No. 3 Auburn Softball Sweeps South Carolina
By Dutch Dixon
Heading into Friday night and the weekend, both Auburn softball and South Carolina were riding fairly high.
The Tigers had just taken two-out-of-three from the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville, Miss. the previous weekend, and the Gamecocks had done the same to No. 12 Georgia in Columbia, S.C.
Both the Tigers and Carolina took care of business in their Wednesday warm-ups, as well, beating Georgia State and Charleston Southern respectively.
Back on their home field, Auburn (27-4, 3-3 entering the series) would be looking for the consistency that they’ve been uncharacteristically lacking — as well as their first SEC sweep — while Carolina (24-6, 2-4 entering) was hoping to build on their bounce-back series win over Georgia.
Game 1: Tiger Offense Explodes; Carlson ‘Devastates’
Auburn stormed out of the gate Friday night, making a statement on Jane B. Moore Field.
The Tigers would score one run in the second, three in the third, six in the fourth, and wouldn’t even need to take their fifth inning at-bats as they had already secured a run-rule victory over the Gamecocks.
Kasey Cooper had a sacrifice fly and blasted a grand slam, her 10th home run of the season. Not to be outdone, Jade Rhodes hit her 10th of the year as well — a two-run shot. Carlee Wallace added two hits, and Madi Gipson had two doubles and two RBI.
| Game 1 | R | H | E | LOB |
| Carolina | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| Auburn | 10 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
Nine of Auburn’s 10 runs were charged to Carolina ace Jessica Elliott, who was 12-1 with a 1.67 ERA entering the contest. Four of the runs were unearned.
Tiger starter Kaylee Carlson — with her baffling ‘devastator’ change-up — continued her strong season, picking up her seventh win against zero defeats, and lowering her pre-game ERA of 1.20 even further.
Tiger of the Game: Kaylee Carlson (W, 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO)
Game 2: Consistent, Relentless Offense Paves the AU Way
The series opener saw Auburn’s offense at its explosive best. Game 2 saw the consistency that the Tigers strive for.
Carolina put together a single, a sacrifice bunt, a walk, another single, and a double in the first inning off of Rachael Walters to put Auburn down 0-2 before they could even step to the plate.
No worries.
The Tigers never had the explosive inning they did in Game 1, but they were consistent and relentless against Gamecock starter Nickie Blue, scoring one in the second inning, two in the third, one in the fourth, and one in the fifth.
| Game 2 | R | H | E | LOB |
| Carolina | 2 | 8 | 1 | 8 |
| Auburn | 5 | 7 | 0 | 5 |
Walters settled down after her rocky start, holding Carolina scoreless after the first.
Freshman standout Makayla Martin took over in the fifth inning, inheriting the Gamecocks’ best chance to get back in the game — bases loaded, one out — and quickly thwarted the threat with no damage done.
Jade Rhodes and Whitney Jordan homered for Auburn, and Rhodes also added an RBI single. Tiffany Howard had two hits, Emily Carosone reached base twice, and Kasey Cooper earned two bases on balls.
Clearly warming up at the plate now, Madi Gipson pitched in with an RBI double — her third two-bagger of the series.
Tiger of the Game: Jade Rhodes (2-3, HR, 2 RBI)
Game 3: Gamecocks Rally; Tigers Counter
In the series finale, it would be Auburn that would jump out to an early lead, putting up a three-spot in the second inning off of Carolina starter Jessica Elliott.
Jade Rhodes and Madi Gipson both drew walks to start the inning and were plated by Jenna Abbott and Whitney Jordan on RBI singles. Victoria Draper’s sacrifice bunt in the frame enabled Tiffany Howard to come through with an RBI grounder to score the third run.
The Gamecocks weren’t going to be swept easily, however.
They chased Tiger starter Lexi Davis in the fourth after touching her up for three hits and two runs in the inning, cutting the lead to 3-2. Kaylee Carlson took over with the bases loaded and two outs and quickly induced and fielded a grounder hit right back at her to preserve the lead.
| Game 3 | R | H | E | LOB |
| Carolina | 3 | 10 | 0 | 11 |
| Auburn | 4 | 8 | 1 | 9 |
It would be temporary, though, as Kaylea Snaer took Carlson deep to even the score to lead off the fifth.
The Auburn-half of the fifth saw Nickie Blue replace Elliott, and things quickly got dicey for Carolina.
Kasey Cooper started things off with a walk, followed by a Carlee Wallace single and another walk to Rhodes. Gipson then knocked in a run with a fielder’s choice RBI to break the tie, but the Gamecocks would escape without any further damage.
It wouldn’t matter, though, because Carlson would hang zeroes in the sixth and seventh frames to seal the victory — and the sweep — for Auburn.
Tiger of the Game: Victoria Draper (2-2, SAC)
Random Thoughts
This three-game set was what I expected the Mississippi State series to be — and, really, what it should have been.
More from Fly War Eagle
- Ex-star Auburn DL confronts ‘slant man’ in MNF post-game video
- Ex-Auburn star laments not getting to face fellow Heisman candidate
- Analyst expects third-year RB to take AU rushing lead from surprising transfer
- Hugh Freeze was the right hire to truly embrace Auburn
- Auburn football Jack LB: ‘We’ve got to earn our respect back’
Auburn scored eight runs against the Bulldogs and stranded an astonishing 33 runners. Against Carolina, the Tigers plated 19 and left only 18 on base. You have to love the improvement, but it’s hard not to look back at the Mississippi State loss as a head-shaker.
It’s becoming more evident by the game that Auburn is going to have strong pitching for years to come, led by sophomore Kaylee Carlson and freshman Makayla Martin. Both have been outstanding and will only get better.
The Tigers will go on the road next Friday night to begin a series against top-15 Kentucky (28-4, 7-1) in what should be a strong test.