Auburn softball has week full of firsts
Auburn softball has week full of firsts
JEREMY HOLLOMAN
Sports Editor
It was a week of firsts for the Tiger softball team - first hit, first run, first game, first win and first loss.
Auburn played its first ever women's fast-pitch softball game at Samford Field in Birmingham, Ala., last Tuesday against Samford University.
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Sophomore infielder Amy Dalsing recorded the first hit in Tiger history when she beat out the throw from the Bulldog shortstop in the first inning.
With their first hit out of the way, the Tigers were not far from scoring their first run, eventually claiming their first victory.
Dalsing continued to set softball records, stealing a base before scoring the first run on a triple by junior Ashley Camp.
The triple was the Tigers' first extra-base hit and notched their first RBIs.
A 2-0 lead didn't hold up long, though, as Samford scored runs in the bottom of the first and second to tie the game at two.
Neither team managed to score again before the end of the seventh inning, forcing the game into extra innings.
With the score still tied at two in the top of the tenth, sophomore Chris Steiner singled, and Camp scored to break the tie.
Steiner advanced to second on the throw home and later stole third base before scoring on an error by Samford, putting the Tigers up 4-2.
Freshman pitcher Renee Sease held the Bulldogs scoreless in the bottom half of the tenth to preserve the Tigers' first win.
It was wonderful. I wanted that one," Head Coach Tina Deese said.
In the second game of the double header, the Tigers again prevailed, this time by a score of 4-3.
Sease threw six scoreless innings, giving up three hits.
Auburn starter junior Brenda Espinoza went four innings, giving up eight hits and two runs, and recorded the Tigers first-ever strike out in the second inning.
The win didn't surprise the Tigers, though.
"We all came out expecting to win," Dalsing said.
In the nightcap, Dalsing again started things off with a single in the first inning, this time to left field.
She again scored the first run of the game, not on a hit but on an error.
Auburn added another run in the top of the third on a Sease sacrifice fly that gave sophomore outfielder Kim Blair a score, putting Auburn up 2-0.
The lead was short-lived as Samford scored three runs in the bottom of the third, marking the first time in its short history Auburn trailed in a game.
Auburn proved it could overcome adversity when sophomore pitcher Denisse Montalvo doubled, allowing Camp to even the score at 3-0.
Junior outfielder Jill Nunnely's run on a Samford error in Auburn's half of the sixth inning put the Tigers up for good, 4-3.
Montalvo went the distance to pick up the victory, giving up four hits in seven innings.
Unfortunately for the fledgling softball team, Tuesday's success didn't carry into last weekend's trip to the Arizona State University Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
The Tigers posted only one win in seven tries at the Classic, defeating Toledo 6-1.
"We played well. I'm not displeased. We did some good things," Deese said.
Undefeated baseball team takes down two more
MATT ROMANO
Assistant Sports Editor
Add Middle Tennessee State University to the list of fallen Auburn opponents now as the Tiger baseball team swept the Blue Raiders in a three-game series last weekend.
The win moves Auburn's record to 10-0, their best start since 1954 when the Tigers won their first 11 games.
"We are going to try and take advantage of as many wins as we can going into regionals," sophomore left fielder Derek Reif said.
The Tigers dominated the series from the start, sweeping Saturday's double-header.
Senior Tim Hudson went the distance in game one Saturday to earn his fourth victory of the season by the count of 4-1.
Hudson added eight more strike-outs to increase his team-leading season total to 34 K's in 22 innings pitched.
Leading the way offensively for the Tigers was senior center fielder Adam Sullivan whose fifth inning double accounted for two Auburn runs.
Game two provided some fireworks for the 1,299 fans in attendance.
Auburn took the contest by a score of 11-7, but not until after more than a few anxious moments.
"Middle Tennessee is a very good hitting team," Hudson said.
"I thought they were all very hard outs. Our young guys threw very well against them," he said.
Young guy number one was freshman Brent Shoening who started game two and went four and two-thirds strong innings for his first collegiate victory.
MTSU roughed up Shoening to begin the game when Jordan Beddie looped out his first home run of the season to give the Blue Raiders a 3-0 lead in the second inning.
The lead didn't last, though, as the Tigers clawed back for six unearned runs in the fourth.
The rally started when sophomore catcher David Ross hit a routine fly gone haywire when center fielder Jeremy Owens dropped the can of corn, opening the flood gates.
Sullivan scored from third on the error and Ross wound up on second.
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Sophomore Chad Wandall followed up Ross with a single to score the catcher from second.
After a walk by sophomore shortstop Heath Kelly, a single by senior Rob Macrory and a double by Hudson, Auburn held on to a strong 5-3 lead.
Backing up Hudson was sophomore designated hitter Casey Dunn whose double drove in Hudson to finish the scoring for the inning.
After the excitement of the middle three innings, senior closer Finley Woodward managed to shut the door on MTSU for his fourth save of the season.
Sunday's man-of-the-hour was sophomore left fielder Derek Reif.
Reif's 3-5, 2 RBI performance paced the Tigers to a 9-3 victory.
"I've been working with Coach Renfroe on staying back with my swing," Reif said. "That and I just saw the ball well today."
Well indeed, as Reif hit a towering double off the monstrous left field wall in the six-run third inning and followed that with bullet of a homerun to center in the fourth.
Also performing well Sunday was catcher Dunn. Dunn went 2-5 with an RBI but was most impressive behind the plate when he gunned down two would-be base-stealers in the first and second innings.
Getting the win in Sunday's contest was freshman Kevin Knorst, who got his first collegiate win.
Reif, who transferred from the University of Miami, said, "There's not a better bunch of guys to do this. I am extremely happy to be on a team doing so well.
"We are all working real hard and I am very glad it is paying off so far," he said.
The weekend festivities got off to an early start when Auburn defeated Troy State University 10-7 Thursday at Plainsman Park.
Troy jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the first inning, but Auburn responded with one run in the second inning, four runs in the third inning and five runs in the fourth to grab a 10-1 lead after four innings of play.
Senior centerfielder Tim Hudson was the offensive star going three for three and crushing a solo homerun in the fourth inning. It was Hudson's third home run of the year.
Junior pitcher Patrick Dunham got the win for Auburn, improving his record to 2-0. Senior pitcher Finley Woodward notched his third save of the year, striking out all six batters he faced.
Troy State scored five runs in the seventh to make a game of it, but their rally fell short.
"I think it was good for us to have a tight game. I thought the game was over with at 10-2, but Troy didn't give up," Head Coach Hal Baird said.
"We had to make some plays down the stretch. I thought Kevin Knorst and Finley Woodward pitched exceptionally well for us. This was a good learning experience for our ball club," he said.
Additional reporting by
Steve Raymond
Swim team takes first, second at SECs
LORIE M. JOHNSON
Assistant Sports Editor
They went, they swam, they conquered - again.
For the third time in four seasons, the men's swim team swept the Southeastern Conference meet, while the women finished second at the Gabrielsen Natatorium at the University of Georgia last week.
Considered one of the leading contenders for winning the meet, the Tigers erased all doubts by producing a handy 780.5 points to second place University of Tennessee's 680.
The Auburn men have dominated the SEC for the last several seasons, holding conference titles in 1994 and '95, falling to second place last year and taking it again this year.
Two of the team's greatest assets are Olympic gold medalist seniors Scott Tucker and John Hargis, both of whom passed on offers to leave Auburn early after the Olympics last summer taking their chances on the team winning SEC and NCAA titles.
Tucker put on an Olympic-style performance for the SEC as he totaled more individual points than anyone else in the meet and broke the pool record for the Gabrielsen Natatorium with a 1:44.97 time in the 200 individual medley, automatically qualifying for the NCAAs.
Hargis had an equally good meet, swimming on the 200 medley relay that placed second, the 400 medley relay that placed first and breaking his own SEC record with a first place finish in the 100 butterfly.
"It was good. I wanted to go a little faster and break the American record, but it was good to be able to break my own record.
"I was 14 one-hundredths of a second from breaking the American record," Hargis said.
"I think I can break it at NCAAs - that's my goal.
"Our relay teams, the 200 and 400 medley relays, want to break records, and we have a good shot. We just barely missed the 200 medley relay by three tenths of a second. So we just need to work on the little things in our relays so we can break those records at NCAAs."
Other leading Tigers were sophomores Michael Bartz and Matt Busbee, juniors Adam Jerger and James McCreary and senior Nick Shakell.
Shakell swept all of his relays - the 400 medley and the 400 and 800 free style relays. He also had respectable finishes in the 100 free style (second place) the 200 free (fourth place) and the 50 free (tenth place).
"I'm really happy. It's great to win a conference championship and bring back the title to Auburn from Tennessee. It's not our major goal for the year, but it's a stepping stone, and we're right where we need to be right now," Shakell said.
"This has been a confidence booster for the team, and we're just ready for NCAAs and looking forward to hopefully winning a national championship," he said.
Head Coach David Marsh said the meet was indicative of things to come from the Tigers.
"Our guys have been itching ever since last year to show what we could do at the conference level," he said.
"The conference meet involves depth and quality, while the NCAA meet puts much more emphasis on quality. Our performances in this meet would indicate good strength going into the NCAA championships," Marsh said.
Home team Georgia took the women's meet, out-distancing Auburn 712.5 to 538.
The Auburn women reconciled a fifth place finish from last season by regaining their runner up slot, a position they've dominated for the past six years.
They started the meet strong by clinching the 200 medley relay, with a team composed of senior Anne Wenglarski, junior Michele Hall, true freshman Mimi Bowen and sophomore Katie Taylor.
They placed second in the 400 medley relay with a team of Wenglarski, freshman Annemieke McReynolds, Bowen and sophomore Katie Taylor.
Freshmen Re Owen and Katie Ryan, Bowen and Taylor aided their cause by coming in first in the 400 free relay.
Bowen had a fifth place finish in the 200 individual medley relay and broke a 1984 SEC record by winning two events in the same stroke, the 100 and 200 freestyle.
"I'm very pleased and happy," Bowen said.
"It was a fun meet, and it was my first SEC meet. I'm just happy to be part of the team. It's a small step toward NCAAs," she said.
"We were happy about coming in second, but a little disappointed that we didn't get first. It's just going to make us work even harder to get better for next year," she said.
Taylor, who also placed second in the 200 free relay and tied for the same position in the 50 free, said she was pleased with both her own and the team's performance.
"I was really happy because both times were my personal best and I wasn't even shaved or tapered, so I wasn't really rested," Taylor said.
"I was really impressed with our team for getting second because we really weren't rested for it. Ninety-eight percent of our team had already qualified for NCAAs at an earlier meet, so the SEC was not a do-or-die for us," she said.
Marsh said he appreciated the women's improvement.
"Georgia is a strong team, and they did what they needed to do," he said.
"I was proud of our women for moving back up from fifth (last year) to second (this year)."
The men will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for the NCAA meet March 27-29. The women will compete in Indianapolis, Ind., on March 20-22.