Auburn Softball Knocks Out Unbeaten No. 1 UF in Series Finale

As stated in our series preview, Jane B. Moore Field and Auburn softball had never played host to a series quite like this one between the two-time defending national champion and No. 1 Florida Gators (24-0 entering the series) and the 2015 SEC Tournament champion and No. 3 Auburn Tigers (22-1 entering).

Let’s examine how it unfolded.

Game 1: UF Gets Close Calls, Capitalizes

The section headline above is not meant to take away from Florida’s win, but the fact remains that there were three extremely close calls that all went their way. To their credit, they took advantage of them — and that’s what champions do.

First Close Call: After retiring the first eight batters she faced, Auburn starter Makayla Martin gave up back-to-back singles to Aubree Munro and Kelsey Stewart with two outs in the third inning. After working Kirsti Merritt to an 0-2 count, Martin threw what she was so certain was strike three that she took a full step toward the Auburn dugout. It was called a ball, however, and the very next pitch was sent sailing over the outfield wall. Just like that, the Tigers found themselves down three runs.

Second Close Call: In the top of the seventh inning and with the game tied at three runs apiece, the Gators had a runner on first with one out. Lexi Davis then coaxed a grounder to third base by Florida’s Amanda Lorenz, and Auburn looked to turn two to end the inning. After getting the force out at second, there was a bang-bang play at first — Lorenz was ruled safe. It didn’t necessarily seem like a pivotal occurrence at the time . . .

Third Close Call: . . . but it was. Janell Wheaton would follow it up with a single to put two Gators on in their extended seventh inning life. Rachael Walters was brought in to face Kayli Kvistad. The lefty went right after her, zipping in a pair of pitches to get up 0-2 in the count. Staying aggressive, she fired in another, a borderline pitch that had players and fans alike thinking the Gator threat was thwarted — but it wasn’t. Just like in the third inning, Florida sent the very next pitch after a could-have-been third strike out of Jane B. Moore Field. This gave UF a 6-3 lead they would not lose.

The game wasn’t solely lost because of the Gators taking advantage of the situations they found themselves in, though.

The Tigers lost in large part due to their failure to do the same thing. The best example of this was the Auburn-half of the sixth inning, which saw the bases loaded with nobody out after a pair of singles by Emily Carosone and Kasey Cooper — chasing Florida starter Delanie Gourley in favor of Aleshia Ocasio — and a walk to Carlee Wallace.

The momentum that appeared to be building was quickly stamped out by Ocasio, though, as she induced a Jade Rhodes ground ball for a double-play, scoring Carosone, but at the cost of two outs. Auburn would score one more in the frame thanks to a Florida error on a routine play to temporarily tie the game, but that would be it.

Final Score: Florida 6, Auburn 3
Tiger of the Game: Carlee Wallace (2-2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R)

Game 2: UF Turns Back AU Momentum

If the story of Game 1 was Florida taking advantage of close calls, the story of Game 2 was their absolute and immediate squashing of Auburn momentum each time it began to build.

Auburn would take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an Emily Carosone solo homer . . . but the Gators would tie the game on three consecutive hits off of Tiger starter Marcy Harper to start the second inning.

When Auburn put up a three-spot in the bottom of the third on back-to-back home runs by Kasey Cooper and Carlee Wallace to take a 4-3 lead, Florida would start off the fourth inning by drawing two walks to chase Harper and immediately followed that up with a Nicole DeWitt three-run homer off of Rachael Walters to retake the lead 6-4.

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If Florida wasn’t snatching momentum away from Auburn, the Tigers were contributing to it themselves. The bottom of the fifth inning alone saw two key mistakes:

With Auburn trailing 7-4, Wallace ripped an RBI single to left but got tagged out at first base after getting hung up between first and second.

Shortly after that, Cooper attempted to score from third after a pitch got by catcher Aubree Munro only to see Munro make a great play, sliding to retrieve the ball and quickly firing it home.

Those two outs on the base paths killed what could have been a game-altering frame.

Final Score: Florida 8, Auburn 5
Tiger of the Game: Carlee Wallace (2-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI)

Game 3: AU Knocked Down Late, Knocks Out UF

After losing the first two games of the series, Auburn got off to the quick start it needed when, in the second inning, Jade Rhodes followed Carlee Wallace’s lead-off walk with a home run for an early 2-0 lead.

You knew Florida wouldn’t go down easily, though, and after Auburn failed to take advantage of having the bases loaded in the third, UF mounted an offensive, placing runners at second and third with nobody out to start the fourth. Tiger starter Kaylee Carlson was able to escape with just one run scoring, however, leaving AU with a 2-1 lead.

After surviving the fourth with the lead, the Tigers had to feel pretty good. That quickly changed in the fifth when Kirsti Merritt hit a two-on, two-strike, two-out Carlson pitch out of the park for what seemed like Florida’s 97th, 98th, and 99th two-out runs of the series, giving UF the 4-2 advantage.

In the bottom-half of the same inning, Emily Carosone answered with a solo home run, bringing the Tigers to within one. It would stay that way as the bottom of the seventh loomed.

Curiously, sophomore Emily Spain, who had just 12 at-bats on the season, was brought in to lead-off in place of Victoria Draper. In what seemed a likely mismatch, Spain battled and drew a walk in an impressive plate appearance against Florida ace Aleshia Ocasio.

Draper, back in to run for Spain, advanced to second on a passed ball, to third on a Tiffany Howard groundout, and scored on a Carosone fielder’s choice to tie the game.

Auburn wasn’t looking for extra innings, though — they were looking for the win.

With runners ultimately on second and third and two outs, it would be up to Jade Rhodes. Rhodes would hit a grounder to deep short, resulting in a bang-bang play across the diamond. This time, Florida wouldn’t be able to get the close call — the ball trickled out of Taylor Schwarz’s glove at first.

Final Score: Auburn 5, Florida 4
Tiger of the Game: Jade Rhodes (2-4, 1 HR, GW 1B, 3 RBI)

Series Thoughts

• Emily Spain’s seventh inning plate appearance in Game 3 will be overlooked, but it may well have been the “play” of the game. Without it, Auburn probably doesn’t even tie the game – much less win it.
• There were some truly frustrating moments for Auburn in games 1 and 2 — some due to officiating, some due simply to Florida being an outstanding team, and some due to self-inflicted wounds — and a lesser team wouldn’t have been able to rebound from them to take Game 3 against this caliber of competition.
• Florida definitely showed why they are the No. 1 team in the country. They are exceptionally talented, have no real weaknesses to exploit, and come up with clutch hits and defensive plays at a truly impressive rate.
• Auburn may have lost the series, but the Game 3 win was enormous. Even with plenty of season left to play, trailing this Gator team by three games in the SEC standings would have been seemingly near-impossible to overcome. Also, AU will take an abundance of confidence — the type that can be gained only by beating the No. 1 team in the land — into their next series and beyond.