Auburn Softball Team Splits Doubleheader With No. 2 Florida State 
 
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May 3, 2004

AUBURN - The 15th-ranked Auburn softball team closed out the regular season with a doubleheader split with No. 2 Florida State, winning 1-0 before falling 4-0, on Monday at Jane B. Moore Field.

The Tigers moved to 39-14 on the year and set a new school record for wins in the process. Meanwhile, the ACC champion Seminoles lost for just the sixth time this year and now stand at 53-6 overall.

Game one was a pitching duel between two of the nation's best in Auburn's Kristen Keyes and FSU's Casey Hunter. Each pitcher took a shutout into the eighth when the international tiebreaker rule, which places a runner on second to begin each inning, was put into effect.

Keyes managed to strike out the first two batters she faced in the eighth before inducing a foul out to end the inning and strand Tatiana George on second.

In the home half of the inning, Lolani Alvarez started on second and moved to third on Lauren Walton's sacrifice bunt. After Kristina McCain, who had two of the Tigers four hits in the game, struck out, Shannon Anderson chopped a single that deflected past Hunter and brought home Alvarez for the walk-off victory.

It was the Tigers second walk-off win and their fourth in their final at bat. Three of those have come in extra innings. Auburn also improved to 12-4 in games decided by one run.

Keyes improved to 24-9 on the season by giving up just three hits and striking out 10. It was her 12th double-digit strikeout game and her 11th shutout of the year.

Hunter lost for the first time in 22 decisions and her record fell to 29-2. She gave up four hits and struck out nine. She was not charged with the run.

Neither team mustered a threat until the fifth when Florida State put runners on second and third with one out after a George double. However, Keyes mowed down Kim Hoffer and Katie Fricke to end the inning.

Auburn took advantage of an error and a hit by pitch to get runners on the corners with two out in the seventh. Hunter then got pinch hitter Cami Fenn to strike out swinging to send the game to extra innings.

In game two, Florida State struck first with a solo home run by Lesley Palmer to lead off the second inning. An out later, starting pitcher Holly Currie gave up consecutive singles to LaShaun Davis, Veronica Wootsen and Natasha Jacob to load the bases for Jessica van der Linden's sac fly.

The Seminoles would tack on two more unearned runs in the sixth off reliever Beth DiPietro. With one out, Davis bunted for a single and Jacob reached on an error by McCain, her second of the game. A fielder's choice produced the second out before van der Linden reached on an infield single. On the play, shortstop Ashley Griffin's throw sailed wide for a two-base error that plated both runs.

Van der Linden only needed the initial run as she shut down the Tiger offense, allowing one hit and striking out 14. She improved to 24-4 on the year.

Currie took the loss to fall to 8-3. She went 2 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on four hits while striking out three and walking three. DiPietro was excellent in relief, allowing just the two unearned runs on three hits and striking out four in 4 2/3 innings.

Auburn returns to action on May 13 when it faces Alabama in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Tuscaloosa. The Tigers earned the No. 4 seed after going 19-10 in the league while the Crimson Tide are the No. 5 seed after an 18-12 conference season.