AU ROUNDUP: Gymnasts win quad-meet over Maryland, George Washington, Yale

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The No. 17 Auburn gymnastics team (6-6, 2-4 SEC) participated in its first four-way meet of the season Saturday afternoon at the Comcast Center Pavilion, defeating No. 33 Maryland, No. 56 George Washington and No. 62 Yale with its third-highest team score of the season with a 196.225.

“I am really proud of the girls,” said head coach Jeff Thompson. “Our goal was to come up here and basically focus on ourselves. The unwritten goal was to hit every routine. The thing I’m most proud of was starting out on beam and did great bar routines.”

The four-way meet began with the Tigers on their strongest event, beam. Following a pair of 9.675’s from juniors Lauren Brzostowski and Katie Hurley, senior Krissy Voss scored a 9.750. Rachel Inniss broke the 9.8 plateau for the third-straight meet with a score of 9.825 in the fifth spot, while sophomore Kylie Shields scored 9.85 as the anchor to give the Tigers an event score of 48.775.

After Rotation 1, Auburn was in second place behind Maryland, who scored a 48.825 on vault. Yale tallied a 48.325 on floor, followed by George Washington’s 47.325 on bars.

Auburn then moved to the floor, an event the Tigers had struggled in for much of the season. However, Saturday was different as four Tigers eclipsed the 9.8 mark. Freshman Toi Garcia and Inniss scored 9.85’s, while Voss chipped in a 9.825.Shields followed with a 9.8 to give the Tigers their second-highest floor score of the season with a 49.075.

After the superb floor performance, Auburn took the lead with a 97.950 heading into rotation three. Maryland trailed with a total score of 97.750, while the Bulldogs (95.550) and Colonials (95.025) were third and fourth, respectively.

On vault in Rotation 3, sophomore Justine Foster returned to action after a three-week layoff in a big way and tied a season-high with a 9.9 in the anchor position. Her performance gave Auburn a share of the individual title on the apparatus. Garcia continued her solid homecoming meet with a 9.775 to give the Tigers an event score of 48.825.

Auburn tallied a 49.450 on bars in the final rotation of the day, seeing the squad record the second-highest mark in school history and the highest score in the event since 2003. Petrina Yokay turned in a special performance for the Tigers, as judge one gave the freshman a perfect 10.000 and judge two handed out a 9.9.

The score of 9.95 gave Yokay a career-high and Auburn season-best score. Sandusky added another 9.95 on the anchor position for Auburn. The two performances were good for Yokay’s third bars title of the season, while it was Sandusky’s fourth.

Voss led off with a 9.825 and was followed by senior Carmen Nelms with a 9.85 and Shields marked a 9.875. Sophomore Kendall Swartz recorded a 9.8 and Sandusky capped off the valiant team performance with another 9.95. For the first time this season, all-six Auburn bar competitors scored at least a 9.8.

“We did a great job on floor as well as vault. We went to bars and stuck five out of six dismounts on bars, great bar routines, for the second-highest score in school history. We held on to our lead and came away with three wins. It was a great end to a great trip for us,” said Thompson.

Saturday’s meet marks the final regular season meet for the Tigers, as the best gymnasts in the country will be showcased in Jacksonville, Fla., on March 27 at the 2010 SEC Championships. The meet is slated to begin at 3:05 p.m. and will take place at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Softball swept at LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Auburn softball team was unable to complete a seventh-inning rally and lost Game 2, 4-3, as the 14th-ranked LSU Tigers swept a softball double-header Saturday afternoon. LSU won Game 1, 7-0.

Auburn dropped to 16-11 overall and 2-5 in the Southeastern Conference with the pair of losses. LSU improved to 25-4 overall and 7-0 in SEC play. The teams conclude the series with a single game at 1 p.m. today.

In Game 2, the Tigers trailed 4-0 going into the top of the seventh inning but began a rally with Krista Clyde’s leadoff single.

Clyde stole second and appeared to be stranded on base after two outs were recorded. But, Lindsey Harrelson singled through the left side to plate Clyde and make it a 4-1 game.

Caitlin Stangl and Kelley Smiley were each hit-by-a-pitch to load the bases. Amber Harrison followed with a two-RBI hit that was ruled an error to make it a 4-3 game. Harrison advanced to second on the play, but LSU ended the rally with a ground out to first for the final 4-3 win.

Auburn starter Anna Thompson took the loss to fall to 7-5.

Thompson allowed four runs, three earned, on six in 3 1/3 innings of work. Thompson walked one and struck out three. Dadeville native Holly Ragsdale relieved Thompson in the fourth and tossed the next 2 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits and striking out one.

Brittany Mack started and earned the win to improve to 6-2. Mack went 6 2/3 innings, allowed three runs, one earned, on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts. Rachele Fico earned her third save, notching the last out of the game.

LSU jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning. Ashley Applegate reached on a one-out double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Rachel Mitchell brought Applegate home with a sacrifice fly to left to give LSU a 1-0 lead.

An Auburn error opened the door for LSU to increase its lead in the second inning. A one-out double by Allison Falcon was followed by a wild pitch that moved her to third. Jessica Mouse then put down a bunt single, but second baseman Kelley Smiley covering first dropped the first which allowed Falcon to score and give LSU a 2-0 lead.

LSU increased its lead in the fourth inning. Falcon was hit by a pitch to open the frame and reached second safely on a fielder’s choice bunt by Mouse. After a strikeout, Kirsten Shortridge singled up the middle to score Falcon and make it a 3-0 lead for LSU. Applegate followed with hard single past second to score Mouse and push the AU deficit to 4-0 before Auburn’s last-chance rally.

In Game 1, Cody Trahan tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout to lead LSU to the win. Trahan (8-0) went seven innings, striking out six and walking only two.

Jenee Loree (2-1) started and took the loss for Auburn. Loree went 5 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs, five earned, on nine hits with five walks and five strikeouts. Ragsdale relieved Loree with two outs in the sixth and recorded the final out without allowing a base runner.

Men’s golf in 2nd at E-Z-Go Invitational
STATESBORO, Ga. — The Auburn men’s golf team (283-571) moved into second place following Saturday’s second round of the E-Z-Go Invitational at the Forest Heights Country Club.

The Tigers shot the second-lowest team score of the day to surpass Virginia and Ole Miss as the round progressed.

“Today was a good day,” said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. “The pins played tough but we held our own. We’ve got a chance to win this tournament tomorrow. All we can do is go out, play well and see what happens. A seven-stroke deficit in team golf is two holes. We’ve got 18 to work with.

“If we avoid any silly mistakes on the green and take care of business on the par-5s, we could shoot 10-under. The guys need to stay focused and shoot like we know we can.“

Sophomore Kyle Kopsick (69-141) jumped from 20th into a tie for sixth, scoring the fifth-lowest round of the day. Senior Cole Moreland (71-142) maintained his top-10 position, carding back-to-back 71s to tie for ninth. Sophomore Will McCurdy (70-143) hit 17 of 18 greens to improve to a tie for 13th.

“I played a solid round today,” said Kopsick. “Some of the pins were easier but the course played pretty much the same. This is the first time in a while its been like this, where we kept ourselves in a position to win from day one. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. We’re only down seven. That can be made up in a couple holes.“

Sophomores John Stembridge (76-148) and David Zickler (73-150) are tied for 49th and 60th, respectively.

No. 28 North Florida (279-564) currently leads the field followed by Auburn, No. 20 Virginia (287-573), NC State (286-575), Ole Miss (290-577), No. 24 Alabama (288-580), No. 27 LSU (289-580), Georgia Southern (289-581), Vanderbilt (291-582), No. 11 South Carolina (293-586), Kentucky (293-588), North Carolina (288-588), No. 26 Tennessee (291-5909), No. 14 Florida (297-591) and Louisville (300-596).
North Florida golfers Kevin Phelan (66-136) and J.C. Horne (69-138) are in first and second, individually.