By Zach Taylor
There is little doubt that most Auburn folks, softball fans or not, are now aware of this truth: A Golden Age of Softball has arrived on the Plains. And that truth was vividly demonstrated over the weekend by the Tigers’ SEC Tournament performance.
When Auburn’s Thursday evening match against Alabama was postponed, many had to be dismayed to see the prime time game changed and not just because it ruined viewing parties. Moving the game meant Auburn would be playing No. 4 Alabama at 11:00 AM and, in the event of a win, No. 1 Florida just a few hours later.
Even the most optimistic softball fan had to figure that Auburn had a very slim chance to pull off that kind of feat. Auburn would need to play inspired ball.
And indeed, the Tigers’ play was inspired, thanks in part to the adoption of the weekend’s slogan, #TurnUpforTurtle. This was a nod and tribute to twice-fallen senior shortstop, Kelsey Bogaards, a.k.a. the “Turtle.”
Auburn beat Bama on the power of a four-run first inning. Things started off just how Auburn needed with Tiffany Howard and Emily Carosone singles, a walk for SEC Player and Scholar Athlete of the Year, Kasey Cooper, and a Carlee Wallace double that scored two runs. Cooper later scored on a Jade Rhodes grounder, and Carosone scored an unearned run on a fielding error.
Auburn matched Bama’s single scores in the second and third inning and held on as the Tide scored in the fifth and sixth to close out the win, 6–4.
Rachael Walters started and was replaced by Makayla Martin in the fourth. She went onto who earn the win. And it wasn’t her dominating pitching, as much as it was her defensive play. Martin had four put-outs from the circle while stopping two other shots up the middle.
After a short turnaround, Auburn took down Florida 2–1, thanks to a two-run shot by Carlee Wallace in the first inning that scored Kasey Cooper from second base. Wallace followed up her 2015 SEC Tournament clutch hitting performance by going four-for-eleven against the very best competition.
Kaylee Carlson went the distance for the Tigers, earning two strikeouts and giving up two walks against the Gators.
The SEC Championship game was almost an afterthought with Auburn completely dominating LSU 7–1. Make no mistake, the Bengal Tigers are a fine team, ranked as the tenth seed in the Women’s College World Series.
The Orange and Blue Tigers sealed the deal in the seventh with a two-run homer. It came from neither record-holder Rhodes nor from potential Player of the Year Cooper. It came from the most unlikely place… from four-year starter Tiffany Howard, who had not hit a collegiate home run in 677 at bats. With a career .443 on base percentage and a .365 batting average, Howard powered her zinger over right center. And Auburn won its second SEC Tournament title, becoming only the third team to do so in consecutive years.
The huge weekend gave Auburn a boost in RPI and secured the critical fourth seed in the WCWS regionals, earning hosting rights. The other teams in the Auburn regional are Oregon State, South Carolina–Upstate and Jacksonville State; whom the Tigers will face off against Friday at 6PM.
Preview of Jacksonville State Gamecocks after the jump:
The Gamecocks are as good on the road (15–4) as at home (16–3) while posting a 10–8 record on neutral fields. Importantly, JSU is 0–4 against SEC teams, having been outscored 3–40 by Missouri, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama and were run-ruled in the fifth by all but Alabama. Nevertheless, JSU posted a 41–15 overall record and won the Ohio Valley Conference title.
Jacksonville is extremely top-heavy in the batting order as its bottom three hitters are all hitting under .250. However, the Gamecocks have some power, having hit 55 long balls.
JSU’s biggest threat is leadoff hitter, Ella Denes. The right fielder hit .378 and has a .611 slugging percentage. She leads the team in on base percentage, is second in home runs (8) and RBI’s (39), and is tied for walks (24). Just behind Denes is Emily Church, who has belted ten homers while posting a .318 average. She typically hits low in the order.
Defensively, Gamecock shortstop Anna Chisolm has struggled all year, fielding just .866 with 11 errors while turning just two double plays.
In the circle for JSU will almost certainly be Whitney Gillespie. She is 16–2 and features a fantastic 0.94 ERA with a team-leading 109 strikeouts while giving up just 40 walks in 134 innings pitched.
In order to win, Auburn must be smart while pitching to Church and Denes. Against JSU, they will be best served by simply putting the ball in play.
Auburn hosts JSU Friday evening at 6:00 PM on Jane B. Moore field. The network hasn’t been named. Make sure to follow me on Twitter @Best5Zach as I live tweet the game.
The post Auburn SEC Softball Tournament Recap and Preview to NCAA Regional Play appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.
May 17, 2016 at 12:35AM
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