Another College Softball World Series Visit for Auburn

As you all know by now, the Auburn Girls Softball team will be heading to the College World Series for the second year in a row. The Auburn Girls had to win two games on Sunday on a hot and humid afternoon in Auburn, Alabama. My compliments to the Auburn grounds crew and their families for setting up a tent outside the left field fence and offering us drinks during the game. They do keep the Auburn Softball field in great condition.

Kaylee Carlson and Makayla Martin both pitched well and Auburn defeated the Arizona Wildcats 4-1 in the first game and 6-1 in the second game. I think that freshman Makayla Martin is now a veteran after pitching well in game 2. I did feel like I was watching a different Auburn team perform on Sunday after Auburn went down to the Wildcats 5-3 on Saturday. Auburn's defense and hitting was much improved on Sunday and Haley Fagan came up with a two run double in game 2 and solo home run that landed near our tailgate area in the left center field area in game 3. We retrieved the ball for Haley and made sure that she got that ball back. Haley had missed most of the season due to a knee injury so her performance gets the nod from this guy.

Also, Emily Carosone continued to excel on Sunday. She was 3 for 5 with an RBI in the first game. Kasey Coper did get an RBI even though she was not getting any good pitches to hit for obvious reasons. If softball was a part of the Summer Olympics this year, Emily Carosone and Kasey Cooper would be on the USA team. 

Tiffany Howard accounted for 2 RBIs in the first game and Madi Gipson had an RBI. Carlee Wallace caught two great games and she had 2 RBIs in the second game. I continue to be amazed at her performance behind the plate and you seldom see any teams try to steal bases due to her arm. 

After the game, the Auburn players entered the crowd to visit with their families, meet with the fans sign autographs. Several players even assisted the Auburn fans with rolling the tree that is near the gate entrance.

I did get home last night in time to watch the end of the Oregon/UCLA game. UCLA did win 2-1 so Auburn will be facing UCLA on Thursday afternoon. If Auburn does defeat UCLA, they will then play the winner of the FSU/UGA game. This will be an interesting World Series and Auburn has already defeated 4 of the teams that will be playing for the National Softball Championship this season.

 Clint Myers did take the Arizona State Sun Devils to the College World Series 7 times and he did win a ring in 2008 and 2011, so I do like Auburn's odds at winning a ring this year.

Enjoy the games and War Eagle!  

Auburn Tigers 2016-2017 Official Pump Up Video

Auburn vs. Arizona Super Regional

Auburn defeated Jacksonville State this afternoon 14-2 and they will go to their second Super Regional in school history. Congratulations to Tiffany Howard for hitting a grand slam home run which was her second career home run in 8 days. If the USA had an Olympic Softball team this summer, I would not hesitate to add Emily Carosone and Kasey Cooper.

The Auburn pitching staff performed well in the 3 games this weekend. They only allowed 3 earned runs and Rachel Walters struck out a career high 10 batters when she came in for relief work in the 2-1 win over Jacksonville State on Friday.

 Auburn will now face Arizona who defeated Tennessee this afternoon. It will be the best of a 3 game series. I did not hear too many people pick Arizona to beat Tennessee so this could just be a matter of fate since Mike Candrea, the coach of Arizona, coached against Clint Myers when he was at Arizona State.

I'd mention that Mike Candrea does have a gold medal from coaching the Team USA Girls Softball team in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

WAR EAGLE!

NCAA Regionals at Auburn

As the Auburn Tigers were preparing to host a Regional at Jane B. Moore Field, they took the time to answer some questions, and give us a little insight to their preparations.

The first opponent would be the pesky Jacksonville State club.

Rachel Walters came in with two runners in scoring position in the 3rd inning. She worked out of that jam, and threw what can only be described as a masterpiece the rest of the way.

Walters painted the corners, and kept the Jacksonville State bats at bay with a 10 strike out performance in relief. The Tiger starter, Makayla Martin, along with Walters held their opponent to just three hits. 

War Eagle!

This Is Auburn Basketball: May 2016

2016 Road to the College Softball World Series

Auburn Softball Regional – May 

20-22 at Auburn, Alabama

Oregon St. (30-18-1) vs. USC 

Upstate (43-12)

Jacksonville St. (41-15) vs. No. 4 

seed Auburn* (49-9)

Here are the teams that will 

participate in the Auburn Softball 

Regional tournament which will 

begin this Friday.  Auburn will play 

Jacksonville State at 6 P.M. CDT on 

Friday. This tournament will be 

double elimination and the winner 

will be decided on Sunday 

afternoon. If Auburn does win 

there will be a Super Regional in 

Auburn the following weekend and 

it could be a rematch with

Tennessee. 

I will be providing updates on 

Twitter or just follow "Auburn 

Softball" on Twitter. 

Enjoy the games and War Eagle!

2016 Auburn/LSU SEC Championship Softball Highlights

Just in case you missed the highlights of  the Auburn SEC Championship win.

2016 SEC Softball Champions

It has been quite an SEC Softball tournament for the Auburn ladies. They defeated Alabama 6-4 and Florida 2-1 on Friday and LSU today 7-1 to win the SEC crown for the second year in a row. Emily Carosone was named the SEC tournament MVP and the Auburn pitching was "clean" for the tournament. Tiffany Howard hit her first career 2 run home run in the sixth inning which put the game on ice for Auburn. 

Auburn will find out who they will be playing in the NCAA tournament on Sunday night. Auburn will be hosting a regional next weekend and if they win, a Super Regional will most likely be held in Auburn.
  
Clint Meyers has certainly enhanced the Auburn Softball program and recruits across the USA would like to play for him. Congratulations from this Auburn grad to Clint Myers, his staff and the Auburn girls for a great season. Best wishes on the road to the World Series Championship.

War Eagle!

A Softball Saturday For the Ages

As luck would have it, a slumping Auburn softball team was rained out Friday night versus their in state rival Alabama.

Meaning the winner would have to play multiple games on Saturday. First order of business was to take down the 4th ranked Tide. 

Accomplishing that task meant an even bigger foe lay in wait. The nations top ranked Florida Gators.  

Masterful pitching and defense by Kaylee Carlson led the way as Florida never really threatened the slim Tiger lead.

Today our Tigers will take on LSU for the SEC Tournament Championship. Most believe that Auburn is a shoe-in for one of the Top Eight national seeds in the upcoming NCAA Championship Tournament. 

WAR EAGLE!

Auburn Baseball vs Troy Highlights

College Football Playoffs

I am no genius by any stretch of the imagination.  But, thanks to a little help from some friends, I have come up with a solution to the College Football Playoff argument.  

Since the implementation of the 4-team playoff, fans of teams that were left out began screaming for an 8-team or a 16-team playoff.  My scenario is actually a 64-team playoff.  

It its not complex, in fact, it is quite simple.  I will let my picture spell it out...

SEC Softball Tournament

The Auburn Girls Softball team will begin their quest for another SEC Championship this Thursday. 

PHOTO: MISSISSIPPI STATE ATHLETICS

2016 SEC Softball Tournament 
May 11-14, 2016 -- Starkville, Miss.

Wednesday, May 11

GAME	MATCHUP	TIME (CT)	NETWORK
Game 1	First Round: No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 11 South Carolina	11:00 a.m.	SEC Network
Game 2	First Round: No. 7 LSU vs. No. 10 Texas A&M	1:30 p.m.	SEC Network
Game 3	First Round: No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 Ole Miss	4:00 p.m.	SEC Network
Game 4	First Round: No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 12 Mississippi State	6:30 p.m.	SEC Network

Thursday, May 12

GAME	MATCHUP	TIME (CT)	NETWORK
Game 5	Second Round: No. 3 Tennessee vs. Winner Game 1	11:00 a.m.	SEC Network
Game 6	Second Round: No. 2 Kentucky vs. Winner Game 2	1:30 p.m.	SEC Network
Game 7	Second Round: No. 1 Florida vs. Winner Game 3	4:00 p.m.	SEC Network
Game 8	Second Round: No. 4 Auburn  vs. Winner Game 4	6:30 p.m.	SEC Network

Friday, May 13

GAME	MATCHUP	TIME (CT)	NETWORK
Game 9	Semifinals: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6	2:00 p.m.	ESPNU
Game 10	Semifinals: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8	4:30 p.m.	ESPNU

Saturday, May 14

GAME	MATCHUP	TIME (CT)	NETWORK
Game 11	Championship Game: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10	4:00 p.m.	ESPN

Clint Myers 5 5 16

Congratulations, Graduates!

Minute Maid #doingood | See What U.S. Olympian Missy Franklin Has To Say

"Bo Bikes Bama"

It was a beautiful Spring day in Auburn, Alabama for the Bo Jackson benefit bicycle ride.  Here're a few of my photos from  event. It did seem to me that there were more cyclists this year than in the past. This was the fifth year of the ride and over a million dollars has been raised to assist the tornado victims in the State of Alabama. It was good to see fans from various schools in the SEC riding their bikes together and putting aside their differences for a few hours. I even talked to a couple from Michigan and gave them some guidance for their post ride Auburn experience. Cycling seems to bring people together regardless of their allegiance to a college.

I did see Gus Malzahn and Jay Jacobs join the 20 mile ride. Also, Brett Favre and Lance Armstrong came out to contribute.

I compliment Chicken Salad Chick for catering lunch for the event. Their chicken salad sandwich is always good.

You can check out the"Bo Bikes Bama" website or twitter page if you want to ride or attend the event next year.