The Auburn softball Tigers are on a roll.
Behind Makayla Martin's one-run game and the offense's most hits in SEC regulation this season, No. 10 Auburn clinched its third straight conference series Saturday with a 5-1 victory at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi.
The Tigers knocked in eight hits in the contest, the most since the SEC opener vs. LSU (11), which went 13 innings.
Senior Victoria Draper and junior Casey McCrackin led the way at the plate for Auburn (33-6, 7-4 SEC), which has now won seven straight in the conference and eight straight overall. Draper finished 2-for-4, scoring a pair of runs and stealing her NCAA-leading 36th base of the season.
McCrackin smacked an RBI and a double behind a 2-for-3 clip. The Pensacola, Florida native has found herself on base in 12 straight outings, a career high.
Auburn shot out to a 3-0 lead in the 3rd inning, which featured singles from McCrackin and Morgan Podany. Draper contributed a slow-roller to the pitcher, which caused an errant throw to advance the senior to third. McCrackin's single brought her home, followed by an RBI groundout from Game 1 hero Alyssa Rivera to score Courtney Shea.
Rivera and Kendall Veach hit an RBI single and sacrifice fly, respectively, in the 5th inning to widen the deficit to 5-0. Ole Miss (16-14, 2-9 SEC) got a run back in the bottom of the inning to cement the scoreboard at its final tally.
Martin (13-3) kept the Rebels at bay all evening, going the distance in the circle for the seventh time in 2018.
“Today was probably the best I’ve thrown my changeup the whole time I’ve been at Auburn,” Martin said. “I’m glad that it was working, because my drop wasn’t exactly what I wanted it to be, so being able to change speeds really set their hitters off balance.”
The junior tossed two Ks and allowed just the one run on seven hits thanks to the defense behind her.
“Well, that’s the game," Tigers head coach Mickey Dean said. "We talk about it all the time, put the ball in play and we have a chance,” head coach Mickey Dean said. “The other team made some mistakes and we are limiting our mistakes.”
After blanking Kentucky last weekend in the win column, Auburn will go for a back-to-back SEC sweep Sunday afternoon. The first pitch of Game 3 is set for 1 p.m. at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
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