May 6, 2017
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - In front of a Rhoads Stadium record crowd of 4,015, Kaylee Carlson tossed a complete game shutout to guide the No. 9 Auburn softball team to a 3-0 victory against No. 14 Alabama.
The Tigers (44-8, 16-6 SEC) took their fourth consecutive result from the Crimson Tide (39-14, 11-10), matching a program-best in the series.
"I'm glad we won," said head coach Clint Myers. "We capitalized on their mistakes. It was a well-pitched game by two tremendous pitchers."
Carlson threw a career-high 161 pitches in a season-high nine innings to improve her record to 25-3 in 2017. She mixed and matched her array of pitches all night, lowering her season ERA to 1.18 and had three strikeouts.
"My mentality was to try to not make any mistakes, to try to not give them any free bases, not allow them to score any runs, because it was going to take us how long it was going to take us to get runs," stated Carlson.
Auburn ran into a buzzsaw in the opposing circle as Alabama's Alexis Osorio notched 18 strikeouts. However, the Tigers saw 184 pitches and drew 11 walks from the ace.
Alyssa Rivera, Kendall Veach and Carlee Wallace took care of the offense, each tallying one hit. Veach led the team with two RBI. Kasey Cooper reached base four times by way of three walks and one hit by pitch.
Auburn put 16 runners on base, but was unable to get a run across until the top of the ninth.
Cooper was plunked with one out to open the ninth inning and advanced to second when Wallace drilled a single through the left side. Cooper then scored from second after Alabama committed an error off the bat of Haley Fagan.
Two batters later, Veach lifted a two-out double that scored Fagan and Wallace to round out the scoring 3-0.
Carlson put the Crimson Tide down in order in the home half to tally her 19th complete game and fifth shutout of the season.
Alabama had four separate innings with runners in scoring position, including three in the first seven frames, but Carlson buckled down and kept the Crimson Tide off the scoreboard.
With the victory, Myers earned his 200th win at Auburn and his 1,516th overall as a head coach.
Auburn and Alabama resume the rivalry Saturday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Brit Bowen and Brad Law will have the call from the radio booth on 95.9 FM and the official Auburn app.