Auburn used two runs in the bottom of the
fifth and one in the sixth to tie and go ahead of No. 4 Florida (24-2, 1-1 SEC)
to even the SEC-opening series between the Gators and Tigers (18-6, 1-1 SEC) with
a 5-4 win Saturday at Jane B. Moore Field.
Florida used a freshman Kelsey Stewart (Wichita,
Kan.) stolen base in the first and a sophomore Briana Little (Middleburg,
Fla.) three-run shot over the left-center scoreboard – UF’s third homer of the
series – in the third inning for the early 4-1 lead before Auburn’s late
comeback.
For the second consecutive day, Little led
Florida at the dish with a 2-for-3 performance, one run scored and three RBI.
Stewart and fellow freshman Taylor Schwarz (Palm Beach, Fla.) accounted
for UF’s other two hits on the afternoon. In the opposing dugout, Auburn used
seven hits to top the Gators.
Marcy Harper (8-2) picked up the win in the
circle for the Tigers, allowing UF’s four runs on four hits with six strikeouts
through the complete-game effort. Sophomore Lauren Haeger (Peoria,
Ariz.) earned the start for the Gators and tossed the first four innings before
junior Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales, Fla.) came on for the final two.
Rogers moved to 12-2 with the loss after Auburn tied, then went ahead of UF in
the sixth.
The Gators came out aggressive Saturday,
putting up the first run of the game with two outs on the board in the top of
the first when Stewart drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a freshman Kirsti
Merritt (Lake Panasoffkee, Fla.) hit-by-pitch and swiped both third and
home for the 1-0 Florida lead, adding her 22nd and 23rd stolen bases of the
season.
Auburn battled back in the home half of the
first, using an Emily Carosone RBI double to knot things up heading to the
second.
A Little three-run bomb, her fifth of the
season, broke up the tie in the top of the third for the Orange and Blue, as
Little knocked in Stewart and Haeger for the 4-1 Florida lead after the duo
reached on a base hit and walk, respectively.
The Tigers were resilient, though, and
battled back in the fourth using a McKenzie Kilpatrick RBI single up the middle
to chip away at UF’s lead, 4-2. With two outs and two runners threatening for
Auburn, Little laid out for a foul ball in left to get the Gators out of the
inning.
After a scoreless top half of the fifth for
Florida, Auburn knotted things up for the second time in the contest in the
bottom of the stanza, first using a Branndi Melero RBI single before Rogers entered
the 4-3 game to relieve Haeger. Next up, a Brook Lathan sac fly tied things up
at 4-4 before a fielder’s choice and strikeout retired the side.
A three-up, three-down inning for UF in the
top of the sixth brought up the home half of the frame, and Auburn used a
Kilpatrick solo home run to take the Tigers ahead for good, 5-4, before Harper
used two fly outs and a fielder’s choice to keep Florida off the board in the
seventh.
