Auburn Ekes Past Tough-Luck Bulldogs In Seventh, 6-5
May 25, 2016 | Softball
* Official Statistics
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AUBURN, Ala. - Tara Donaldson's pinch hit RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning plated Lauren Walton with the winning run and 20th-ranked Auburn completed a four-run comeback to clinch its weekend series with visiting Mississippi State on a 6-5 victory Saturday afternoon at Jane B. Moore Field.
Katie Cooley doubled and scored to highlight a 2-for-3 day at the plate, while Hayle Guess and Courtney Bures each drove in a pair of runs for the Bulldogs (30-18, 4-12 SEC) who suffered their 10th consecutive loss and 11th-straight SEC loss with the result. Auburn (28-12, 9-8) got multi-hit days from four different players, including rightfielder Sara Ghezzi who doubled twice and tallied a RBI on a 3-for-4 outing for the Tigers.
Kelli Miller, coming off rehab from shoulder surgery in September, allowed five earned runs on eight hits in her first start of the campaign but did not get a decision. Reliever Ragan Blake came on with one on and one out in the bottom of the fifth and blew her second save opportunity of the season, allowing a run on four hits in two and one-thirds innings from the circle en route to her seventh-straight loss of the season.
Auburn starter Holly Currie did not fare much better than Miller, allowing five runs on five hits in four and two-thirds innings of work but, likewise, did not get a decision. Beth DiPietro (14-4), who collected the victory in game one of the series on Friday evening, surrendered just two hits in two and one-thirds innings of relief work to pick up the win for the hosts.
"We did a better job at the plate today and we scored some runs early, but we just couldn't keep them off the scoreboard," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "They put too many leadoff runners aboard and used that to their advantage. They just got too many hits for us to pull it out."
State needed just three at-bats to forge a first inning lead, getting Guess aboard via a fielding error by Auburn, then took a 2-0 lead on the ensuing at-bat when Bures hammered a 1-and-0 offering from Currie deep over the rightfield wall. Auburn countered, however, getting an RBI single from Starr Dorsey in the second and a run-scoring knock from Tatiana Fernandes in the third to tie things back up.
Mississippi State erupted for three runs in the fifth on a RBI single by Callye Williams and a two-run safety by Guess, but Auburn equaled the task in the bottom of the inning on a two-run homer by Ashley Griffin and run-scoring double by Ghezzi.
After loading the bases but coming up empty in the sixth, the Tigers used a base hit, a hit batsman and a wild pitch to move a pair of runners into position in the seventh for Donaldson's dramatics.
#20 AUBURN 6, MISSISSIPPI STATE 5
Mississippi State 200 030 0 - 5 7 1Auburn 011 030 1 - 6 12 2Miller, Blake (5) and Geddings. Currie, DiPietro (5) and Fernandez. W - DiPietro (14-4). L - Blake (16-10). Save - None. HR - Bures (MSU), Griffin (AU). 2B - Cooley (MSU), Ghezzi 2 (AU).
