Makenna Dowell gets the start at shortstop for injured Taylon Snow. Auburn’s softball team, the No. 10 seed, has already made history by reaching the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals. It tries to make more history today by beating No. 6 seed Florida and advancing to the championship game. Auburn will send Chardonnay Harris to the circle. She shut out Missouri on five hits in Auburn’s tournament opener. Thirteen days ago, she struck out 17 Florida batters and went the distance in Auburn’s 2-1 victory at Jane B. Moore Field. Florida will counter with ace Kelly Barnhill, who pitched a no-hitter against the Tigers two weeks ago. She also was the winning pitcher in Florida's 7-1 Sunday victory and the losing pitcher in the second game. She shut out LSU on three hits in Florida's 3-0 victory Thursday. Sophomore Auburn shortstop Taylon Snow, who suffered a left arm injury in Thursday’s 2-0 win over Tennessee, is not in the lineup. Sophomore Makenna Dowell takes her place. Auburn goes into the game at 37-18 and hoping to land a regional host site. Florida is 42-15 and hoping to be a top-eight national seed. Check the forums throughout the game for inning-by-inning updates.<doc-sep>Auburn’s softball team tries to pull off another big SEC Tournament victory tonight against Tennessee at Davis Diamond on the Texas A&M campus. The Tigers (36-18) are the No. 10 seed. Tennessee (39-13) is the No. 2 seed. On Wednesday, the No. 24 Tigers beat Missouri, the No. 7 seed, 3-0. Tennessee had a first-round bye. Auburn won two of three over Tennessee in Knoxville in early April, winning 10-5 and 3-0 before falling 8-1 in the finale. Auburn sends junior Ashlee Swindle (9-8, 3.21) to the circle. Tennessee counters with Caylan Arnold (8-7, 2.66) . The winner between the Tigers and the Vols plays Florida in the semifinals on Friday. The Gators beat LSU 3-0 on Thursday after rallying to beat South Carolina 6-5 on Wednesday. Check back on the forums throughout the game for inning-by-inning updates.<doc-sep>Kendall Veach is one home run shy of Auburn's single-season record. With time running short, Auburn’s softball team will try again today to solve the hitting woes that came out of nowhere in the second half of the SEC season. The Tigers (35-18, 10-14), seeded No. 10, play Missouri (32-22, 12-12), seeded No. 7, in the first round of the single-elimination SEC Tournament at 4 p.m. at Davis Diamond on the Texas A&M campus. At the halfway point of the SEC season, Auburn was 8-4 in league games, tied for first place and was averaging 6.7 runs per game. In the second half of the SEC season, Auburn was 2-10 in league games and averaged a paltry 1.6 runs per game. Auburn coach Mickey Dean, nearing the end of his second season, continues to search for a solution. “You just try to get better,” Dean said. “The only thing we need to worry about right now is scoring more runs than our opponent. There is nothing we can do about those other games. They are in the past.” The issues, Dean says, are easily identifiable for players and for coaches. “I see us not going with the pitch,” Dean said. “I see us taking too many strikes. I see us not capitalizing when we are in a hitter’s count. When it’s 3-0 or 3-1, we’re not looking to hit the ball and are missing those opportunities. That’s what I see. “It’s no secret. We just haven’t done a good job of it. We need to hit the ball where it’s pitched, not make up our mind we are going to hit the ball here or there. You can’t predetermine that. You have to hit the ball where it’s pitched. If Auburn is to have an offensive resurgence, it will likely start with the hitters who led the way to first place in April. Senior Casey McCrackin leads the team in hitting with a .343 average. She has seven home runs and 32 RBIs. Senior Kendall Veach, with 20 home runs, is one shy of Kasey Cooper’s single-season program record. She is hitting .306 and leads the team with 47 RBIs. Junior Tannon Snow is hitting .331 with 13 home runs and 45 RBIs. Sophomore Taylon Snow is hitting .327 with 27 RBIs. Junior Alyssa Rivera is hitting .321 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs. Auburn’s likely starting pitcher is left-hander Chardonnay Harris (9-5, 2.79 ERA). The winner of today’s game will play No. 2 seed Tennessee, which earned a first-round bye, on Thursday.<doc-sep>UPDATE: Ole Miss and Mississippi State are scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. CT Thursday. UPDATED SEC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE Wednesday Games Miss. State 3, Texas A&M 2 Florida 6, South Carolina 5 Auburn 3, Missouri 0 Thursday's Games Georgia vs. Arkansas | 10:00 a.m. CT | SEC Network Ole Miss vs. Miss. State | 12:30 p.m. CT | SEC Network Florida vs. LSU | 3 p.m. CT | SEC Network Auburn vs. Tennessee | 5:30 p.m. CT | SEC Network Georgia/Arkansas vs. Alabama | 8 p.m. CT | SEC Network Friday's Games Ole Miss/Miss. State vs. Kentucky | 10 a.m. CT | SEC Network LSU/Florida vs. Tennessee/Auburn | 3:30 p.m. CT | ESPN2 Alabama/Georgia/Arkansas vs. Ole Miss/Miss. State/Kentucky | 6 p.m. CT | ESPN2 Saturday's Game Championship | 7 p.m. CT | ESPN2 As widespread rain wreaks havoc across the South, the schedule of first day of the SEC Softball Tournament in College Station, Texas, has been altered. Ole Miss (36-16, 13-10 SEC) has had its first-round game against Mississippi State (33-20, 9-15 SEC), which was originally scheduled to be played at 8 p.m. CT Wednesday, moved to Thursday. As of this writing, play had resumed in College Station with games between Florida and South Carolina, Missouri and Auburn and Arkansas and Georgia still to be played Wednesday night. No start time has yet to be announced by the SEC for Thursday's Ole Miss/Mississippi State game. That's due in large part to the fact weather remains a threat to push other games scheduled to be played Wednesday night into Thursday. Wednesday's action in College Station was suspended for approximately five hours as heavy rains, thunderstorms and even a reported tornado impacted the area. The weather in College Station is a little more promising on Thursday morning with forecasts calling for only a 30 percent chance of rain and isolated thunderstorms. The chances for rain and more thunderstorms increase in the afternoon hours on Thursday. Check the Ole Miss Spirit for the latest schedule changes and announcements.<doc-sep>
Kelly Barnhill pitched like Kelly Barnhill on Friday afternoon. And as it turns out, that’s exactly what the doctor ordered for the Florida Gators. The Gators advanced to their latest SEC Softball Tournament Final with their 3-0 victory over the Auburn Tigers. The 6-seeded Gators, who’ve been on quite the run through College Station, will vie for yet another Tournament Championship on Saturday against either Alabama or Kentucky. Barnhill needed 92 pitches to take down the Tigers, allowing just one extra base hit, a double by Morgan Podany. She was otherwise magnificent, allowing just one other hit, by Tannon Snow. She struck out 11 batters and allowed only two walks along the way. 61 of her 92 pitches went for strikes, in simply a terrific performance for the ace hurler. The Gators, meanwhile, got things started off on the right foot. Hannah Adams drove one over the fence in the 1st inning, good for two runs, as she drove Kendyl Lindaman in with the bomb to right centerfield. Adams also drove in another run two innings later, as she singled to score Amanda Lorenz. Those three runs by Adams would be all that Florida needed to keep Auburn down, but their offense was stymied otherwise. Chardonnay Harris and Lexie Handley allowed only three hits on the day and combined for nine strikeouts and two walks. Handley allowed no hits runs in her 3.2 innings of work. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they just couldn’t break through against Barnhill at all to get on the board and properly threaten them. Florida will be shooting for their fifth SEC Tournament Championship when they go against either ‘Bama or Kentucky on Saturday evening in College Station.