Auburn softball suffers extra-inning loss in SEC Tournament

AUBURN, Ala. – In the longest game in SEC Softball Tournament history, Auburn softball slugged a three-run blast to take a lead in the top of the 14^th inning, but no. 14 Georgia responded with a pair of home runs to walk off a 4-3 win Wednesday night at Jane B. Moore Field.

“We played hard,” said the head coach Mickey Dean. “If we were a little cleaner in the beginning of the game, we might not have played 14 innings. That’s part of the game. We battled. We did a lot of good things. We just didn’t win the ball game.”

Tied at 2-2 in the 14th^th innings KK McCrary stepped to the plate with two outs and faced a 3-2 count. She delivered with her ninth home run of the season, a three-run blast to right center, to put Auburn in front 5-2.

Georgia responded in the bottom of the frame with a pair of home runs, including a two-out solo home run from Sarah Gordon to walk off the game.

The contest officially tied the program record for innings played in a single game, matching a 14-inning effort at Mississippi State in 2016.

Auburn totaled eight hits in the contest with McCrary leading the charge with a 2-for-3 night with two runs scored and three RBI. She led off the contest with a single before coming around to score to give Auburn its first lead of the game off an Ices Tresvik RBI single.

Makayla Packer also turned in a two-hit outing with a double and a run scored. Amelia Lech added to her team-leading RBI total as she drove in a game-tying run in the third with a sacrifice fly, which helped to ultimately force extras.

Maddie Penta earned the starting nod and allowed just one earned run in nine innings. She scattered three hits and struck out six in the contest. Shelby Lowe tossed 4.2 innings of relief for the Tigers.

“Our focus is now on Regionals,” McCrary said. “We’ve shown that we can compete with anyone. We’ve finished with one of the strongest schedules in the country. We’re looking forward to the postseason.”

The NCAA Selection Show is set for Sunday at 6 pm CT on ESPN2.