OKLAHOMA CITY -- Monday night was a first for the Auburn softball program. Their first trip to the championship round of the WCWS ended in their first loss in the championship round of the WCWS. But the general consensus of the four Auburn student athletes and a proud head coach Clint Myers at the post game media conference was that the team had lost one battle, not the war.
Cut short from stealing game one away from the Sooners, Auburn exited ASA Hall of Fame Stadium with a 3-2 loss on its back.
"I'm very proud of Lexi Davis," said Myers. "There was some talk about why she was pitching and I think you saw why she pitched - she gave up seven hits and five of them never left the infield... She pitched well enough to win we just didn't support her defensively or offensively."
Lexi Davis tossed a full game for the Tigers, her first complete game since April 6, when she became Auburn's most winningest pitcher. She allowed seven hits, three runs and two walks in her six innings in game one. The second walk would prove to be costly.
Kelsey Arnold earned Davis' second and final walk of the night in the third inning. Erin Miller reached first on a bunt single and Sydney Romero stepped up to draw blood with a deep drive resulting in three runs for the Sooners. Quick softball ensued and the dish remained clear until a second consecutive seventh inning rally allowed the Tigers to cut into the Oklahoma lead.
Carlee Wallace topped the seventh with a walk that set up Jade Rhodes to nail a long ball over the center field fence and make it a one run game. Haley Fagan singled up the middle to continue the no out rally but Madi Gipson followed with a strikeout. Sooner pitcher Paige Parker had a throwing error that allowed Whitney Jordan to advance to second and pinch runner Casey McCrackin to reach third.
Courtney Shea pinch hit for Victoria Draper, sending a hard hit line drive back to first but the ball was thrown back home to steal a run from McCrackin for the second out. The Auburn rally was halted by an infield pop up that sent Auburn off the field hungry for game two.
"You're going to see us come out fighting tomorrow. Nobody's hanging their heads," said Myers. "We've been in this same spot against one heck of a good team called University of Arizona. You've got to win two. You can pick the first two, you can pick the first and last, we chose to pick the last two - that's all it is."
Game two will be played Tuesday at 7 p.m. CST at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium and on 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.
