AUBURN, Ala. – Chardonnay Harris turned in the best performance of her young career as the sophomore left-handed pitcher struck out a career-high 17 batters as No. 19 Auburn knocked on No. 7 Florida, 2-1, in 10 innings.
Harris' strikeout total was the most by an Auburn pitcher against a Southeastern Conference team in program history and second most by a Tiger pitcher (18, Anna Thompson vs. Middle Tennessee on Feb. 20, 2009) in a single game. The win also gave Auburn (35-14, 10-10) its first win over the Gators in extra innings in school history.
"I've been coaching for a very long time and I've coached a lot of great pitchers, but that was one of the best outings I've ever seen," said Auburn head coach Mickey Dean. "We asked her to go way above and beyond what I normally ask a pitcher to do. Every inning she said, 'I want it, Coach. I want it, Coach.' At the end, she was getting tired, but her defense was playing unbelievable behind her."
Harris (9-3) started her run towards 17 in the top of the first when she struck out the first two Florida batters of the game. She had five strikeouts through two innings after striking out the side in the second. Then added two more in the third and fourth, respectively.
By the end of the game, Harris struck out at least one batter in every inning except the eighth. She struck out multiple batters in six of the 10 innings.
"With the confidence of my teammates behind me, I felt like I could do anything," Harris said. "It is senior weekend and the things I would do for all of them are beyond this world. To get this win under my belt, and theirs, just means the world to me."
Florida (38-13, 10-10) got on the scoreboard first after three consecutive two-out singles plated a run in the top of the sixth. Kendall Veach answered with her 19th home run of the season in the bottom half of the inning when she launched the first pitch she saw.
Kelly Barnhill (26-9) entered the circle for the Gators to stop the seventh. She matched zeros with Harris for the next three innings until the 10th when Alyssa Rivera led off the inning with a single to left field.
Rivera was thrown out trying to advance to third on a single by Tannon Snow, who took second on the throw. Makenna Dowell entered as a pinch-runner and advanced to third on a wild pitch as Barnhill intentionally walked Veach.
Casey McCrackin lifted the first pitch of her at bat to deep centerfield, which allowed Dowell to score from third and seal the Tiger victory.
The two teams will look for the series win on Sunday, April 28 when the first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.