OKLAHOMA CITY -- Auburn floated in game two of the WCWS championship round on a wave of adrenaline and walked off in a veil of victory. The Tigers battled back from a 7-0 deficit to defeat Oklahoma in eight innings, snapping their 31 game win streak.
"You can't count us out. We have a very, very good offense and they're going to swing the bats," said Auburn head coach Clint Myers. "If you noticed, they like to do it late and make everything very exciting. But I'm extremely proud of them to have this opportunity."
Oklahoma started off the first two innings by taking advantage of two errors by Whitney Jordan, scoring on a single in the first to make it 1-0 before advancing to a merciless second inning.
Kady Self lead with a solo home run and a single brought home pinch runner Raegan Rogers for a 3-0 score. Small ball ensued with Caleigh Clifton and Shay Knighten batting in runs and reaching on fielder's choice. Sydney Romero singled to bring home Clifton for a 6-0 game before Auburn took to the pen and replaced Kaylee Carlson with Rachael Walters.
Walters entered with no outs and managed to get a double play via Kasey Cooper, but Oklahoma would add one more run before the top of the second inning closed on a Sooner caught stealing with Auburn down 7-0.
"We like to make things interesting at Auburn," said Cooper. "When we were down seven to nothing I looked at them and said 'good thing there's no run rule, because we have seven at-bats to be able to score these runs.'"
With two outs and backs against the wall, Auburn began its rally. Carlee Wallace was hit by pitch, Madi Gipson was walked, and Whitney Jordan stepped up to make up for her two errors with a home run down the left field line. Tiffany Howard tripled and Victoria Draper scored for a 7-4 contest. Cooper singled to bring in one more before the rally was paused with a Jade Rhodes strikeout ending the inning at 7-5.
Cooper came back in the fourth to tie the game at seven with a two run blast. No runs would cross for either side until the eighth inning, but Oklahoma would threaten.
Clifton waited patiently on base with two outs in the sixth for something to get back the Sooner lead. Knighten had exactly what she was looking for, driving a ball deep to left field just over the fence. Except it never landed on the other side, Howard was there reaching before it could to nab the ball she's "dreamed" her entire life.
It gave Auburn the confidence it needed to come back and get the job done. Draper and Howard singled with one out and Cooper drew a walk. Emily Carosone stepped to the dish. First pitch was rocked to right center.
"Right before I got in the box I was thinking 'hit it hard.' Because if I hit it hard and it went somewhere Victoria was gonna score no matter what," said Carosone. "That pitch was just there. Softball's a game of inches and my bat was there. It's amazing. God is good."
It was a walk off grand slam for the Tigers, keeping their dream alive for just one more day.
Auburn and Oklahoma will face off Wednesday in the rubber match of the series, set for 6 p.m. CST at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium and ESPN.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
