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Auburn Defeats Georgia 4-3 and Advances to Semifinal Game of Women's College World Series

A dramatic 7th inning come back and the Tigers advance to the semifinals!

Kasey Cooper
Kasey Cooper
Dakota Sumpter / Auburn Athletics

The game started out the way Auburn wanted with getting an early 1-0 lead in the 1st inning, but things went wrong from there as the Tigers stranded two runners in three straight innings while the Georgia Bulldogs managed to take advantage of some Auburn mistakes to get a 3-1 lead and tried to cling on tenaciously.

Georgia added runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th inning off Makayla Martin and Rachel Walters. Meanwhile, UGA ace Chelsea Wilkinson was shutting down Auburn's hitters through most of the game when she needed to.

The Tigers weren't going to go quietly, though. Needing two runs to tie it in the 7th, things went quickly with Victoria Draper getting a hit and then a Tiffany Howard hard hit ball to 2nd and an error put two runners on for Kasey Cooper. A Coop single into the outfield scored Draper, then a Carosone hit scored Howard to put runners at the corners with no outs and the game now tied at 3.

With the dynamic of the game changed, UGA changed to a new pitcher to try to shut Auburn down. The first batter was a Carlee Wallace pop fly, but then a fielder's choice by UGA's 2nd baseman allowed Kasey Cooper to make it home to give the Tigers the 4-3 lead.

There was some serious controversy on the play, though. Jade Rhodes was ruled to have been "assisted" by a coach on the play, which counted for the last out of the inning. The run still counted, but Auburn was denied the chance to extend its lead beyond the one run. See Kasey Cooper's explanation here:

Rachel Walters returned to the circle to close the game out. After the early runs UGA scored, Walters settled in to a good rhythm for the late game and quickly got the first two batters out. A walk and a bunt single put two runners on for UGA with 2 outs. A hit back to Walters and a quick throw to first closed the game out for Auburn and the dramatic, amazing come-back victory in the 7th inning.

Auburn will now head to the semifinal game. They'll play the winner of Florida State and the loser of tonight's Oklahoma/Michigan game tomorrow night at 6:00pm Eastern. They only need one game to advance to the Championship Series.

WAR EAGLE, LADIES!!!! LET'S FINISH THIS!!!!