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I don’t want to claim credit, but we did use Alyssa Rivera as the cover photo in our most recent softball article that laid out the Tallahassee Regional and the opponents coming for the Tigers in the NCAA Tournament.
FINAL: Auburn defeats Kennesaw State 5-2 in the NCAA Regional opening round. We will play the winner of Florida State/Jacksonville State tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT.#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/NOUM4ArjU9
— Auburn Softball (@AuburnSoftball) May 18, 2018
And it was Alyssa Rivera that provided the go-ahead runs for Auburn in their opening game in the Sunshine State against Kennesaw State. Rivera’s two-out infield single scored two runs for the Tigers in the bottom of the sixth inning, and broke a 2-2 tie to help Auburn skate by to a victory today.
@AuburnSoftball plated two runs off of Alyssa Rivera's infield single and totaled three in the 6th to take home the 5-2 victory! pic.twitter.com/3NXUH1iEFz
— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) May 18, 2018
Kendall Veach hit an RBI double immediately after Rivera’s infield hit to give the Tigers that 5-2 lead that ended up being the final score of the ballgame. Over the course of the game, Auburn knocked out seven hits and came back from a 1-0 deficit early to take a 2-1 advantage. Kennesaw tied the game at two on a sacrifice fly before Rivera’s RBIs gave Auburn a lead that it would never relinquish.
Now, the Tigers await the winner of the Florida State - Jacksonville State game. Whoever wins that game will meet Auburn tomorrow morning at 11 am CST. The loser will play Kennesaw State in an elimination game tomorrow at 1:30 pm CST. You can check out the full bracket for the NCAA Softball Tournament here.
War Eagle!