softball exits SEC Tournament

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Auburn softball exits SEC Tourney after heartbreaking, 14-inning loss to Georgia

Published: May. 08, 2024, 11:06 p.m.

4–5 minutes

Auburn Tigers Sports

Auburn softball ends up on the wrong side of a wild, 14-inning game vs. Georgia, exits SEC Tourney

BATON ROUGE, LA - APRIL 12 - Auburn Outfielder KK McCrary (16) during the game between the Auburn Tigers and the LSU Tigers at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge, LA on Friday, April 12, 2024. Photo by David Gray/Auburn TigersDavid Gray/Auburn Tigers

Auburn senior KK McCrary rounded the bases with both hands clinched in fists. She fist bumped assistant coach Eugene Lenti as she rounded third base and didn’t let the white out of her knuckles until she made it to home plate, where the rest of Auburn’s roster was not-so-patiently awaiting her arrival.

McCrary had just hit her 10th home run of the season and not one that came before it was as important as this three-run home run, which finally broke Auburn’s stalemate with Georgia in the 14th inning of Wednesday night’s first-round matchup in the SEC Tournament.

Auburn’s dugout was buzzing. And it only strengthened as the home crowd at Auburn’s Jane B. Moore Field added fuel to the fire.

However, the high was short-lived as Georgia’s Jayda Kearney knocked a three-run home run of her own in the bottom of the 14th inning, knotting the game back up, only for it to be quickly untied again as Georgia’s Sarah Gordon popped a solo home run to give the Bulldogs the unbelievable 6-5 walk-off win.

It was a game that lasted four hours and 21 minutes, outdoing Alabama and LSU’s three hour and 39-minute 14-inning game from earlier in the day.

“Sadly, yes,” Auburn head coach Mickey Dean said when asked if he’d coached a game that long before. “They’re draining because you’re trying to do everything possible to have a good at-bat, to make a good pitch. Every little thing matters. And then when something goes your way, it’s big. If it doesn’t go your way, it’s big. So it’s a very emotional rollercoaster.”

Auburn seemed to have take hold of momentum in the bottom of the 13th inning when senior pitcher Shelby Lowe eyed a do-or-die situation with the bases loaded, two outs and a full count. Lowe went on to toss a cold-blooded swinging strike to keep the Bulldogs at bay and send the Tigers back to the bats.

Lowe finished the night having pitched 4.2 innings after relieving Maddie Penta, who went nine innings after getting the starting nod. Together, the tandem combined for 10 strikeouts.

Following Lowe’s big pitch, the Tigers led off the 14th inning with a runner aboard as Anna Wohlers drew a walk, followed by a one-out single off the bat of Annabelle Widra. Then came a flyout to centerfield to give the Tigers two outs and set the stage for McCrary’s two-out heroics.

“It’s real cool just because we’re at home so I see all the same fans I see every weekend,” McCrary said of her home run in the 14th inning. “To make is a really good game for them is awesome. I wish we would’ve gotten the win, but it was awesome in the moment.”

After a loss such as the one Auburn experienced Wednesday night, Dean realizes there’s only so much that can be said or be done to console a team.

“That one is going to sting. You’re hosting the tournament, it’s 14 innings, you’re up three in the 14th. So that’s going to sting and I don’t even know if they’re listening at that point to be quite honest,” Dean said. “Really all you can do is tell them great effort and move on. And luckily we get to move on.”

Dean said he and the Tigers will take Thursday off before returning to practice.

Come Sunday night, Auburn will tune into the NCAA Selection Show to learn its NCAA Tournament fate.

“Now the focus is on regionals and we’ve shown we can compete with anybody,” McCrary said. “I think we finished with the strongest schedule in the country. We’re ready for the postseason.”

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