Veach’s two home runs lead Auburn past Oklahoma in WCWS rematch
Published 9:47 pm Thursday, February 9, 2017
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Kendall Veach blasted two home runs to guide No. 2 Auburn to a 3-2 victory against No. 1 Oklahoma Thursday afternoon.
Veach, a sophomore, graduated from Morgan Academy in 2015. She played sparingly last season — she had only 19 at bats all season – but made a big impression in a rematch of last season’s Women’s College World Series Championship.
The Tigers (1-0) registered their third consecutive win against a top-ranked team and tallied seven hits, including three extra-base hits.
Makayla Martin earned the start in the circle and went 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and two earned runs. Martin induced 13 groundouts on the day and picked up her first win of 2017.
Morgan Podany, who made her fourth career start as an outfielder, tied a career-high with two hits in the seven-inning affair.
Auburn started on the front foot right out of the gate, scoring a run in the top of the first. With two outs and runners on second and third base, Courtney Shea delivered with a two-strike RBI single to center to put the Tigers on the board.
Martin dominated from the start and allowed just two to reach base for Oklahoma (0-1) in the opening four stanzas.
In the top of the third, Veach scorched her first career roundtripper to double Auburn’s lead to 2-0.
The next two innings flew by without a hit by either squad.
In the sixth, the Tigers threatened to lengthen the margin after Victoria Draper and Kasey Cooper hit back-to-back singles and worked their way around to second and third with two down. However, the Sooners were able to get out of the jam.
Veach drilled her second home run of contest in the top of the seventh, a solo shot, to make it 3-0 in favor of the designated road team.
Oklahoma made things interesting in its final chance at the plate. The Sooners got consecutive singles from their top two hitters in the lineup and both scored on a pinch-hit single up the middle.