No. 1 Auburn fell short 10-9 in the SEC matchup at No. 6 South Carolina after almost completing a comeback in Blythewood, South Carolina.
“I’m proud of the fight we showed with such a rough start to the meet,” head coach Jessica Braswell said. “We made far too many mistakes today, but we also never gave up or got deflated.”
Auburn sits at 6-2 (2-2 in SEC) on the year. Auburn was down 10-5 late with Reining remaining at the end of the meet. The Tigers almost made the comeback but finished the meet 4-0-1 falling just short.
“I challenged the reiners at the half to ride with a chip on their shoulder and they really responded,” Braswell said. “Overall, I’m happy with the effort today. We just have to clean up our execution.”
The deciding factor in the meet was the tie that came in the first match up of the event as sophomore Michelle Fumagalli and Gamecock Emily Patton each earned a 70.5. The final four points of Reining went to the Tigers, starting with a 70-62.5 win for junior Callie Hogg.
Auburn battled all day and had some incredible performances including senior Caroline Buchanan having a big day which earned her a career high 75.25 points to win by 2.75 points.
Freshman Sofia Tieche followed this up with a huge win at 68.5-66.5. Senior Alexia Tordoff closed the day with a 71.5-70 victory.
Buchanan and sophomore Kate Hagerty was named Most Outstanding Performers for their efforts in Reining and Fences, respectively.
Freshman Emily Jurnovoy led things off with an 87.5-0 win, while Hagerty followed with 86.5 points in her victory. Freshman Caroline Olsen closed out the event, besting her opponent, 85.5-82.
Auburn picked up three points to start the day in Fences.
The Gamecocks got a big start in Western, sweeping the Tigers in Horsemanship to take a 7-3 lead at intermission and hung on in the end to win.
Auburn finally competes on the Plains next as they host No. 4 SMU at the Auburn University Equestrian Center. The Tigers and the Mustangs will face off at 11 a.m. CST on Feb. 21.
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