STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 17 Auburn softball (20-2, 0-1 SEC) rallied in the seventh to put the tying run in scoring position, but No. 21 Mississippi State (20-3, 1-0 SEC) held on to take game one of the series 5-4 Saturday night at Nusz Park.
Auburn battled from behind to take a 3-1 lead, but errors plagued the Tigers, allowing State to score three unearned runs in the fifth. Freshman AnnaLea Adams came up big in the seventh to cut the Bulldog lead to one, but Auburn was unable to drive in the tying run.
“We did some good things tonight,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “The problem was there were moments where we kept bailing out, and it cost us the game. We gave them a couple runs that they shouldn’t have had. We had the tying run on board in the seventh, but we had way too many at bats where we weren’t staying aggressive.’”
Abbey Smith led the Tigers at the plate with a 2-for-2 night. Nelia Peralta reached base in all four appearances with a single and three walks. Anna Wohlers went 1-for-4 with a two-run double in the third to drive in the go-ahead run. Adams closed the night 1-for-4 with a double two RBI.
Haley Rainey earned the start for the Tigers. In her two innings of work, she was charged with two runs off three hits and a walk. She struck out two in her first SEC appearance. SJ Geurin tossed four innings of relief. All three runs she allowed were unearned. She scattered seven hits and one walk. Geurin was charged with her first loss of the season as she fell to 13-1 in the circle.
Mississippi State stuck first with help of a pair of doubles in the bottom of the second inning. It was Jessie Blaine’s double off the left field wall that drove in the go-ahead run for the Bulldogs.
Auburn was off to a quick start to the game, leading off with back-to-back walks, but Bulldog starting pitcher Raelin Chaffin answered, retiring six consecutive batters.
Smith broke up the streak with an infield single to lead off the top of the third. Her hit sparked some much-needed life into the Auburn offense. The Bulldogs erased the lead runner on a fielder’s choice, but Peralta blooped a single to left field to put two on for Wohlers.
Wohlers cleared the bags with a double to center to give Auburn a 2-1 lead. KK McCrary followed with a double just out of the reach of State’s right fielder to put two in scoring position. A Bulldog error at shortstop brought in the third and final run of the frame.
The Bulldogs led off the home half of the third with a single through the right side. The Tigers elected to make a pitching change, bringing in Geurin. She forced a ground ball back to the circle, fielding her position for the out, but a single to right center brought in a run to cut the Tiger lead to 3-2.
After a stolen base, Auburn recorded the second out with a ground out to Wohlers. The Tigers were poised to get out of the inning with a ground ball to second, but the throw to Amelia Lech at first was high. She recovered and threw to Kylie Brockman at the plate, who recorded the third out and keep the Bulldogs from tying the game.
Auburn was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth to keep it a one-run game, but the Tiger defense didn’t have the same luck in the fifth. After a leadoff double, Auburn retired the next two batters it faced but a fielding error on what would have ended the inning allowed the tying run to score.
With the inning extended, the Bulldogs knocked a single and took advantage of a second Tiger error to plate two more unearned runs to build a 5-3 lead.
Peralta led off the seventh with her third walk of the game to bring the tying run to the plate. After back-to-back strikeouts, Adams delivered her double to right field to cut it to a one-run game, but the Tigers couldn’t complete the rally.
UP NEXT
Auburn looks to even the series on Sunday. First pitch on the SEC Network is set for 5:30 p.m. CT.