OKLAHOMA CITY -- The tension of an SEC rematch in the winner's bracket Saturday at the WCWS was present both on and off the field. Auburn and Georgia fans howled their school pride back and forth as the two stepped onto the dirt for a rematch of postseason proportions.
A regular season meeting ended in an Auburn sweep of the Bulldogs, two games of that sweep consisting of a Tiger team narrowly finding victory by route of one run. The same case presented itself once again, ending in a 4-3 Auburn victory over Georgia.
"It was a hell of a game," said Auburn head coach Clint Myers. "The pitching was phenomenal, the hitting was timely and good base running. The little things that we talked about that Auburn has to do in order to win we did tonight."
The Tigers kicked off the contest with Tiffany Howard scoring on a sacrifice fly by Emily Carosone. Georgia wouldn't allow the Tigers to hold on to their 1-0 lead, responding with a double, sacrifice fly and single up the middle to score Alex Hugo.
An Auburn pitching change brought in Rachael Walters and with her came another Georgia run. Samantha LaZear singled and was followed by two sacrifice bunts before she scored on a ball that got away from Auburn catcher Carlee Wallace.
A single over the head of Auburn third baseman Kasey Cooper gave Georgia enough to put another run on the board after Maeve McGuire knocked an RBI double past a diving Victoria Draper. Georgia starting pitcher Chelsea Wilkinson held the Tigers to just four hits up until the sixth inning. It appeared she had the Tigers locked down until Auburn sparked a seventh inning rally.
Victoria Draper started the fire with a single and advanced to third after Tiffany Howard reached first on an error. Cooper stepped up with an RBI single and Carosone followed to tie the game with no outs. Georgia turned to sophomore Brittany Gray in hopes of halting the Tigers bats, but was only able to after a play of mass confusion took place.
"I knew if I could get her to hesitate just for a second, Jade (Rhodes) would be safe and Cooper could score," Carosone said. "I even told Cooper before, I said, 'if that ball's hit to (Alex) Hugo, I'm getting her to try and tag me.'"
With one out, Jade Rhodes reached on a fielder's choice. Carosone was between first in second mid sprint toward the top of the diamond and ran out of the basepath - 3 feet on either side of her - to earn another run via Cooper. Carosone was called out and Rhodes was also called out for vacating first, and then an assistant coach physically assisted her back to the base. She was ruled out but Cooper was able to score to make the game 4-3 since the third out was not recorded until after she had scored.
"Our goal is just a dream with a deadline. Our deadline is three more days and we've almost made it," said Cooper. "Our dream is still attainable and we aren't stopping until we obtain our goal."
Auburn will play again Sunday at 6 p.m. on ESPN 2. The Tigers will find out whether their opponent is Oklahoma, Michigan or Florida State on Sunday afternoon.
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