BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 25 Auburn softball brought the tying run to the plate, but its seventh-inning rally ultimately fell short as No. 12 Texas A&M held on for a 5-1 win Friday at Davis Diamond.
"We had great effort," said head coach Mickey Dean. "Our execution wasn't quite what we needed it to be. We didn't get any runs in our two bases-loaded opportunities. We are making mistakes in the circle that we normally don't make. We have to figure that out. We didn't finish our opportunities at the plate or in the circle."
Auburn tallied six hits, two of which came during the Tigers' rally in the final frame to help load the bases. Four different Tigers recorded hits with Annabelle Widra turning in a perfect 2-for-2 effort at the plate. Rose Roach drove in Auburn's lone run of the game with an RBI single in the third inning to give the Tigers an early lead.
Auburn had opportunities to score twice with the bases loaded but couldn't come up with the big swing, leaving seven runners stranded in the game.
After giving up a first-inning single, starting pitching Shelby Lower retired 10 straight until allowing a solo home run in the fourth inning to lock the game up at 1-1. All five of Texas A&M's runs were scored off homers as the Aggies slugged three.
Lowe suffered the loss to fall to 4-2 on the season. She was tagged with three runs off three hits and a walk while striking our three. Freshman Malayna Tamborra and sophomore Emmah Rolfe saw work in relief.
Auburn looks to even the series on Saturday. First pitch on the SEC Network is set for 4:30 p.m. CT.
