SOFTBALL NCAA Tournament reset

Jay G. Tate · May 23, 2016

So Auburn did what Auburn does during the Round of 64 last weekend, cruising to three consecutive wins and qualifying once again for a Super Regional. The Tigers, who now are 52-9, will play host to Arizona this weekend for a three-game series. A ticket to the Women's College World Series is on the line.

That could be a dandy since head coach Clint Myers coached at Arizona State and spent a lot of time battling Arizona coach Mike Candrea through the years. Myers is 10-11 against Candrea in all competitions, though Myers has the better team right now -- at least on paper. None of that will matter this weekend insofar as the Wildcats already have won on enemy turf this month (UA won at University of Tennessee last weekend) and accolades mean exactly zero this time of year. So what if Arizona lost 19 games this season?

We'll talk more about that as the week unfolds. For now, let's review how Auburn got here:

THE WEEKEND
(Not The Weeknd)

Auburn def. Jacksonville State, 2-1

It was a weird game in that JSU pitcher Whitney Gillespie was able to annoy Auburn quite thoroughly. Her fastball was in the 68-mph range and she was locating like Greg Maddux. It was pretty amazing. Auburn, which is known for its exquisite strike-zone judgment, seemed flustered by Gillespie's ability to keep throwing pitches on the black. It never gained much confidence in the box. A sac fly from catcher Carlee Wallace in the seventh inning won it for Auburn. Senior pitcher Rachael Walters was at her very best, too, and JSU couldn't make sense of her sweeping curveball. The Tigers finished 3-for-23 at the plate.

Auburn def. USC Upstate, 6-1

Auburn grinded this one out, scoring two runs apiece in the second, fourth and seventh innings. Once again, the Tigers never really looked comfortable at the plate, but some really strong pitching from Kaylee Carlson was the big story. She was shaky though the first two innings. She was allowed to use her changeup more often beginning in the third inning and she didn't allow a hit after that. There was some concern afterward that perhaps Auburn was in another hitting funk; everyone expected this team to score more than eight total runs in consecutive games against Jacksonville State and USC Upstate. The Tigers finished 4-for-26 at the plate.

Auburn def. Jacksonville State, 14-2

Welp, so much for the hitting slump. Auburn demolished Gillespie this time around, though she had to handle two games the day before. She was exhausted and the Tigers most certainly were not. Auburn led 11-1 after three innings and watched lead-off hitter Tiffany Howard hit a grand slam. Heading into the SEC Tournament, Howard had exactly zero homers in 600+ career at-bats; now she has two dingers in her last nine at-bats. Rachael Walters was the starter and she was solid -- not as good as she was in the first game, but good enough. Makayla Martin, Marcy Harper and Lexi Davis logged one inning apiece in relief. Auburn finished 12-of-27 at the plate.

WHAT WE SAW AND/OR LEARNED

Jade Rhodes is difficult to read. She's streaky in general, but she was downright awful during the first two games last weekend. She broke out with an important double on Sunday, which keyed a six-run rally. Was that enough to get the senior back on track? It's worth noting that she really struggled during the 2015 postseason, so this may be how she operates. Rhodes was 1-for-8 this weekend. On the upside, she was good defensively.

Rhodes needs to be better if Auburn is going to challenge for a title. She's a very popular player within the dugout and she represents the bridge between the Tigers' tried-and-true performers (Tiffany Howard, Emily Carosone, Kasey. Cooper, Carlee Wallace) and the back end of the batting order, which struggles to hit the ball at all. If Rhodes is on, it makes a big difference.

Carosone quipped Sunday that Auburn has become a pitching team. Her sentiment was heart-felt -- Walters and Carlson were absolutely huge last weekend -- but this team must be balanced. Carosone did her part by leading the team with a .556 average (5-for-9) while Cooper was 3-for-7 with five walks. Yet the rest of the team hit 11-for-60 (.183), which is just not good enough. Auburn endeavored to become a better pitching team during the offseason and made a lot of progress to that end by signing Carlson and Martin. Still, this is a hitting team.

Is Howard a proper power hitter now? I don't think it's a fluke. Both of her home runs were well-struck with a pretty, inside-out swing which clearly is repeatable. She's still very valuable as a lead-off slapper, but Auburn loves having someone like Howard who can adjust her role to what the team needs at that moment. Few players can do that as deftly as Howard. "She’s been working on it and working on it, and she’s done an outstanding job at doing exactly what she said – just getting the barrel on it and barreling the ball," Myers said. "That’s the definition of a home run, it is a byproduct of a good swing. Those two that she has hit have been great swings.”

Madi Gipson is a good story; she has risen from unknown walk-on to the team's No. 7 hitter. Still, she's teaming with de facto shortstop Whitney Jordan to create a hole in the Tigers' batting order. Neither player accomplishes much against top-tier pitching and the emphasis right now simply is getting the bat on the ball rather than swinging through everything. Auburn can thrive without them, sure, but any production at 7 and 8 would make the batting order downright lethal.

Assistant coach Corey Myers deserves a lot of credit. He's totally in charge of the pitching staff, which is performing admirably, but he's also playing a role with the hitters as well. Make no mistake: This team misses hitting coach Casey Myers, who left in January to take a job with the Padres. With that said, Corey Myers was a hitter in the minors (first-round pick of the Diamondbacks in 1999) and has learned a lot since his playing days in terms of how to mentor players.

jce2007 · May 23, 2016