Box Score AUBURN, Ala. ---- Samford traveled to Auburn on a chilly Wednesday night, looking to pull the upset over their in-state SEC foe. The Bulldogs held the lead late but a sixth-inning rally by Auburn ultimately gave them the slim 2-1 victory over Samford.
Samford (2-3) came close to pulling the upset thanks to another great performance by
Mollie Hanson (2-2) in the circle, allowing only two runs off three hits with seven strikeouts. The offense collected four hits with
Casey Clark driving in the Bulldogs' only run of the game in the fifth inning.
Auburn (6-0) stays undefeated on the young season as freshman Hoover, Ala., native Marcy Harper (3-0) earned the win in the circle, allowing one earned run off four hits. McKenzie Kilpatrick and Caitlin Jordan, batting fourth and fifth, batted in the Tigers' two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The first real scoring threat of the game came in the bottom of the fourth, as Auburn's Morgan Estell drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed over to second by Branndi Melero. A groundout to third held Estell at second with two down and a groundout to Hanson in the circle kept the runner stranded as it remained scoreless through four innings.
Callie Brister broke up Harper's no-hitter in the top of the fifth with a single that dropped just past the infield in shallow center.
Abby Adams, pinch-running for Brister, was sacrificed to second by
Hannah Taylor and Clark followed that up with a double through the right side that went just under the diving second baseman's glove, scoring Adams to move the Bulldogs up 1-0. A strikeout and a groundout would end the inning with Samford leading 1-0.
A one-out walk and a groundout put another runner in scoring position for Auburn in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Auburn shortstop Kelsey Bogaards stretched the at-bat to a 2-2 count but struck out to end the inning and strand the potential tying runner at second as the Bulldogs held the 1-0 lead through five innings.
With one out in the top of the sixth,
Megan Dowdy punched a single through the left side and
Madison Dickey followed that with a double down the right-field line to put two runners in scoring position with one out. On a 2-2 count,
Alex Adams was hit in the foot by a pitch which loaded the bases. Brister grounded out to third, reaching on a fielder's choice as Dowdy was tagged out at home, keeping the bases loaded with two out. Taylor made good contact but a fly ball hung up just long enough for the Auburn center-fielder to get under it, stranding the bases loaded as the Bulldogs couldn't build on their 1-0 lead.
Auburn's Tiffany Howard broke up Hanson's no-hitter to lead off the bottom of the sixth, dropping a double into left field that landed just past the glove of a diving
Kayla Shaffer. Turning back to the top of the order, Hanson walked Estell to put two on with nobody out. Melero got under a bunt attempt and popped up to Clark at third for the first out. Hanson froze Brooke Lathan on a called third strike for the second out but a single into left field by Kilpatrick tied the game at 1-1 as she advanced to second on the throw, putting two in scoring position with two out. Jordan followed that up with another single through the left side to give Auburn the late 2-1 lead with runners at the corners and still two out. A fly ball to left field limited the damage but put the Bulldogs in a must-score situation in the top of the seventh.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Wilder was hit by a pitch to put the potential tying run at first. A quick lineout and fly ball would end the game however as the Bulldogs dropped the heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Auburn.
Samford will head to Spartanburg, S.C., for the Firehouse Subs Spartan Invitational, hosted by USC-Upstate. The Bulldogs will play four games starting with Winthrop on Friday, Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. ET. Samford will then play George Washington on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET and Bowling Green (9 a.m. ET) and USC-Upstate (1 p.m. ET) on Sunday. The game versus USC-Upstate will be live streamed for free at www.asun.tv.
