Tigers Bounce Back Big – Look to Oklahoma City and UCLA … (Preview of first WCWS game)

The Auburn softball team looked lost at times on Saturday evening, certainly not like a team hitting a combined .322. That ranks them as one of the top hitting teams, and only four teams in the Women’s College World Series can match them.

Even though Auburn only recorded two hits in game one, both went for extra bases thanks to a Madi Gipson double and a Jade Rhodes home run. After Gipson’s double, shortstop Whitney Jordan was hit by a pitch. A misplayed grounder to short by Tiffany Howard led to two throwing errors and both Gipson and Jordan scored. Arizona ace Danielle O’Toole was solid, and Auburn dropped to 13–4 against lefties. The Tigers continued to struggle when failing to score in the first inning and when they don’t score first.

Auburn struggled on defense, especially in the infield. Although there were many Twitter comments blaming Jordan for six or seven of the nine Wildcat infield hits, it was coach Clint Myers’ decision that hurt Auburn.

Myers instructed the grounds crew to leave the area in front of home plate devoid of water and to pack it hard to facilitate high bouncing slap hits from his speedy lefties. Instead, this bit of gamesmanship hurt Auburn. On play after play, Howard had to make quick decisions to either charge the ball hard or sit back and wait for the bounce. The bounces just didn’t go her way, and the plays rarely went for outs.

Coach Myers didn’t repeat the mistake on Sunday. The infield was completely watered, and extra care was taken on the area just in front of the plate. Auburn’s Makayla Martin received the start and went the distance, allowing five hits and one run to improve her record to 14–3. Bounce-back player Haley Fagan had two hits, and her hit in the fourth drove in two runs to send O’Toole to the bench. The Tigers won 4–1. 

Auburn steamrolled Arizona in game three 6–1 thanks to five hits by Emily Carosone, Kasey Cooper and Fagan, whose homer in the fifth provided insurance. Fagan’s return to action also gives serious power in the bottom half of the order going forward. 

Speaking of going forward, the Tigers left on Sunday and headed to Oklahoma City for their second consecutive appearance in the Women’s College World Series. Fans turned out in droves for a reverse Tiger Walk as the ladies headed to their flight, resplendent in all-new Under Armour gear. 

Auburn (54–10) will take on UCLA in their first game of the WCWS. This is a rematch of last season’s elimination game, an extra inning 11–10 Auburn win. What can Tiger fans expect from the 50–12 Bruins?

See the breakdown and game preview after the jump:

UCLA is as good a hitting team as Auburn has faced. They rank 16th in slugging percentage and 27th in batting average. All but one UCLA starter hits over .300, and Maddy Jelenicki is no slouch, hitting .282 with 9 homers.

The Bruins crushed 89 home runs in 2016, with Delaney Spaulding and Stephany LaRosa each hitting 20. Every UCLA starter except lead-off hitter Allexis Bennett has hit at least three long balls. Bennett does damage the old-fashioned way with her .492 average, 12 doubles and two triples. You will not find a finer hitting team from top to bottom in college softball. 

UCLA had to make adjustments after the departure of 2015 ace, Ally Carda, who was the pitching leader and earned multiple awards.  2016 was “pitch by committee” with three starters, much like Auburn. Where Carda had 281 K’s in 2015, the 2016 staff was unable to do that kind of damage, striking out only 218 batters.

UCLA opponents hit for a .274 average with 35 homers (compared to 32 given up by Auburn’s staff). Of those 35, 22 were given up by Johanna Grauer, who will likely not face the Tigers. Leading the UCLA starters is Selina Ta’amilo, who is 19–5 in 43 appearances.

Auburn is likely to face the righty, Ta’amilo in game 1, however, don’t be surprised if coach Kelly Inouye-Pereze starts Paige McDuffee (6–1 in 15 appearances), who is the only left-handed pitcher on the roster and leads UCLA in most pitching categories. Auburn’s lineup is dominated by left-handed batters, and the team has struggled against lefties (15–4) as opposed to righties (39–6).

The Tigers hit 81 homers and are 12th in the nation in homeruns per game at 1.27. UCLA is just behind with 65 homers, averaging 1.18 per game. Auburn hitters, especially Kasey Cooper, have keen eyes at the plate and walked 333 times in 2016. Walks could be key. 

However, Auburn’s best chance at beating the Bears from California may come down to turning double plays and maximizing fielding efficiency. Although Auburn’s fielding percentage dropped drastically at the end of the regular season and in the post-season, it still is in the top 50 in fielding with a .969 mark. UCLA is not.

Auburn is at a disadvantage in turning double play’s versus giving them out (37–21) compared to UCLA  (44–25). Auburn has had a hard time making critical DPs in the post-season, but often have just missed as evidenced by Kasey Cooper’s ESPN Top 10 quality nab at 3rd, just missing a bag tag for a double up.

Auburn’s pitchers are going to give up hits, being a pitch-to-contact staff. Not making game-changing DP’s has kept many games close. The UCLA pitching staff has surrendered 148 walks to Auburn’s 155.

Auburn is the second-highest scoring team in college softball (8.13 runs per game), just behind Michigan (8.2), and UCLA ranks 19th with 6.1. However, UCLA was held under their average in six of their last ten contests, and Auburn has eclipsed its average only twice in the last month.

Though the competition in the WCWS is decidedly better, don’t be surprised to see both of these teams have a breakout game, especially Auburn after regaining Haley Fagan’s plate power (.347 with 13 long balls in 2015).

Three of the Bruins’ 12 losses were to SEC teams (Texas A&M, Florida, and LSU) and five were to Pac-12 teams. UCLA played multiple teams in the WCWS but defeated only Georgia while losing to Oklahoma, Michigan and Florida State. 

Auburn and UCLA will battle in Oklahoma City on Thursday at 1:30 CT on ESPN. Follow me on Twitter @Best5Zach as I live tweet the action. 

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