Going into the final game of a conference series tied with South Carolina at one game a piece on Sunday April 21, the Auburn softball team was hoping to come away with the series victory over the Gamecocks, but fell short after losing 3-1.
In the series opener on Friday night South Carolina broke a tie game with a five-run seventh inning rally to claim the first victory over the Tigers.
"We put two runs up in the first inning and then kept missing chances after that it seemed," Auburn Head Coach Tina Deese said. "We left runners on base and couldn't capitalize on our opportunities."
Marcy Harper started and took the loss allowing eight runs, nine hits and three walks with two strikeouts.
Things went better for the Tigers in game two on Saturday after Lexi Davis allowed one run on three hits as the Tigers cruised past the Gamecocks in a 7-1 victory.
Eight of the nine Auburn batters reached base at least once during the game.
"I'm really proud of the way Lexi Davis did," Deese said. "She did a good job of mixing her pitches and was working ahead a lot of the at-bats. They really didn't get a lot of good swings against her. Offensively, it seemed like everyone was contributing all the way through the lineup."
The Tigers wanted to carry the momentum into game three on Sunday to help them claim the series victory, but the Gamecocks again had a two-run rally in the seventh to claim the 3-1 victory and the series victory.
"This was a disappointing loss," Deese said. "We didn't really generate anything offensively. We let things slip away from us in the seventh and we couldn't recover. South Carolina took advantage of what we gave them today."
Davis started and went four innings, allowing one run on seven hits before being replaced by Harper who took the loss in relief.
The two losses over the weekend dropped Auburn to a 28-20 overall record and 7-14 in the SEC.
They will look to rebound from the disappointing series loss when they return to action on Saturday April 27, at 1 p.m. against Appalachian State.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
