AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn 2014 and 2015 All-American Kasey Cooper hit her 12th home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning to lift the No. 2 Tigers to a 2-1 win over Longwood in the opening game of the three-game series Friday night at Jane B. Moore Field.

The go-ahead blast from Cooper came a half-inning after Longwood with tied the game. Singles from Karleigh Donovan and Kelsey Sweeney and hit-by-pitch by Krista Kelly loaded the bases. Justina Augustine recorded a sac-fly to center field to score Jessica Smith, who came on as a pinch runner for Donovan.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win against a really good team on their home field," said head coach Kathy Riley. "We're happy about that. We were in the game throughout. I thought we could've done a little better being more patient at the plate, not swinging too early."

In a series matchup that features two of the top-25 pitching staffs in the NCAA, Longwood out-hit the second-ranked Tigers by a 4-3 margin for the game with Sweeney leading all players with a pair of singles in a 2-for-3 performance.

Rachael Walters (6-2) picked up the win for the Tigers, tossing five innings and allowing one run on three hits. She also struck out a trio of batters. Makayla Martin came on for a two-inning save, her second of the season. She allowed just one hit and struck out four batters for the game.

Sydney Gay (9-5) took the loss, as her and Elizabeth McCarthy combined to allow just three hits. Gay gave up one run on two hits while recording a strikeout and a walk in three innings. McCarthy started the game and gave up one run on one hit while striking out four batters and walking one in 3.0 innings.

"We gave up three hits to one of the best offensive teams in the country," Riley said. "One of the things we did today was throw both a lefty and a righty. They threw different pitches because that's a team that does a good job of making adjustments while the game is going on."

Longwood had the opportunity to score the game's first run in the third inning. Sweeney led off the inning with a single off Walters and advanced to second on a throwing error from Whitney Jordan. Jordan Clark came in to pinch run for her and advanced to third after an Augustine sacrifice bunt. Jamie Barbour followed with a ball hit to the right side of the infield and the Tigers were able to get Clark trying to score from third for the inning-ending double play.

Auburn scored in the home half of the inning. After Emily Carosone walked with one out and stole second in the following at-bat to Cooper. McCarthy was relieved by Gay after striking out Cooper on a 2-2 pitch up in the zone before Carlee Wallace singled off Gay to bring home the Carosone and give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

After neither team was able to put anything together offensively in the fourth inning, Donovan notched a one-out single through the left side. Kelly was then hit by the second pitch she saw before Sweeney singled into right field to load the bases. Augustine then brought home Smith, who came on for Donovan as a pinch runner, on a sacrifice fly with a high fly ball to center field to tie the game.

In the following half inning, Gay was able to get two quick outs before Cooper blasted her 12th home run of the season for the go-ahead run.

Martin entered the game in the next inning to pick up her second save of the season to seal the series opener.

Game two of the series between Longwood and the second-ranked Tigers is set for a 7 p.m. ET., first pitch Saturday, March 9.

"Our goal for tomorrow is to come out and give ourselves a chance to win just like we did today," Riley said.

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