Auburn softball continued its recent skid on Sunday afternoon, falling to Missouri 6-4 in the series finale at Jane B. Moore Field, marking its sixth consecutive SEC loss.
Missouri defeated the home Tigers 3-0 and 6-3 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, and the third game of the weekend capped off the series in a fitting way for Auburn.
The Tigers started the SEC slate 2-1 with a series win over Kentucky, but two straight weekend sweeps have them sitting at 2-7 in conference play, with a tough road test against Arkansas awaiting them next week.
“I think, overall, didn’t really love the way that we adjusted and did things as the games went on this weekend,” co-head coach Chris Malveaux said after the loss. “Friday, definitely not. The first part of yesterday was rough, but I really felt like we came in and we were finding ways to make things happen today. But, once they kind of took the lead back, it made it very difficult for us.”
Auburn held a 4-2 lead after four frames, as the Tigers posted one in the bottom of the first, two in the third and one more insurance run to give them a two-run cushion heading to the fifth.
However, a crooked number in the top of the fifth ultimately lifted Missouri to the victory, as an RBI single by Abby Hay followed by a two-run blast to center field from Abby Carr powered the visiting Tigers to a 5-4 advantage.
Missouri extended its lead to two runs in the sixth, courtesy of a triple to right field from Claire Callahan before Addy Waits plated her with an RBI single.
After taking its first lead of the series and building on it through four frames, the Tigers’ bats went cold in the late stages of the contest, recording just one hit across the final three innings.
Auburn went three up, three down in both the sixth and seventh innings, including three pop-ups in the final inning to end the game.
Additionally, Auburn faced multiple opportunities to jump out to a significant lead. The Tigers left the bases loaded in the top of the first, contributing to a total of six stranded baserunners across the opening three frames.
Auburn also had runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth, but two consecutive foul-outs swiftly ended the Tigers’ scoring threat.
“Certain at-bats, you get what you want, you can’t pop it up. You can’t ground out,” Malveaux said. “This weekend was a pretty big indication – we don’t execute. They do. And they win. They executed more than we did.”
After tossing five scoreless innings in the series opener a couple of days ago, senior Cierra Harrison got the start in the circle for Missouri once again on Sunday. However, she wasn’t as effective against the Tigers in his second appearance of the weekend, as she exited in the third inning after allowing two runs on three hits.
Carr took over in relief, but she only lasted one frame before Marissa McCann shut down Auburn’s offense. McCann surrendered just one hit and no runs in 3 2/3 innings of work.
On the flip side, Auburn used four pitchers on the day, including starter Ella Harrison, who went three innings while allowing two runs on two hits.
The Tigers also threw Charley Butler, Abby Herndon and SJ Geurin, and Herndon picked up the loss after conceding three runs on three hits during her one stanza in the circle.
Auburn will look to rebound after two straight SEC series sweeps with a trip to Arkansas for a date with a solid Razorback squad next weekend.
“We have to be willing to understand the storm and the hardness. We have to be willing to go at it,” Malveaux said. “We have to understand that it’s part of it. We’re in a very difficult spot right now. We’ve got to be passionate about looking at it and figuring it out and competing.”
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Gunner is a sophomore majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @norene_gunner10
