College Softball World Series 2015: Saturday Results, Highlights and Reaction

Six teams put their 2015 College Softball World Series lives on the line Saturday with two initial losers’ bracket games and two subsequent win-or-go-home showdowns with spots in the semifinals at stake.

Florida and Michigan await in Sunday’s semifinals after perfect 2-0 starts. The path there is much trickier for the six squads that took the field Saturday with a loss already on the resume in this double-elimination tournament.

Here is a look at the full results from a day of nerve-wracking elimination contests. Check back here throughout the action for scores and updates.

College Softball World Series Bracket 

Updated bracket available at NCAA.com.

Saturday's Results

Time (ET)	Team 1	Team 2	Score
12 p.m.	(4) Auburn	(8) Tennessee	4-2, Auburn
2:30 p.m.	(2) Oregon	(6) Alabama	2-1, Alabama
7 p.m.	(4) Auburn	(7) UCLA	11-10 (10), Auburn
9:30 p.m.	(5) LSU	(6) Alabama	5-3, LSU

Saturday Recap

LSU 5, Alabama 3

Alabama scored two runs in the two of the seventh inning, but it wasn't enough to get past LSU on early Sunday morning. The Tigers earned a 5-3 victory.

The totality of LSU's scoring came in the first two innings. After going down 1-0 in the first, the Tigers responded with three runs of their own.

Bailey Landry singled and later scored on a base hit from Sahvanna Jaquish. A double from Kellsi Kloss brought Jaquish home, and Kloss herself scored after a throwing error, making it a 3-1 game.

Constance Quinn walked to start the second inning for LSU. She then advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt from Sydney Bourg. A single from Emily Griggs put runners on the corners with one down. Griggs moved up after a fielder's choice from A.J. Andrews. That proved important one batter later as Landry earned her second single and drove home both Griggs and Bourg:

From there, the Tigers rode the performance of Allie Walljasper on the mound. She didn't run into too much trouble until the seventh inning. When she did allow a runner or two on base, she got herself out of the jam.

Les East of the Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana posited that Walljasper may have put together her best ever postseason showing:

Walljasper exited in the seventh after allowing back-to-back singles from Andrea Hawkins and Chandler Dare. They moved up a base after a wild pitch by Carley Hoover. A sacrifice fly from Jadyn Spencer brought Hawkins home, and Kayla Rettig, who was pinch running for Dare, scored on another wild pitch.

Hoover shut the door, though, before Alabama could do any more damage.

LSU will get Michigan, which is yet to lose, later today. The Wolverines won their first two games by a combined score of 15-4, so they're riding a bit of a hot streak at the moment. The Tigers will have their hands full.

Auburn 11, UCLA 10

Auburn needed 11 runs and 10 innings to dispatch UCLA on Saturday night in Oklahoma City.

The game saw no shortage of offense as the Tigers and Bruins combined to score 21 runs on 28 hits. In the end, it was a walk of all things that decided the game as Emily Carosone strolled home following a base on balls for Morgan Estell.

The offensive explosion began in the top of the third inning after UCLA dropped five runs on Auburn. Gabrielle Maurice was the biggest reason behind the outburst, bringing home three runners with a triple to right center. As College Softball 360 noted, it was a rude welcome to the game for Auburn pitcher Rachael Walters:

Not to be outdone, the Tigers scored six runs of their own in the bottom of the third. Carlee Wallace had a three-run double to put Auburn in the lead.

Auburn scored three more in the fourth to take a 9-6 lead.

With one run in the fifth and three in seventh, the Bruins grabbed their second lead of the game, going ahead 10-9. But Wallace was the hero again for the Tigers with a double in the gap that scored Haley Fagan and tied the game, per NCAA Softball:

After two scoreless innings, Auburn prevailed in walk-off fashion. It was an anticlimactic finish to one of the craziest games at the Women's College World Series so far.

Worth mentioning is the fact UCLA ace Ally Carda, who had given up 80 earned runs all year saw her earned run average rise from 2.42 to 2.62 after she was responsible for 10 of Auburn's runs.

The defeat means the Bruins are eliminated from the Women's College World Series, while the Tigers move on to play Florida tomorrow. Already with one loss to its name, Auburn can't afford to slip up against the Gators.

Alabama 2, Oregon 1

Football fans have been clamoring for this matchup for years, but the softball version thrilled onlookers Saturday with Alabama's 2-1 victory.

Both teams relied on their ace in the do-or-die showdown, with Oregon's Cheridan Hawkins toeing the rubber against Alabama's Alexis Osorio. They pitched accordingly, and the two teams combined for a measly six hits and three runs, two of which came off a bloop hit for Alabama that proved to be the difference.

Hawkins and Osorio tallied 16 combined strikeouts as well and were in complete control throughout the contest.

Even with the solid pitching, the Crimson Tide wasted little time breaking through, and NCAA Softball passed along a highlight of Chandler Dare's game-winning two-RBI hit in the second inning:

NCAA Softball also shared Janie Takeda's RBI for the Ducks: 

Oregon had a golden opportunity to take the lead when it loaded the bases in the fourth, but Lauren Lindvall grounded out in the critical situation. Stephen M. Smith of Roll Bama Roll (of SB Nation) pointed out how important that moment was for the Crimson Tide:

Alabama missed a chance of its own in the bottom of the fifth with multiple runners on base, but Jadyn Spencer struck out. Despite the victory, the first six hitters of the Crimson Tide lineup finished without a hit.

Osorio mowed down the Ducks in their final opportunity in the seventh inning and clinched the pitcher's duel 2-1.

Alabama now plays another elimination game against LSU in Saturday's nightcap. It is an SEC showdown for the chance to play Michigan in the semifinals, and the Crimson Tide must fight through any lingering fatigue from the early win.

Auburn 4, Tennessee 2

The only silver lining for Tennessee after its 4-2 loss to Auburn is the fact that it doesn't have to face the Tigers again the rest of the season.

Auburn beat the Volunteers four times in five meetings this year, including Saturday's elimination game and the SEC championship contest. The SEC Network congratulated the Tigers on their first College World Series victory in program history:

Auburn wasted little time opening what ultimately proved to be an insurmountable lead in the third inning. The Tigers pushed all four of their runs across in that frame, thanks to an RBI single from Haley Fagan, an RBI double from Jade Rhodes and a two-run double from Carlee Wallace.

NCAA Softball shared a highlight from Fagan's hit and also noted that her early defense was a major reason the Tigers were in position to take the lead with that four-run rally:

While Fagan turned heads in the field and at the plate, Wallace carried the offense for stretches, with two hits, two RBI, a run and a walk. Dana Sulonen of the Opelika-Auburn News pointed out that the Volunteers were especially careful with Wallace after she proved to be the dangerous threat in Saturday's lineup:

Tennessee locked down Auburn's offense after the third-inning rally, but it never generated much of its own. It did score a single run in the fourth and in the fifth, but relief pitcher Rachael Walters shut the door. She escaped a bases-loaded jam in that fifth inning and cruised from there to five strikeouts in eight batters.

Auburn Softball acknowledged that Walters' performance was nothing new:

Auburn coach Clint Myers discussed the clutch showing from the relief star, per Charles Goldberg of AuburnTigers.com: "Rachael just attacked, and it was good to see. Overall, I thought we really played well. We're excited and will get ready for the next one."

The Tigers advanced to a showdown with UCLA for the right to play in the semifinals with the victory and now have that initial College World Series victory in their back pocket. Just picking up that win is important moving forward for momentum and confidence purposes, and Auburn could parlay that into an impressive showing.

It established a successful formula with the early lead, especially since Walters is waiting at the end of the bullpen. The Tigers need to string together a number of victories just to reach the championship series, and having a lockdown option at the end of the game is critical.

All it has to do is stick to that formula.