After splitting two close games the day before, Auburn wanted to get an advantage in the Tiger Invitational. The doubleheader against No. 18 Minnesota and Binghamton proved to be a solid opportunity. Without Tannon Snow and Tyler King, however, the Tigers faced an uphill battle.
Despite the missing players, the Tigers swept the doubleheader. They won Game 1 against Minnesota 5-1, and Game 2 against Binghamton 10-3.
Game 1
The Tigers were not deterred by their 5-4 loss to the Golden Gophers the day before. In the second inning, they jumped out to a three-run lead. Two of those runs came off a fly ball from Lindsey Garcia that the Minnesota right fielder couldn’t handle.
Sophomore Samantha Yarbrough got her first start in an Auburn uniform. Despite giving up a home run in the third, she didn’t allow another hit afterwards. At one point, she retired 11 straight Minnesota hitters.
“I knew I was completely capable of it.” Yarbrough said postgame when asked about her outing. “I didn’t have nerves at all.”
Yarbrough’s ERA now sits at 1.42 on the season.
The Auburn bats also continued to rake in runs. Senior outfielder Alyssa Rivera continued her strong season by notching a couple RBIs, including one off a single in the fourth inning.
While the Auburn offense was held scoreless after the fourth, the defense refused to give up any ground. Along with the solid performance from Yarbrough, the defense was even better. Rivera and defensive star Jaylin Calvert both robbed home runs at the wall. Calvert also had a nice diving catch in the fourth inning that kept the Golden Gophers at one run.
The Tigers, led by the pitching a defensive performance, downed No. 18 Minnesota 5-1, which is their second win against a ranked team on the season.
“It’s one of the better games we’ve played,” Coach Mickey Dean said. “We’re young, we’re just looking to get better each day.”
Game 2
Auburn’s second game was played against Binghamton. The Bearcats, who had just gotten their first win of the season earlier that day against Georgia Southern, were in their first ever meeting with Auburn.
Auburn’s offense showed no sign of fatigue from the game previous. In the first inning, Auburn scored nine runs off of four hits and three errors. Rivera added a homerun to her great day at the plate. She finished with four RBI between the two games.
“The big key for Alyssa is staying within herself," Dean said. “And she’s been doing that.”
Junior Lexie Handley got the start in the circle. With the strong run support behind her, she had no trouble mowing down the Binghamton hitters. She beat her career-high in strikeouts with 13, and finished the game with only one earned run after seven innings.
Binghamton, however, made a tough fight not to get run ruled. They scored two runs in the fourth off of three hits, and added another in the fifth after two infield singles.
Sophomore Aspyn Godwin, who subbed into the game as a designated player, nailed a home run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Tigers failed to score after that.
Despite not forcing an early victory, the Tigers’ first inning proved too much to handle for the Bearcats.
Auburn is now 12-8 on the season, and as SEC season grows near, Rivera is confident in her team’s abilities.
“I think it gives us motivation moving forward,” Rivera said. “We just got to show up every day like that and capitalize.”
Auburn has another double-header Sunday. It faces off against Binghamton at 11:30 a.m. CST and Georgia Southern at 2 p.m.
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Dylan Fox, Junior in Civil Site Design Engineering, joined The Plainsman as a sports writer in Spring 2020. From Geneva, IL.
