STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 17 Auburn softball (20-4, 0-3 SEC) took a four-run lead into the fourth inning, but No. 21 Mississippi State (22-3, 3-0 SEC) scored seven unanswered runs to take the series finale Monday night at Nusz Park.
“We had opportunities early on to open up the game,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “I thought we did well at the plate, but we didn’t capitalize on putting the game away. We just lost it in the circle. It is very difficult to win in this league once that happens. We got to get better overall at responding when that happens. Once that big inning happened, that was it for us. We lost the rest of the fight that we had. We have to get back to playing as a team and responding.”
Auburn out hit the Bulldogs 10 hits to 7 but left eight total Tigers on base and were unable to build on its lead. Kylie Brockman led the Tigers at the plate with a 2-for-3 effort, driving in three of Auburn’s four runs. Nelia Peralta went 2-for-4 with an RBI. AnnaLea Adams extended her hit streak to 10 consecutive games with a pair of hits. Abbey Smith also turned in a multi-hit effort with two hits, including a triple.
The Tigers closed the night with 10 hits compared to just seven for the Bulldogs. Auburn, however, left eight Tigers on base and were unable to build on their early lead.
The Tigers used Haley Rainey, Chalea Clemmons and SJ Geurin in the circle. Rainey tossed three scoreless frames before the Bulldogs were able to chase her out of the game. Clemmons suffered the toss to fall to 4-2.
After a scoreless first frame, Adams led off the second inning with a single up. Amelia Lech followed with a single to left field that fell in and out of the glove of a diving Bulldog fielder.
The Tigers elected for speed, lifting both for pinch runners. After a stolen base moved two into scoring position, Brockman cleared the bags with a single up the middle to put Auburn on the board first for the first time in the series.
An Adams single and a pair of walks loaded the bases for the Tigers with two outs in the top of the third. Brockman came through again with a single up the middle to push the lead to 3-0.
Smith led off the top of the fourth with a triple to the wall in centerfield. Tresvik followed with a ball smoked to third base that caught Smith in a run down. She kept the play alive long enough for Tresvik to take her place at third. Peralta drove in the fourth Tiger run of the game, dropping a single in right field.
Mississippi State found life in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases twice and forcing two Auburn pitching changes in the process to drive in a total of seven runs to gain a 7-4 advantage.
Geurin kept the Bulldogs in check over the final two innings, but the Tiger bats went quiet.
UP NEXT
Auburn returns to nonconference action on Wednesday with a midweek tilt at Georgia Tech. First pitch on the ACC Network at 5 p.m. CT.