Tide Softball Draws Auburn in Opening Round of SEC Tournament
5/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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The regular season is in the books and the post-season looms on the horizon, however that does not mean old rivalries cannot be renewed and the opening round of the 2003 SEC Tournament proves that, pitting the SEC Western Division Champion Alabama Crimson Tide will take on the Auburn Tigers in the opening round of the 2003 SEC Tournament.
The Tide has a 13-8 record against the field with a sweep over Auburn; series wins South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi State and series losses to Georgia and LSU.
Alabama will take on No. 7 seeded Auburn. Alabama swept the season series this year against the Tigers and has won four in a row over Auburn, including bouncing the cross-state rival from last year’s tournament.
After winning the first game against top-seed Georgia in a three-game series for the SEC Championship, the wheels came off the Alabama defense as the Tide committed 10 errors in the next two games while dropping both games.
Alabama dropped Game 1 in Baton Rouge as a result of not being able to get the clutch, stranding 12 base runners against No. 3 seed LSU. The Tide captured Game 2, but lost Game 3 to lose the series.
Bama’s series with No. 4 South Carolina and No. 5 Florida both came down to the final inning and with Florida, the final at-bat. After splitting the double headers with both teams, the Tide trailed heading into the seventh inning of both Game 3s.
In Columbia, SC, the Tide took Game 3, courtesy of a three-run home run from Emily Currie, while in Gainesville, Alabama used a two-out three-run double from Ashley Courtney to defeat the Gators.
Against the No. 6 seed UT Lady Vols in the Knoxville, Alabama won Games 1 and 3 by way of the run-rule with a 2-1 loss sandwiched in between.
The three-game series between Alabama and No. 8 Mississippi was quite the offensive display with both teams combining for 33 runs. The Tide swept the double header early on, but dropped Game 3.
The Tide and the Tigers are scheduled to play the second game of the tournament at 2 p.m. ET. The winner will advance to play the winner of the LSU-Tennessee game on Friday at 6 p.m. ET, while the loser will play the loser of the LSU-Tennessee game on Friday at 12 p.m. ET.
