No. 3 Auburn Softball Brooms No. 12 UK in Lexington

Coming into Friday evening and the series, both Auburn softball and Kentucky were riding high in conference play: the No. 3 Tigers had just swept South Carolina, and the No. 12 Wildcats had done the same to Arkansas.

In Lexington, Auburn (30-4, 6-3 entering the series), an expected league contender, and Kentucky (31-5, 8-1 entering), the conference’s biggest surprise, would be jockeying for position in the upper echelon of the SEC standings.

Game 1: Rhodes sets the tone early.

After Tiffany Howard singled and Emily Carosone walked to the start the game, Kasey Cooper struck out and Carlee Wallace hit into a fielder’s choice.

It was starting to look like Meagan Prince (14-0, 1.28 ERA entering the series) and the Wildcats might escape with no damage done.

Instead, the series where Kentucky was looking to make a statement against the nation’s No. 3 team would begin with SEC player of the week Jade Rhodes crushing a two-out, 0-2 pitch over the center field wall, staking the Tigers to an early 3-0 lead.

That would be all Auburn ace Kaylee Carlson (8-0, 1.15 entering) would need — but not all she would get.

The Tigers would add five more runs in the third inning and one in the fourth.

Howard was 2-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored. Carosone reached base twice. Wallace tallied a double, an RBI, and scored twice. Jenna Abbott ripped a two-RBI single.

Carlson would continue her dominant season, throwing all five innings in the run rule shortened game, allowing just two hits and two bases on balls, for her ninth victory.

Tiger of the Game: Jade Rhodes (2-3, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R)

Game 2: Wildcats score first, but Auburn responds in a major way.

Kentucky did exactly what they needed to after getting run-ruled in Game 1 — they struck first.

The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Abbey Cheek scored on a wild pitch by Auburn starter Makayla Martin (7-0, 1.14 entering). Oddly enough, Cheek also was on base due to a wild pitch — a wild pitch that struck her out.

Immediately responding in the next half-inning, the Tigers exploded for five runs off of normally dominant Kelsey Nunley (13-3, 0.74 entering) on a Tiffany Howard single, a Kasey Cooper homer to left, Carlee Wallace and Madi Gipson doubles, and a Courtney Shea two-run blast.

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Kentucky would touch Martin up for two more in the fifth, her final inning, to cut the lead to 5-3.

Auburn would get one back in the sixth when Howard singled and was plated by an Emily Carosone double.

Marcy Harper (6-2, 3.09 entering) would take the mound in the sixth for the Tigers, facing only one batter, Cheek, and walking her after again struggling with illegal pitches.

Auburn would quickly insert Rachael Walters (5-2, 1.29 entering), but a Brooklin Hinz double resulted in a run, as did a sacrifice fly into foul territory by Breanne Ray.

The Wildcats would remain down by one as they came to bat in the bottom of the seventh, but Walters struck out the side in order to seal the Tiger victory.

Howard had three hits for Auburn, scoring twice, and Gipson added two hits, an RBI, and a run.

Tiger of the Game: Kasey Cooper (2-3, HR, BB, 2 RBI)

Game 3: An unusual suspect plays hero for Tigers.

The series finale would see the pitching duel that might have been expected between two teams entering the three-game set with ERAs of 1.33 (Kentucky) and 1.65 (Auburn).

Meagan Prince would be looking to avenge the Game 1 loss the Tigers tagged her with, her first of the season against 14 victories. Determined, through regulation she held Auburn to just one run — a second inning home run by the still-sizzling Jade Rhodes, her SEC-leading 13th of the season.

The Tigers would throw senior Lexi Davis (4-0, 1.62 entering), and she would hold the Wildcats scoreless until the fifth inning, when Christian Stokes doubled in a run to even the game. With runners on the corners and two outs, Davis would give way to Game 1 winner Kaylee Carlson, who recorded the final out of the inning to preserve the tie.

Pitching would continue to dominate until the top of the ninth, when Jenna Abbott — who is sneakily having a strong season — hit a rocket off of a 2-2 Prince pitch over the center fielder’s glove to knock in Rhodes, who reached via a base on balls.

Whitney Jordan would tack on an RBI grounder as insurance, giving Auburn a 3-1 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Maisie Steed would draw a two-out walk and Stokes reached on an error. Kelsey Nunley represented the winning run for Kentucky, but Carlson would catch her looking to cement the sweep and run her record to 10-0.

Tiffany Howard had two singles. Kasey Cooper added two hits and a walk. Rhodes scored twice. Madi Gipson earned two walks.

Tiger of the Game: Jenna Abbott (1-4, go-ahead RBI double in 9th)

Random Thoughts

• As impressive as the Game 1 run-ruling was, Game 2 and 3 were perhaps even more-so because the Tigers had to bear down, on the road, and truly fight for the win — and they did.
• Kaylee Carlson continues to give Auburn something it didn’t have last year — a truly dominant presence on the mound. She doesn’t average a strikeout an inning, but her placement and her baffling change-up make her a force. She’s now 10-0 with a 0.98 ERA. In the Kentucky series, she was 2-0, pitching 9⅓ innings, allowing just four hits, three walks, and zero runs — all that, despite only registering two strikeouts.
• Tiffany Howard had her best series in a while, going 7-for-11, frequently setting the table, scoring four runs, and even slapping a double over an outfielder’s head. She also forced in a run by drawing a bases loaded walk.
• With Alabama somewhat surprisingly taking two-out-of-three from No. 1 Florida in Gainesville and Auburn sweeping Kentucky, the Tigers have battled back to even with the Gators at the top of the SEC standings, each having 9-3 conference records.