By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
AUBURN, Ala. – The Tennessee Tech softball team gave them one heck of a fight, but when the dust finally settled in TTU's first game of the 2015 NCAA Tournament, No. 4 Auburn scratched and clawed its way to a 4-1 victory.
Tech started strong with a run in the third inning to break the scoreless deadlock, however the Tigers (50-9) bounced back with two in the fourth and two more in the fifth to escape the Golden Eagle-minded upset.
"I'm really proud of the way our kids fought," Tech head coach Bonnie Bynum said following the narrow defeat to the national No. 4 seed. "Obviously, we knew our backs were against the wall on the first pitch. We came out fighting, and knew we had nothing to lose. We kept to our game plan, and came out aggressive swinging the bat. We put some good swings on the ball tonight."
The loss sends the Golden Eagles (32-27) to the loser's bracket, where they will look to keep their season alive against Chattanooga on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT in the Auburn Region's double-elimination format. Auburn and South Alabama, who rolled past Chattanooga with an 11-1 victory in Friday's opening game, will play for the right to go to the Regional championship in Saturday's winner's bracket final at noon.
Tech broke the scoreless affair in the top of the third, using a Kelley Kennedy solo home run on the inning's first pitch to jump ahead 1-0.
"It was an inside screw ball. I was actually amazed I didn't foul it off because the joke on our team is that I lead us in foul home runs," Kennedy claimed on what was an absolute rocket off the bat for the Plainfield, Ill. native's fifth of the season. "I was really relaxed in the box, saw what she [Rachael Walters] was throwing and just took it off of her."
Sophomore Danielle Liberatore built off Kennedy's blast, setting the Tigers down in order in the ensuing half-inning to string together a stretch that saw the 5-foot-10 southpaw set down six straight. Liberatore (19-12) kept Auburn hitless through the first three innings, but would run into trouble in the last of the fourth.
Sophomore Kasey Cooper started the frame with a single, one of two in the game for the Dothan, Ala. native, which led to a walk to senior Branndi Melero that put runners on first and second with no one out.
Despite the precarious spot, the Tech defense came up huge thanks to an alert play by senior Angi Sakamoto that led to the first out of the inning. Cooper broke for third on a delayed stolen base attempt, but after a strong throw from behind the plate by Kelly Kennedy, the 5-foot-4 Auburn infielder broke back to the second base bag. It appeared as if she would make it back safely with no one covering second, but seemingly out of nowhere came the centerfielder Sakamoto, who corralled in a Cortney Fry throw and applied the tag on Cooper for the first out of the inning.
Auburn wasn't fazed by the out on the base paths though, as freshman Carlee Wallace coaxed a walk to put runners on first and second, before a Morgan Estell double down the first base line tied up the game, and put runners on second and third with only one down. Red-shirt sophomore Haley Fagan then put the Tigers on top with a sacrifice fly to center, but thanks to a brilliant diving catch made by Sakamoto, only one run came across to keep the Auburn lead at 2-1.
Sakamoto's two stellar defensive plays in the inning helped showcase an impressive display of Golden Eagle leather that was kicked off in the bottom of the second by third baseman Cortney Fry. With a runner on second and two down, the junior out of Fort Worth, Texas went into a full extension dive to snare a line drive off the bat by junior Jade Rhodes to preserve the scoreless contest.
The Tigers would go on to pad their slim advantage with a two-spot in the fifth, using two hits and three walks in the inning to put a little more breathing room from the Golden Eagles with a 4-1 edge. With one out and the bases empty, junior Tiffany Howard reached on a bunt single, which was followed by an Emily Carosone walk that put runners on first and second with the dangerous Kasey Cooper coming to the plate.
Cooper took advantage of the run-scoring opportunity, smoking a grounder up the middle for an RBI single that brought around Howard with the Tigers' third run of the evening. After a groundout moved the runners up to second and third, Liberatore walked the next two to bring across Carosone to bump the Auburn lead to 4-1.
When it was all said and done, Liberatore went the distance once again for the Golden Eagles in suffering the tough-luck loss, keeping an explosive Tiger offense at bay. Auburn came into the playoff battle in the top ten in the nation in many offensive categories including team-batting average (.351), slugging percentage (.609), and home runs (94) but managed just four hits (three singles) off Liberatore.
"We noticed that they were catching on to what we were throwing," noted Libratore as a key difference in the tilt's turnaround. "After Estell's double we had to adjust because they were definitely catching on to our sequence. I would go in for a change up and could hear the dugout call it out. I tried to overthrow it so Auburn could not get a hold of it, but when I noticed they were catching on, I would go back in to readjust and go back out to battle."
Across the way, junior Lexi Davis (22-2) came on in relief and earned the win behind the 3 2/3 hitless and scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Tech will look to keep its season afloat on Saturday, clashing with Chattanooga in an elimination game at 2:30 p.m. CT. A Golden Eagle victory would push them to a second-straight elimination game, locking up with the Auburn-South Alabama loser at 5 p.m.
Every game of the Auburn Region will be broadcast live on ESPN3. CLICK HERE TO WATCH. Radio broadcasts of the contests will also be available via the Golden Eagle Sports Network through FM 107.7 WHUB and AM 1400 The Hub. Dylan Vazzano, who was on the call for both the OVC Tournament and webcasts on the OVC Digital Network, will provide play-by-play throughout the tournament. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.
