Auburn Rallies To Forge Twinbill Sweep With Dogs, 6-4
Official Game 2 Statistics
AUBURN, Ala. -- Martha Phillips' first career home run in the bottom of the sixth gave the Auburn softball team (27-19, 6-11 SEC) the lead for good as the Tigers came-from-behind for the second time in the contest to defeat Mississippi State (28-20, 10-9), 6-4, and forge a split of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at Jane B. Moore Field.
Iyhia McMichael highlighted a 3-for-3 night at the plate with her fourth home run of the season and Kellie Wilkerson (2-for-3) homered for the eighth time this season to pace the Bulldog hitters. First baseman Kasey Angulo sparked Auburn on a 3-for-4 hitting tally.
Reliever Kasey Whitehead (17-9) had her personal seven-game winning streak snapped after allowing three runs on seven Auburn hits in three and one-thirds innings of work. Kristin eyes (13-10) captured the victory for Auburn, despite allowing four runs on eight Mississippi State hits.
State wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard, getting a leadoff double from Wilkerson, then plating the runner two batters later on a fielding error the Auburn shortstop Phillips after a hard grounder off the bat of McMichael. MSU juiced the bases with two outs in the inning, but Keyes struck out Jennifer Waterman swinging to get out of the inning.
Auburn threatened immediately in the bottom of the frame, getting a pair of runners into scoring position with just one out, but MSU starter Melissa Massey settled down and retired the next two batters in order to escape the inning. State offered the same situation in the top half of the second, getting Jennifer Jessup and Wilkerson into scoring range with just one out, then loading the bases two batters later on a walk issued to McMichael. Keyes regained her composure, however, and exited the inning after getting Krystal Tillman to line out to shortstop.
Massey got the first two outs of the second before surrendering a walk and a hit to get chased from the circle. Whitehead beaned Moore with her first batter faced, then surrendered the lead on a two-run single by Kelly Sutton. Angulo plated another run on an RBI single to rightfield, but Whitehead got out of the inning on Tillman's throw from the outfield that gunned down Sutton at third base.
McMichael got every bit of Keyes' 3-1 offering to begin the fifth, launching the ball 230 feet over the left field wall to cut Auburn's lead to 3-2. The Bulldogs then utilized a Tillman walk and a fielding error by Angulo to put runners at the corners, setting the table for Kate Jaspers' suicide squeeze bunt that brought Tillman racing home with the game-tying run.
Wilkerson gave the Bulldogs their second lead of the contest with the second pitch of the sixth frame, blasting a 1-0 offering from Keyes over the 10-foot wall in right centerfield to give State a 4-3 advantage. However, Auburn retook the lead n the bottom half of the sixth, getting Deni Zeigler aboard via a leadoff single to set the table for Phillips, who homered to left field to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead.
Auburn got its next two hitters on via a walk and a single to left field, then loaded the bases with two outs on another single to left field, then added an insurance run on a fielding error by Jaspers. The reliever Wilkerson exited the inning, picking up the ricochet off of Jaspers and gunning down Shannon Anderson at home plate. Whitehead doubled with the first at-bat in the seventh, then moved to third on a wild pitch, but Keyes retired the next three Bulldogs in order to end the game.
In the opener of the twinbill, Iyhia McMichael's RBI double with one out in the top of the seventh inning scored Lindsay Nelson with the winning run as State downed Auburn 2-1 to run its winning streak to five games.
Nelson and Krystal Tillman both turned in 2-for-4 days to pace the Mississippi State bats, with Tillman turning in a third-inning RBI. Four other players also recorded base hits for the Bulldogs. Ashley Moore got Auburn's only hit of the day on a 1-for-2 tally with a pair of walks.
MSU starter Kasey Whitehead surrendered just one hit in four and two-thirds innings of work, striking out two, but surrendered the lead on Moore's knock in the fifth. Reliever Kellie Wilkerson (5-0) worked two and one-thirds innings of hitless ball to earn the victory for State. Auburn reliever Kristin Keyes (12-10) allowed one earned run on three MSU hits in the seventh to saddle the loss for the Tigers.
After nothing doing in the first, State posed a minor threat in the second, getting a pair of runners aboard via a one-out single and walk, but Lofton got out of the jam quickly, striking out Amy Mosley swinging and getting Jennifer Jessup on a grounder back to the circle. However, State scratched the scoreboard in the third, getting Lindsay Nelson aboard on a one out double, then plating the runner two batters later on Tillman's two-base shot to left centerfeld.
Auburn threatened in their half of the third, getting a pair of runners on via a fielding error and a walk, but Whitehead slammed the door, going inside on a 1-2 offering to Kasey Angulo and getting a swinging strikeout. The Maroon and White loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, getting runners on with a base hit, a fielding error and an intentional walk issued to Wilkerson, but Lofton got Lindsay Nelson on a grounder to second to get out of the inning.
Auburn got another runner into scoring position with two outs in the fifth, getting Shannon Anderson to second base on a walk and a stolen base, before Moore broke up Whitehead's no hitter on an RBI double off the wall that knotted the score up at one apiece.
The crowd in attendance at the Jane B. Moore Field got a marquee pitching matchup in the seventh as the top two closers in the league -- Keyes and Wilkerson -- went head to head. State got a one-out double from Lindsay Nelson to get a runner into scoring position for McMichael, who slammed a double off the rightfield wall to score the runner and give MSU its second lead of the contest. Tillman threaded a hard single into right field to put runners at the corners with the next at-bat, then stole second to put a pair into scoring position. Keyes got Jaspers to line out and Whitehead to pop out to get out of the inning.
Auburn got a one-out and a two-out walk in the seventh to get a pair of runners aboard, but Wilkerson induced Jennifer Hammock into a groundout to second to end the contest.
Both Mississippi State and Auburn will return to action tomorrow when they return to Jane B. Moore Field for the series finale rubber match. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. CDT.
GAME 1 - Mississippi State 2, Auburn 1Mississippi State 001 000 1 - 2 8 1Auburn 000 010 0 - 1 1 1Whitehead, Wilkerson (5) and Mosley, Waterman (6);Lofton, Keyes (7) and Zeigler. W - Wilkerson (5-0).L - Keyes (12-10). Save - None. 2B, MSU - L. Nelson2, Tillman, McMichael. 2B, AU - Moore.GAME 2 - Auburn 6, Mississippi State 4Mississippi State 100 021 0 - 4 8 1Auburn 030 002 x - 6 12 3Massey, Whitehead (2), Wilkerson (6) and Waterman;Keyes and Zeigler. W - Keyes (12-11). L - Whitehead(17-9). Save - None. HR, MSU - McMichael, Wilkerson;HR, AU - Phillips. 2B, MSU - Wilkerson, Whitehead;2B, AU - Moore, Zeigler.