April 9, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 5 Auburn softball team got a strong pitching performance from Kaylee Carlson and key hits from Kasey Cooper and Carlee Wallace to key a 3-1 victory against No. 21 Ole Miss. The victory clinched the series for the Tigers (33-6, 8-4 SEC) Sunday at Jane B. Moore Field.
Carlson stymied the Rebels (26-13, 3-9) all afternoon long in a complete-game effort, highlighted by six strikeouts. The junior limited the opposition to just four hits and one unearned run in her 20th victory of 2017.
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"I have no problem putting Kaylee Carlson in the circle, because she wins," said head coach Clint Myers. "She's a competitor. She goes out and leaves it out there. She has pitched magnificently all season long."
The Auburn offense was led by Cooper and Wallace, who combined for four hits and scored all three of the Tigers' runs. Cooper racked up two RBI and tallied a triple, while Wallace contributed one double and scored twice.
"Our at-bats were better today," stated Myers. "We seemed to be a little more aggressive. We went up [to the plate] and took some pretty good cuts."
Ole Miss opened the scoring in the top of the first to make it 1-0 in favor of the road team.
Auburn responded in the home half of the opening stanza by plating two on three hits. Wallace led off with a single to left-center and scored six pitches later when Cooper smacked a triple down the line in right. Alyssa Rivera gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead with a single that scored Cooper.
The Wallace-Cooper duo extended Auburn's lead to two in the bottom of the third. Following a leadoff double down the chalk in left from Wallace, Cooper smoked a single back up the chute to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
That was all the run support Carlson needed as she was nearly untouchable in her second start of the series. The Garden Grove, Calif. native retired 16 straight from the first inning until the sixth, striking out six in the process.
Ole Miss tried to rally in the seventh, but Carlson worked through a clean frame to send Auburn to the conference series win.
The Tigers return to the diamond Wednesday night against Georgia State. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. at Jane B. Moore Field.