April 23, 2003
AUBURN, Ala. – Sophomore Jessica Sallinger held Auburn hitless until the 10th inning and struck out 14 batters, but the Georgia Tech softball team (33-18, 3-2 ACC) could not muster a hit of its own and fell to the Tigers, 1-0, at Jane B. Moore Field Wednesday.
Tiger center fielder Shannon Anderson singled past the first base bag in the 10th to score left fielder Jennifer Hannock from third. She was placed at second due to the international tie breaker rule and took third on a sacrifice bunt.
Sallinger (18-12) went 9.1 innings, fanning 14 batters for her 13th double-digit strikeout game of the season. She allowed just the one hit and one unearned run. Auburn’s Kristin Keyes (12-11) won her sixth straight decision with 10 innings of no-hit work. She fanned 12 Jackets en route to the fourth no-hitter in Auburn history.
Sallinger and Keyes dominated from the start, as both held the opposition hitless through seven innings of regulation play. Tech left fielder Kirin Kumar, who was hit by a pitch in the third was the game’s only base runner until Yellow Jacket half of the eighth. With two outs, right fielder Soraya Reddick reached on an error by Auburn right fielder Jodie Van Ooyen but was thrown out at second when she tried to take an extra base on the dropped fly ball.
Wednesday’s game matched the first 10-inning contest since a 3-1 win over Alabama in last year’s NCAA Regional.
Next up for the Jackets is a Saturday trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a 1 p.m. Eastern doubleheader with the 17th-ranked Crimson Tide.
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