No. 3 Auburn Softball Takes Two in Starkville

As our series preview discussed, Auburn softball and Mississippi State Bulldogs were in very different situations entering the weekend.

When No. 3 Auburn (24-3, 1-2 entering the series) took the field at Nusz Park in Starkville on Friday, they hoped to build on the momentum gained from knocking off top-ranked and previously unbeaten Florida on Monday and their 18-1 demolition of Samford mid-week.

Meanwhile, Mississippi State (18-6 entering) was looking to end a three-game losing streak and was no doubt looking forward to opening their conference slate against last season’s SEC Tournament champions.

Game 1: Rhodes, Carlson Save Scuffling Tiger Offense

Auburn got out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning after Kasey Cooper and Carlee Wallace drew two-out walks and Jade Rhodes singled in a run off of Bulldog pitcher Alexis Silkwood.

Small-ball was Mississippi State’s choice of attack against Tiger starter Makayla Martin in the third, and they utilized a single, a steal, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, an RBI ground-out, another walk, and an RBI single to score twice in the frame and take a 2-1 advantage.

With Auburn down to just five outs remaining, Rhodes launched a 1-2 Silkwood pitch deep and off of the left field scoreboard to tie the game in the sixth inning.

Silkwood and Kaylee Carlson — who replaced Martin to begin the fifth inning — would be locked in a pitchers’ duel all the way to the 14th frame.

Finally, after Cooper doubled and moved over to third on a Wallace flyout, Silkwood would exit the game — after 13⅓ innings, nine mostly strategic walks, and 216 pitches.

Regan Green took over for the Bulldogs and retired Rhodes, but a two-out wild pitch would score Cooper and, after the dominant Carlson put up yet another zero in the bottom of the inning, Auburn claimed the victory.

Tiger of the Game: Kaylee Carlson (W, 10 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12 SO)

Game 2: Illegal Pitch Completely Changes Game

The second inning of Game 2 set the tone for this contest, and it wouldn’t change.

After Auburn starter Marcy Harper issued a walk and a strikeout to the start the frame, she appeared to have a second consecutive ‘K’ registered — but she didn’t. She was called for an illegal pitch instead, and Calyn Adams used the new life to turn that could-have-been strikeout into a base on balls. The situation changed from a runner on first with two outs to two runners aboard with just one out.

That extra out would prove costly.

The bases were soon full with two outs until No. 9 hitter Amanda Ivy ripped a 1-2 Harper pitch into left field, scoring two. Katie Anne Bailey would follow that up with a two-RBI triple that fell out of the glove of diving right fielder Madi Gipson.

Yet another illegal pitch by Harper would bring Bailey home, leaving the Bulldogs with a 5-0 lead that never felt in jeopardy the rest of the way.

Carlee Wallace got Auburn on the board in the third inning with an RBI groundout, plating Emily Carosone, but the Tiger offense would then fall silent until the seventh, when they scored two more on RBI singles by Kasey Cooper and Jade Rhodes.

It was, however, too little, too late.

Tiger of the Game: Kasey Cooper (2-4, RBI, SB)

Game 3: Strong Pitching Saves Tigers, Series

With the offense clearly having gone cold in the first two games of the series, Auburn desperately needed a strong pitching performance out of their starter, and that’s precisely what they got from Rachael Walters, who tossed 4⅓ shutout innings before giving way to Kaylee Carlson.

Auburn broke through for two runs in the third when Tiffany Howard hit a grounder to short, resulting in an errant throw to first that enabled Kasey Cooper (who reached on a fielder’s choice following a Carlee Wallace walk) and Bree Fornis, a pinch runner for Jenna Abbott (who reached via base on balls), to score.

That would be all Auburn would get — and all it would need — to beat Mississippi State and for the Tigers to take the series as Carlson picked up where Walters left off to complete the shutout.

Auburn won despite having just one hit — Emily Carosone’s single to start the game. Tiger hitters did, however, tally eight walks off of Bulldog pitchers.

Tiger of the Game: Rachael Walters (W, 4⅓ IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 SO)

Series Thoughts

I believed Auburn needed to sweep this series — despite it being so early in the conference slate — in order to win the regular season SEC title. I’m not sure whether I still do or not. Mississippi State, despite being the worst-hitting team in the conference statistically, is better than I expected due to very good pitching and may cause more trouble for teams down the road than I initially thought.

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It was pretty clear that the Bulldogs absolutely didn’t mind walking the top half of the Tiger lineup if they couldn’t get them to chase pitches in certain situations. That’s not going to change unless the lower spots start hitting more effectively and making teams pay for those free passes.

Auburn scored eight runs against Mississippi State, yet left 33 runners on base. While some credit goes to the Bulldog pitching staff, there were far too many times that Tiger hitters were ahead in the count only to swing at bad pitches and harmlessly groundout (or strikeout).

At the end of the day (and series), Auburn softball won the weekend on the road against a strong team from the strongest softball conference in the land. You simply can’t be unhappy about that.