“This is Team 33, and they’ve really taken the legacy a step further”. Auburn faced Parker last night and you see by the end they were figuring out how to get the bat on the ball. “The idea of us getting to play for a national championship is pretty surreal right now”. All but one of their four WCWS wins have been close at the end, but the Sooners have shown great resiliency and managed to weather the storm in each instance.
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“Next year we’re going to come back even stronger and more experienced”.
Earlier Sunday, pinch-runner Morgan Podany beat a throw to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Auburn beat Florida State 8-7. And they couldn’t have done it without this incredible catch. Or, in the case of Howard, to the left-field fence.
Emily Carosone (above) smashes a grandslam home run for the Tigers to give Auburn a walk-off win. Davis went the distance and got her first loss of the season in only her seventh decision. Instead, Auburn has forced a Game 3 with everything on the line. Madi Gipson singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on an error.
Florida State’s Cali Harrod tied it with a three-run homer in the seventh. Carsyn Gordon’s RBI single in the third allowed FSU to regain the lead, 4-3.
The Seminoles threatened in the sixth inning Gordon led off with a single to center and Zoe Casas added a single of her own that went off the glove of a leaping Carosone at second base.
“I owe Tiffany like a million steak dinners”, Walters said. Eventually the Sooners got out of the inning, but Auburn wasn’t done making plays. A walk put two on, as a fielder’s choice put runners at the corners, with a wild pitch bringing in another run to make it 6-3.
Meghan King re-entered to pitch in the bottom of the sixth, ending Burroughs’ day in the circle.
Kasey Cooper smacked a two-run homer over the right field wall to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth, which quieted the crowd filled with mostly Sooner fans.
After neither team could muster any offense the game shifted to extra innings.
In the eighth, Victoria Draper earned a one-out bunt single and Howard followed with a single.
Oklahoma infielder Kelsey Arnold (3) is greeted by her teammates after scoring against LSU in the th … Either No. 3 Oklahoma will bounce back from Tuesday’s disappointment and win a third national title or No. 4 Auburn will ride the momentum of a walk-off win and become the newest first-time champion.
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“It hits me every now and then because I have people come up to me and say that, you know, you’ve only got three more days of playing softball in college”, said Rhodes, who calls Sarasota, Fla., home.
