May 13, 2017
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The bid for a third-straight SEC Tournament crown came to a halt after the No. 7 Auburn softball team dropped a 6-0 decision to No. 21 LSU Saturday afternoon. The loss eliminated the orange and blue Tigers (46-10) in the conference tournament semifinals.
"We didn't play well enough to win," said head coach Clint Myers. "There were some bright things, but in order for us to be the team we want to be, we've got to play better defense and we've got to have a whole lot more offense. The pitching, I thought, was excellent. It's the other two parts that we failed at today."
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Auburn was led offensively by Haley Fagan's two hits, while Victoria Draper, Alyssa Rivera and Carlee Wallace each contributed one base knock.
In the circle, Kaylee Carlson got the start and tossed 4 1/3 innings with two strikeouts. The junior scattered seven hits and yielded only one earned run. Makayla Martin hurled the final 2 2/3 stanzas and allowed just three batters to reach base.
Auburn committed a season-high five errors in the field, leading to five unearned runs for LSU (41-17).
The designated road team opened the scoring in the top of the second with an RBI single to take an early 1-0 lead.
In the fifth, LSU put up a crooked number with five runs on four hits and was aided by four Auburn errors.
Down 6-0, Auburn's best chance to score came in the home half of the sixth. Following a leadoff single by Draper, back-to-back singles from Wallace and Rivera loaded the bases for the heart of the order. However, a strikeout and pop out thwarted the rally.
LSU went on to seal the result in the seventh and advance to the SEC Tournament Championship, ending Auburn's seven-game winning streak in the year-end postseason challenge.
Allie Walljasper earned the victory for LSU after throwing 5 1/3 shutout innings with three strikeouts.
Auburn is set to host its banquet Sunday afternoon with the NCAA Tournament Selection Show to follow at 9 p.m. CT on ESPN2.