No. 11 Auburn notched its 31st victory of the season in the team's first SEC sweep of 2018, downing the Kentucky Wildcats 6-4 in the third game of the series.
After a stagnant offensive performance in their last outing, the Tigers looked to get their offense back on track.
On her first pitch, Casey McCrackin launched a ball over the centerfield wall in the first inning to get the Tigers started on the board.
"The past two games, I was kind of cautious," McCrackin said. "I didn't really swing at the first pitch but it was a good pitch and I just put a good swing on it."
A strong third inning for the Wildcats capitalized by a two-run home run by shortstop Katie Reed gave Kentucky its first lead of the three game series, but it didn't last long.
After three innings from Chardonnay Harris, which included five total strikeouts and three in her first four batters faced, junior Makayla Martin came in to relief the freshman. Before Martin took to the circle, Auburn got another RBI from McCrackin and a double from Kendall Veach, which gave the Tigers a 4-2 lead going into the fourth.
A few key Auburn runs and clutch situational pitching prevented Kentucky from capitalizing late in the game.
Auburn's six runs were the most the team has scored in SEC play this season. After getting swept at LSU and starting conference play 0-4, the Tigers have won five straight conference games.
"It was important for us to win all three games, we knew that coming in," Auburn head coach Mickey Dean said. "It wasn't about winning one game and it wasn't about winning two games, our mission was to win all three."
The Tigers now turn their attention to a road trip to Oxford, where they will face Ole Miss on March 30 at 6 p.m. CT.
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