Auburn softball lost to Ole Miss 13-11 on April 25, despite a strong effort to close an early gap at Jane B. Moore Field. Auburn trailed by eight runs but scored five late runs, narrowing the deficit before Ole Miss secured the win and clinched the series.
The game began with Auburn’s starting pitcher SJ Geurin struggling in what co-head coach Chris Malveaux called an unusual start. “It was a tough start for SJ (Geurin), which is extremely rare,” Malveaux said. He also described a challenging first inning: “It was a double whammy if you look back at the first inning. AnnaLea (Adams) hits a ball and their right fielder goes up to make the catch over the wall. It felt pretty heavy at that time, but kudos to our kids for bouncing back.”
Ole Miss took an early lead, scoring eight runs in the first two innings through singles, sacrifice flies, and home runs. Auburn responded with key hits from junior Alyssa Hastings, who went 2-for-4 with a double and home run while setting her career high with seven runs batted in.
Malveaux said he was encouraged by his team’s offense: “It was slightly relieving to see the team put up big numbers again… I’m proud of the team for putting their heads down and going. They were feeding off each other, and it brought confidence to our hitters.” The Tigers’ offense rallied multiple times throughout the game but could not overcome defensive errors that allowed three unearned runs in the sixth inning.
In addition to Hastings’ performance, contributions came from Kylie Shaw and McKaela Walker as well as freshman Delaney Aumua and sophomore AnnaLea Adams during Auburn’s biggest inning of the day in the sixth.
The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at noon Central Time on SEC Network. Seniors Destiny Rodriguez and McKaela Walker will be honored before Sunday’s game.
