No. 7 Auburn (39-8, 12-6 SEC) was unable to complete the sweep at South Carolina Sunday afternoon, dropping the third game of the series to the Gamecocks, 3-0 at Beckham Field in Columbia.
Freshman standout Carmyn Greenwood provided the only offense for the Tigers, finishing 2 for 3 at the plate. The remainder of Auburn’s makeshift lineup recorded no hits in 20 attempts.
Tigers junior Kaylee Carlson (22-3) suffered only her third loss of the season, after her game one victory placed her atop the SEC in the win column. Carlson worked all six innings after entering game two late for freshman Ashlee Swindle.
South Carolina (28-20, 4-13) scored their only runs of the entire weekend in the bottom of the third, when the Gamecocks thrashed Carlson for five hits. USC’s Victoria Williams brought in the first two scores with a two-RBI double following a walk and a bunt. An error from behind the plate by Auburn catcher Carlee Wallace scored the third run of the frame.
The loss for Auburn is their fourth shutout loss of 2017, and comes just days after Makayla Martin, Haley Fagan and Brittany Maresette were suspended indefinitely from the program.
"I'm not sure it's what they were doing in the circle more than it was just us not swinging at good pitches," assistant coach Scott Woodard said during a postgame radio interview. "I think that's the most disappointing part is that 50 games into the season we're still doing the same things we were doing at the beginning of the year."
The Tigers claimed the series with their victory on Saturday, missing out on their second sweep of the year. Auburn’s only series loss this year came on the road to the No. 1 Florida Gators. Clint Myers’ group comes home next weekend to take on Mississippi State at Jane B. Moore Field, but not before finishing their non-conference schedule at Alabama State this Wednesday. The first pitch in Montgomery is set for 6 p.m. CST.
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