Everything was going right for Auburn. The defense was doing as well as it could, and the Tigers were just one out away from their first SEC Championship appearance since 2016. Then, the worst occurred.
Shelby Lowe had been amazing in relief for Maddie Penta. Penta had another off game, but Lowe came in and helped shut down South Carolina, not allowing a hit until the sixth inning.
However, in the seventh inning everything exploded. Lowe walked the first batter, and South Carolina's Jordan Fabian sent a ball into deep left field to take a 3-2 lead.
The game played right into the hands of South Carolina. This was the type of contest the Gamecocks had won throughout the SEC Tournament. They relied on their excellent defense and pitching to get the win. South Carolina now has 10 hits with six runs through three games in the SEC Tournament.
Auburn had another case of cold bats and leaving runners on base, which ultimately proved to be its downfall. It did not help that South Carolina saved Donnie Gobourne to close out the game. Gobourne has pitched over 12 innings in the SEC Tournament and has yet to give up a run.
Auburn had been doing much better putting up runs, but Friday looked like the Auburn from the middle of March when it struggled to put up runs to help the bullpen.
South Carolina did not start Gobourne, and it paid off in the end as she was dominant once again. Gobourne had a no-hitter against Auburn back in April, and she barely missed a beat from her dominance.
Auburn pulled ahead 2-1 in the second thanks to a Rose Roach RBI double. South Carolina's fatigue showed as well. The Gamecocks had just 30 errors on the season coming into this contest, but ended the game with three errors in the box score. This included a run that allowed Auburn to get the score even.
From then on, it began a pitchers' duel. Lowe was wheeling and dealing, and Gobourne was shutting down Auburn batters left and right.
But none of that would matter thanks to the bat of Fabian, who with one swing of the bat helped send the Gamecocks to their first SEC title appearance since 1997.
Auburn, meanwhile, was left stunned. The Tigers will now wait until Sunday to see if the NCAA will reward them with an NCAA Regional host spot, or if they will be a two seed.
Auburn dropped to 40-17 on the season while South Carolina climbed to 37-19 on the year. The Gamecocks are the lowest seed ever to make the SEC title game as a 10 seed.
The Tigers have had some great wins this year, but this will go down as one of the more painful losses in recent Auburn softball history.
South Carolina will now await the winner of tonight's contest between Alabama and Tennessee.
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TP is a senior from Montgomery, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2022.
Twitter: @tp_hammock
