Offensive woes and defensive miscues plagued the No. 9 Auburn Tigers (22-6, 4-4) in a 2-1 loss against No. 24 Missouri (20-7, 4-4) at Plainsman Park.
“Missouri’s defense was the difference tonight,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “Wish we could have scored one more run… just one more little piece of execution could have been the difference.”
On the offensive side, strike outs were a common theme. Auburn totaled 10 on the night, five of which came from the first five hitters in the Tigers' lineup. Those first five hitters also went 1 for 20 on the night with the lone hit coming from Steven Williams in the first inning.
The lone Auburn run of the night came in the bottom of the second, behind a double by Luke Jarvis, which sent Conor Davis home. With runners in scoring position the Tigers went 2 for 9.
“It didn’t come for us offensively but I’m not dismayed by the at bats because I feel like the guys are competing and battling. Our guys played hard,” Thompson said.
Defensively, the Auburn Tigers struggled. A dropped fly ball by left fielder Conor Davis and a dropped infield fly ball by shortstop Will Holland led to the two Missouri scores of the night. Conor Davis’ misplay allowed for the tiebreaking run to come home in the top of the seventh.
The shining moments of the night came from the pitching side, however, as pitcher Davis Daniel dealt on the mound. Davis fanned 7 batters on the night, one shy of his career high. He allowed two runs on five hits over 6.2 innings of work.
Welby Malczewski came in on relief for the Tigers, and allowed 2 innings he gave up 2 hits, but no runs, and struck out one.
“Davis Daniel and Welby (Malczewski) gave us a chance the entire game… Davis had thrown so, so well. (Davis) made some very quality pitches” Thompson said.
Auburn will look to win the three-game series against Missouri on Sunday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. CST.
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