Auburn earned a huge series win over the 8th ranked Tennessee Vols this weekend, and it came after falling in game one and appearing stymied offensively. With the victory over Tennessee, Auburn’s record now stands at 36-8 overall, 9-6 in the SEC (good for 5th place, just .003 percentage points back from LSU).
First of all, Auburn took a midweek victory over Kennesaw State, 2-1, with Kaylee Carlson taking her 62nd career win, which tied the all-time Auburn record. Carlson didn’t start, but came in and tossed three innings, which earned her the victory and pulled her even with Lexi Davis’ career mark.
However, things were pretty bleak on Friday night when Tennessee came to town, with the Tiger bats silenced until the bottom of the 7th inning, when Courtney Shea notched Auburn’s fourth overall hit and got her team on the scoreboard with one swing of the bat.
There was no question about this one! Courtney Shea ties things at 1-all on this solo shot to RF in the bottom of the 7th!#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/uviwhNkoM3
— Auburn Softball (@AuburnSoftball) April 7, 2018
Unfortunately, that was all the Tigers could muster, and the Vols took game one with an RBI single in the 8th inning. Taylon Snow got a hit in the bottom half of the inning, but she was stranded as the game-tying run and Tennessee earned the win 2-1.
The next day, Auburn got revenge. Playing during the A-Day game, Casey McCrackin got the offense started in a scoreless game with a two-run homer to give Auburn a lead they’d never relinquish.
Check out the highlights from Auburn's 2-0 win over Tennessee #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/twErbrZDrs
— Auburn Softball (@AuburnSoftball) April 7, 2018
Probably the loudest roar from the fans here at Jordan-Hare today just came when Casey McCrackin's home run in Auburn's softball game was shown on the big screen
— WarEagleExtra (@wareagleextra) April 7, 2018
Auburn evened the series with the win, and Makayla Martin pitched a gem as she went the distance and allowed just one hit to get her fourteenth victory of the season.
Earlier today, the Tigers and Vols played the rubber match on the Plains, and Auburn finally got the bats to come alive with another shutout win.
Watch the highlight from Auburn's 6-0 win over Tennessee #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/cjzyTm3WoJ
— Auburn Softball (@AuburnSoftball) April 8, 2018
The Tiger offense opened up for five runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by Alyssa Rivera’s three-run homer, but even a little bit of offense was overshadowed by Kaylee Carlson’s program record 63rd career win. Carlson went the full distance, allowing just three hits and earning another shutout as she got her 17th win of the year and gave Auburn the series victory.
Auburn will now take a midweek bye before heading west to take on Missouri in Columbia. Of the remaining SEC series left, the Tigers will face Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. Those three teams have a combined SEC record of 17-22, and so Auburn could likely move up in the conference standings before the SEC Tournament begins.
Let’s take a look at the stat leaders after another weekend:
- BATTING AVERAGE - Taylon Snow - .402
- HITS - Victoria Draper - 47
- RUNS - Victoria Draper - 36
- DOUBLES - Courtney Shea - 9
- TRIPLES - Taylon Snow - 3
- HOME RUNS - Casey McCrackin - 7
- WALKS - Casey McCrackin - 26
- STOLEN BASES - Victoria Draper - 37 (NEW Auburn record)
And your pitching leaders as well:
- WINS - Kaylee Carlson - 17 (63 career wins, Auburn record)
- COMPLETE GAMES - Kaylee Carlson - 10
- ERA - Kaylee Carlson - 0.66
- STRIKEOUTS - Kaylee Carlson - 97
- OPPONENT BATTING AVERAGE - Makayla Martin - .193
Next up: @ Missouri, vs Arkansas