Auburn’s late rally falls short in series-clinching loss to Missouri

Auburn softball played a gritty game Saturday afternoon, persevering and fighting back from a tough start but ultimately coming up short in a 6-3 loss to Missouri at Jane B. Moore Field.

The 23-12 Tigers found themselves stuck in a hole early on but played with resilience and cut the deficit to three runs.

The game began rough for Auburn as Missouri struck instantly in the first inning, putting up five runs and taking advantage of Auburn’s early defensive struggles. Just when Auburn seemed to be settling in and put a run on the board, Missouri added another run in the second inning with a solo home run, increasing the lead to 6-1.

After a slow start, Auburn’s starting pitcher SJ Geurin found a rhythm and completely shifted the momentum, becoming practically unhittable and retiring 15 straight batters to shut Missouri down for the rest of her outing. Her composure on the mound helped give Auburn a chance to climb back into the game and put up more runs to shrink the gap.

“It’s tough luck for SJ,” co-head coach Chris Malveaux said. “There were a couple of sun balls that Missouri took advantage of to help put up five runs. We had to play catch-up. We started to give ourselves chances and had runners on base. We were competing more today, but the ball didn’t fall.”

On offense, junior Alyssa Hastings led Auburn with a standout 3-for-3 performance at the plate. Hastings put the Tigers on the board in the first inning with a solo home run, her fourth of the season and 12th of her career. She continued to be dialed in at the plate the rest of the game, accounting for more than half of Auburn’s total hits. Her efforts seemed to lift the entire lineup as the Tigers began their attempt at a comeback.

“Hastings has been steady,” Malveaux said. “She’s been letting the game come to her. She’s been competing. She’s taken over as the veteran in many ways and becomes a ‘show-the-way’ type of leader. We need that.”

Auburn started to cut down Missouri’s lead in the third inning with some strong and patient at-bats. The Tigers drew three walks to load the bases, setting up senior McKaela Walker, who hit a sacrifice fly to center field, driving in Auburn’s second run. In the fourth inning, they added another run when freshman Daigle Wilson came up with a two-out RBI single. Suddenly, the Tigers were within closer distance at 6-3, and the momentum began to build.

Heading into the final inning, Auburn was still driven to secure this win. With two outs in the seventh inning, sophomore Kylie Shaw and Hastings delivered back-to-back singles to put the tying run at the plate. However, Missouri held firm and managed to escape with the final out, securing the series win.

“We had several balls just shy of going out that were caught at the wall. It makes Friday’s loss even bigger,” Malvaeaux said. “It’s an exclamation point of what the game is about. You have games like this that are tough-luck games. We were a quarter of an inch on the bat away from being in the lead.”

Auburn will look to build on that momentum when it returns to Jane B. Moore Field for the series finale at 1 p.m. CDT as the Tigers aim to bounce back with a strong finish to the weekend.