extra stats as she had a two-RBI single to center field. The final score of the game was a 2 run homer by Tannon Snow, giving Auburn its eventual 15-1 win over Furman.
“I was just looking for my pitch, and I got those pitches,” Tannon Snow said. “I just did what I needed to do.”
Following the win over Furman, Auburn played host to UAB, defeating the Blazers 11-3.
The Blazers came out hot and racked up a two-run lead, but that lead was quickly erased in the bottom of the second. RBI singles by Justus Perry and Maresette tied up the game, and Auburn took the lead after an RBI by Taylon Snow. Tannon Snow had another RBI single, giving Auburn a 4-2 lead.
“It’s just great to be back out there in the dirt and doing everything,” Tannon Snow said.
Rivera decided she wanted in on the scoring and promptly rocketed a three-run homer to center field, giving the Tigers a 7-2 lead at the bottom of the second.
Scoring continued for the Tigers in the fourth with Veach scoring a two-RBI triple and then getting home off a wild pitch from UAB’s Faith Hegh.
UAB scored another run in the fifth on a solo home run by Sarah Crawford, but Auburn reciprocated in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Veach. Auburn won the game in the fifth by run rule, improving its record to 7-3 on the year.
“There's always room for improvement, but that’s the nice thing about this team, they don’t take that personally,” Dean said. “They take it as a challenge.”
Auburn will host the Tiger Invitational next weekend, starting with playing Villanova. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. CST at Jane B. Moore Field.
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