May 19, 2018
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - No. 15 Auburn softball concluded the 2018 season Saturday in Tallahassee with a pair of heartbreaking defeats, falling 2-1 to Florida State and 3-2 to Jacksonville State to get bounced from the NCAA Tallahassee Regional.
The Tigers finished the season with a record of 41-17, 11-12 in SEC play.
Game one against Florida State was a nail-bitter of a pitcher's duel as Auburn's Kaylee Carlson and Florida State's Meghan King combined for 15 strikeouts and eight hits allowed. Carlson was sensational striking out seven over 98 pitches. The senior, playing in her final game in an Auburn Uniform, was charged with the loss to finish the season 21-7.
Auburn struck first in the contest in the fourth inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Kendall Veach, however the Seminoles quickly answered in the home half of the inning on a RBI single.
The game remained deadlocked for the remaining three innings, resulting in a dip into extra innings. The eighth inning was as far as the game would extend as Florida State's Carsyn Gordon led-off the frame with a walk-off inside the park home run for the 2-1 victory.
After an extended break to regather, Auburn played Jacksonville State in the nightcap elimination game. Like the first game, the Tigers struck first on Alyssa Rivera's RBI single in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead.
After the Gamecocks tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, Rivera once again delivered for Auburn, sending a two-out solo home run out to left field for a 2-1 lead.
Rivera, a native of Eagle Lake, Fla., was a staple for the Tigers offensively throughout the Tallahassee Regional, batting .571 (4-for-7) with four RBI, two runs scored and the home run. Her sixth inning two-RBI single was the game-winner against Kennesaw State in the Regional Opener.
Jacksonville State answered in the bottom of the sixth on a two-RBI double to take a 3-2 lead. Auburn tried to rally late in the seventh as Victoria Draper legged out an infield single and stole her final base, No. 38 on the season and 56 of her career, but ultimately fell short.
"Just too many wasted at-bats in the beginning of the game," head coach Mickey Dean said. "I'm not sure how many runners we left on base, but we just didn't have good at-bats, to be quite honest. And not taking anything away from that young lady (Jacksonville State pitcher Alexus Jimmerson). She battled, she did her job. But we didn't take advantage of things."
The Tigers and Gamecocks each tallied six hits apiece. Auburn left six on base.