No. 2 Auburn Softball Unhorses Lancers, Sweeps Third Straight Series

Coming into the weekend series with the Longwood Lancers (then 21-12) out of the Big South Conference, Auburn softball, at 34-4 overall and 9-3 in the Southeastern Conference, was on quite a roll already.

The Tigers were coming off of consecutive sweeps of South Carolina and top-15 Kentucky and were victorious in nine games in a row in total.

For that, the Tigers found themselves elevated from No. 3 to No. 2 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll.

Despite the Longwood pitching staff’s gutsy effort, Auburn’s winning ways would continue on Jane B. Moore Field.

Game 1: A Pitching Duel on The Plains

The first game in the series would see Tiger senior Rachael Walters and junior workhorse Elizabeth McCarthy (11-7, 2.35 ERA entering) square off.

Emily Carosone walked and had a pivotal stolen base in the third inning, and that’s where she stood with two outs when the Lancers replaced their starter with freshman Sydney Gay (9-4, 1.89). Carlee Wallace would greet her with a single to center, scoring Carosone and giving Auburn a 1-0 lead.

Longwood would even the score and get on the board against Walters in the fifth, bookending a hit-by-pitch with two singles before Justina Augustine would plate pinch runner Jessica Smith with a sacrifice fly.

Wasting no time, the Tigers would retake the lead in the bottom of the inning on a Kasey Cooper solo home run, her 12th of the season.

Freshman standout Makayla Martin took over for Walters to start the sixth inning and would throw the final two frames for Auburn, allowing just one hit while striking out four, for her second save of the season to secure the Tiger win and Walters’ sixth victory.

Tiger of the Game: Kasey Cooper (1-2, go-head HR, BB, RBI)

Game 2: Carlson Dazzles; Carosone Launches Early Answer

The Lancers would strike first against Auburn’s sophomore sensation, Kaylee Carlson, scoring an unearned run in the first thanks to a sloppy inning defensively by the Tigers with both a questionable decision and a separate throwing error gifting Longwood the early lead.

It was an early and also a quite temporary one as Emily Carosone followed a Tiffany Howard walk with a blast off of Elizabeth McCarthy, making her second consecutive start, in the bottom of the inning to give Auburn the 2-1 advantage.

The Tigers would tack on more in their second at-bat, starting with Madi Gipson earning a base on balls and Courtney Shea making the most of her playing time with a double.

After Casey McCrackin walked, Longwood turned to Sydney Gay with the bases loaded and zero out, but Auburn would still plate three in the inning on a passed ball, a Jenna Abbott RBI grounder, and a wild pitch to take a four-run lead.

Carlson would blank the Lancers after the first frame through the fifth, and Longwood wouldn’t score again until two wild pitches in a row by Makayla Martin enabled Glenn Walters, who reached via a double, to score in the sixth.

Martin would rebound and strike out the Lancers in order in a dominant final inning.

Carlson improved to 11-0 on the season.

Tiger of the Game: Emily Carosone (2-2, HR, HBP, 2 RBI)

Game 3: Lancers Rally in Late Innings But Tigers Hold On

Auburn would send Marcy Harper to the mound for the series finale, looking for a strong start out of the scuffling pitcher but perhaps more-so hoping to see if her illegal pitch problems were behind her.

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Things started out well, with Harper striking out two and allowing just one walk through the first two frames. The third inning, though, would see Harper chased.

After a lead-off walk was issued to Kelsey Sweeney, Harper got the next two on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout. A Carly Adams RBI single and walks to Emily Murphy and Kaylynn Batten would see Harper’s day come to a close with the bases loaded.

The Tigers would turn to senior Lexi Davis to put out the fire but a tough-luck infield single would plate one more for Longwood, giving them a 2-0 edge — but it could have been worse.

As they had done all series, Auburn immediately responded in the bottom of the inning despite only having one on with two outs — and they would do so without a single hit. The Tigers drew four consecutive walks, making that five total bases on balls in the inning off of starter Sydney Gay, to even the score.

Auburn took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Emily Carosone singled in Tiffany Howard.

The game would be tied yet again when the Lancers took advantage of a lead-off hit-by-pitch in the fifth with a Murphy sacrifice fly.

The Tigers would again waste no time in answering.

Sydney Mundell would relieve Gay to start the Auburn-half of the fifth frame and was immediately greeted by Jade Rhodes drawing a walk, Madi Gipson singling, and Courtney Shea doing the same to again give Auburn the lead. Pinch hitters Jenna Abbott and Kendall Veach would then tally a sacrifice fly and RBI grounder respectively.

Karleigh Donovan would hit a solo home run in the sixth to slice the Auburn lead to two.

Game 1 starter Rachael Walters would start the final frame for the Tigers, relieving Davis, but Longwood again wouldn’t go quietly. Adams launched a two-out homer, and Murphy reached on an error before swiping second to put the tying run in scoring position.

Walters, though, would freeze Batten on a full count to complete the sweep.

Tiger of the Game: Emily Carosone (1-1, 2 BB, HBP, RBI)