A clutch three-run home run to force extra innings wasn't enough as the game ended after a three-run breakout by South Carolina in the 11th inning in a 10-7 score.
"In eleven innings, we only got the leadoff batter on twice," said head coach Mickey Dean. "We weren't able to capitalize when we had free base runners off walks in the late innings. We made too many errors to compete."
The game entered the seventh inning tied 4-4, but South Carolina put Auburn on the ropes after two run-scoring doubles sandwiched around a run scored on an error by second baseman Denver Bryant gave the Gamecocks a three-run advantage.
In the home half of the seventh, freshman Jesse Blaine stepped up to the plate with the fate of the game on her shoulders.
There were runners on first and second for Auburn, and South Carolina only needed one out to seal the deal. Blaine wanted to keep playing ball. Her home run sent three runners across the plate to tie the score before the third out sent the game to extras.
After Maddie Penta started the game and kept South Carolina scoreless through three innings, Shelby Lowe and KK Dismukes pitched the final four innings and didn't have the same success. Lowe gave up a single run in the fourth inning before Dismukes surrendered five runs, two of which were earned, in three innings to give South Carolina seven.
For extra innings, Penta re-entered the game in the pitcher's circle and shut down the Gamecocks for three more innings.
Both sides combined to strand five base runners through the eighth, ninth and 10th innings before three errors in the 11th ended in South Carolina ending the scoring drought.
Her seventh inning proved to be her downfall, as three singles and an errant throw from center fielder Makayla Packer brought on another three-run frame for South Carolina.
This time, Auburn failed to match South Carolina's three runs in the bottom of the inning, and the Tigers 16-game win streak ended.
Despite allowing no earned runs in seven innings of labour and throwing 122 total pitches, the three unearned runs Penta allowed in the seventh inning meant her first loss of the season, making her 15-1.
Blaine did the majority of the damage for Auburn with a 2-for-4 day at the plate and adding a walk. She drove in four of Auburn's seven runs thanks to her three-run, game-tying bomb.
Bri Ellis and Aspyn Godwin's back-to-back shots in the fourth inning accounted for the other three of the Tigers' RBIs. The home runs handed Auburn a 3-1 lead after four innings.
Godwin also turned in a multi-hit game with a 2-for-5 performance.
The Tiger's pitching staff was tagged for 18 hits in their 11 innings of labor, and only three of South Carolina's 10 runs were earned. Auburn committed seven errors in the losing effort.
Even with the late-game heroics, the Tigers dropped a game that, had they had won, would have given them their best start since 2015. Instead, they fall to 24-2, and South Carolina 18-8.
Auburn still has a chance to conquer South Carolina in a home series for the first time since 2016, however, and it will try to put its tough game one loss in the past and focus on getting back in the win column in the next two days.
Tomorrow is Military Appreciation Night at Jane B. Moore field, and American flags will be awarded to fans at the gate while supplies last for the rematch with South Carolina, which starts at 5 p.m. CST at Jane B. Moore field. The game will be broadcasted on SEC Network.
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