Auburn softball lost to Missouri, 6-3, on March 28 after a late comeback attempt fell short at Jane B. Moore Field.
The loss marks the second defeat in the series for Auburn (23-12, 2-6 SEC), as Missouri (18-18, 3-5 SEC) secured the series win. Auburn gave up five runs in the first inning and spent the rest of the game trying to catch up.
Co-head coach Chris Malveaux said, “It’s tough luck for SJ (Geurin). 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.” He added that several balls hit by Auburn players came close to home runs but were caught at the wall: “It makes Friday’s loss even bigger. 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.”
Missouri built its early lead with four hits in their first inning at bat, including three extra-base hits and benefited from difficult sun conditions for Auburn’s outfielders. Stefania Abruscato hit a solo home run for Missouri in the second inning before Auburn pitcher SJ Geurin settled down and retired fifteen consecutive batters.
Malveaux praised Geurin’s resilience: “She responded and stayed the course to give us a chance to win,” he said. “It was huge to see her settle into the game.”
Junior Alyssa Hastings led Auburn offensively with three hits—including a home run—and Malveaux described her as steady and emerging as a team leader: “She’s been letting the game come to her… She’s taken over as the veteran in many ways and become a ‘show-the-way’ type of leader.”
Auburn scored additional runs with contributions from McKaela Walker’s sacrifice fly and Daigle Wilson’s RBI single but could not tie or take back control despite getting runners on base late in the seventh inning.
Looking ahead, Malveaux said, “We’ve got to rest, clear everything out and go for it… Those are things we can control: our mindset, playing together as a team, and competing. We can’t always control the result, but we’ve got to find a way to make it happen tomorrow.” The final game of MalveauxMania II is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m., available on SEC Network+.
