Tigers Dominate Bruins, UGA Up Next in WCWS – (includes game preview)

Just for a moment the Thursday matchup between Auburn and UCLA, the most historic softball team in the nation, looked out of control. It wasn’t just because Auburn put up five runs in the first, either. 

In 25 pitches, the combination of UCLA pitchers Ta’Amilo and McDuffee walked one, gave up a Kasey Cooper double, and hit four batters. Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR Auburn batters were hit at the plate by two different Bruin pitchers…in the first inning. Amazingly, Emily Carosone, who was hit by 24 balls in 2016 wasn’t one of them. Tiffany Howard, Jade Rhodes, Madi Gipson, and Whitney Jordan were. 

The last pitch to Whitney Jordan’s head, following the pitch that beaned Madi Gipson, would have cleared dugouts in any game, yet the cooler heads of the Orange and Blue ladies prevailed. Singing and dancing continued from the first pitch to the last, and Auburn left UCLA in the dust 10–3. Though Kaylee Carlson gave up a three-run shot in the fourth, the game was never in jeopardy as the re-emergence of Haley “Queen” Fagan in the middle of the lineup energized the batting order again and again. 

All three UCLA pitchers made appearances, but Cooper, Rhodes, and Fagan were simply too much for the Bruins’ staff. Cooper made UCLA pay for her being skipped over for Player of the Year by hitting two doubles, adding an intentional walk, and scoring a run. She added phenomenal play from the hot corner and proved that she is the best player in college softball and deserved the Player of the Year award. 

The game went down almost as envisioned by the Track ‘Em Tigers preview. Auburn scored first and in the first inning, meaning that the odds were stacked in the Tigers’ favor from the beginning. Entering Super Regional play, Auburn is 30–4 when scoring in the first inning and 42–6 when scoring first. Auburn won the critical double-play category, turning one DP and limiting UCLA to zero. 

Auburn finally exceeded its run average (8.13 runs per game) after failing to eclipse it in all but two contests in the last month. Conversely, Carlson and the stellar Auburn defense led by Whitney Jordan held UCLA to half its average. 

Up next are the Georgia Bulldogs led by head coach Lu Harris-Champer, who has done a phenomenal job at building the UGA program. Georgia downed Florida State before Auburn dismantled UCLA.

What can fans expect from this All-SEC matchup? 

Thursday night’s rain outs clearly benefit UGA. Like many teams, UGA is a one-ace pitching team with senior Chelsea Wilkinson from North Carolina. Wilkinson (28–7) went the distance against FSU, earning the win 5–4 despite giving up four runs on six hits, including two home runs, while going the distance. With the senior being the Dawgs only real pitching option, the extra day of rest benefits UGA, as Auburn’s pitching staff is much deeper and coaches Clint and Corey Myers would undoubtedly prefer to play sooner, limiting Wilkinson’s recovery time and employing Auburn’s full arsenal.

The good news? Wilkinson is a righty, and Auburn has been downright dominant against right-handed pitchers, posting a 40–6 record. Wilkinson was clearly the better option in a regular season series between Auburn and Georgia. Though she took a 2–1 loss, she was better than Brittany  Gray, who started games one and two, taking a combined 17-run shellacking from the Tigers. Auburn swept UGA with a combined 19–6 run differential at Jane B. Moore field.

Like Auburn, UGA likes to score first and in the first inning. However, unlike the Tigers, failing to do so spells almost certain doom. UGA is 4–9 if its opponent scores in the first inning and 6–12 if the opponent scores first. UGA has only faced five left-handed hurlers for a 4–1 record, as opposed to a 42–17 mark against righties.

That means that Rachael Walters will not see the circle. Corey Myers will send Makayla Martin to battle the Dawgs.  Martin, at 14–3, has given up the fewest home runs (5) by an Auburn pitcher and has limited batters to a .207 batting average with a 1.70 ERA. 

Auburn’s lefty-dominated batting order will be best served playing small ball towards third where Alyssa DiCarlo is fielding just .899 and has 18 errors on the year. That’s nearly double the number of errors by the next player, shortstop and Alabama native Lacey Sumerlin (11). Expect Howard and Victoria Draper to exploit this. Auburn can expect to stay out of the double play as UGA has turned just 11 on the year. 

The real statistic to watch? Home runs. UGA is 33–8 when holding opponents to no long balls, 16–6 when limiting them to just one, but 2–6 if opponents hit two or more homers. Auburn is 19–5, 16–3 and 12–2 in the same categories when hitting. Auburn was held without a homer by UCLA and has only five in the last ten games. The Tigers, with their 1.25 home runs per game average, are due for a multi-homer game.

Like Auburn, UGA is a solid hitting team from top to bottom, boasting a combined .345 with 64 home runs, and can put together a lineup where no hitter averages under .300. In particular, Auburn must be careful while pitching to Tina Iosefa, one of the game’s very best, who is hitting .367 with 23 long balls and an astounding 87 RBI. Between her runs scored and RBI’s, she has accounted for 30% of UGA’s 413 runs scored in 2016.

Expect Auburn’s pitchers to keep the ball low for grounders. Auburn has turned 38 DP’s in 2016 and will will pitch to contact and rely on its stellar defense.

Auburn can withstand homers and is 3–4 when opponents hit two or more homers. Each team has given up around 150 runs on the year, but Auburn holds a 100-run lead over UGA in runs scored. 

Though they have common opponents in the SEC, UCLA was also a common opponent. Auburn dominated the Bruins in game 1 of the WCWS, but UCLA destroyed UGA 14–6  in tournament play with a seven-run fourth inning. UGA committed four errors, but it was the 14 hits, including three for extra bases, given up that did the Dawgs in. 

Auburn and Georgia square off Saturday at 6:00 PM C.T. The game will be televised on ESPN2. Make sure to follow me on Twitter @Best5Zach as I live tweet the game! 

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