May 8, 2015
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BATON ROUGE, La. -- No. 6 Auburn softball handled third-seeded Alabama in the semifinals of the SEC Softball Tournament, 7-1, to advance to the SEC Softball championship. The Tigers controlled the game early in the first inning and never gave up the lead, only allowing one run by the Crimson Tide.
Auburn heads to its first-ever SEC Tournament championship after being ranked in the top-10 national rankings for the first time in program history, at sixth.
The win also avenges the series loss Auburn had to Alabama earlier this year where the Crimson Tide took two of three at Jane B. Moore Field.
"To go somewhere you've never been before, you have to do something you've never done before," said Auburn pitcher Marcy Harper. "It's a great feeling. My team did a great job of stringing a bunch of hits together and base running and I did what I needed to do on the mound to put us in the position.
Auburn finished the matchup with 10 hits against Alabama's four. Tiger pitcher Marcy Harper pitched a full game and improved to 11-4 this season.
"At practice, we talk about making the pitch in the zone and we always get our bullpen hours in," said Auburn head coach Clint Myers. "When we do our situations, we tell them their strikes are balls, because it's easier to hit strikes than balls."
Auburn took the lead in the bottom of the first inning with two walk-in scores, followed by a double by Branndi Melero for the Tigers in the second. Alabama answered in the third inning with a Haylie McCleney single. Auburn answered as Haley Fagan hit a double to left field, which allowed Morgan Estell to cross home plate. In the fifth, Jenna Abbott singled as Estell scored once more.
Melero finished with two RBI in the game making her the first Auburn player to ever have 200 RBI in her career.
Freshman Carlee Wallace hit a sacrifice fly to center field in the bottom of the sixth, allowing Emily Carsosone to cross home for the seventh and final Tiger run.
Alabama's Leslie Jury pitched two innings before being replaced by Sydney Littlejohn. Jury claimed four hits, five runs, five errors and three strikeouts before Littlejohn threw six hits, two runs and a strikeout. Littlejohn falls to a 15-2 record this season.
"(Littlejohn) has a great curveball and it's not the first time we've seen it," Myers said. "When she throws it, we have to be able to capitalize on it."
And Auburn did just that of Littlejohn's pitching.
Auburn's 46-9 regular-season finish is also the second-best in school history.
"We can handle anything," Harper said. "Coach has put us through everything, so we're ready for anything that comes at us."
The Tigers improve to 48-9 this season, while the Crimson Tide falls to 42-12.Â
Auburn will face the winner of Florida and Tennessee Saturday in the championship game at 7:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.
For more information on Auburn softball, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter @Auburn_Softball or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSoftball.