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COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 12/12 University of Missouri softball (20-3, 2-1 SEC) dropped its series finale to No. 25/25 Auburn (13-4-1, 1-2 SEC), 4-0, Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Missouri captured the weekend series, 2-1, marking its first SEC opening series win since a 3-0 home sweep of Ole Miss in 2020.
Auburn utilized a strong pitching performance from Maddie Penta, and a pair of home runs off the bat of Amelia Lech to take the series finale.
The two squads were able to put runners in scoring position, Auburn in the first and Mizzou in the second, but were unable to capitalize early on. Then, the visitors struck first in the third, as a one-out RBI triple from Makayla Packer brought home the game’s first run.
In the fourth, Auburn tallied another run onto their lead, as Leach led off the inning with a solo home run.
After a Jenna Laird single in the third inning, Penta retired eight straight Mizzou batters, keeping the Auburn edge at 2-0 heading into the sixth.
In the top half of the sixth, Lech launched her second round tripper of the afternoon, this time a two-run shot, extending the Auburn lead to 4-0.
Missouri got a runner on base in the bottom half of the sixth as Laird was hit by a pitch, but could not take advantage.
Mizzou then put together a two-out effort in the seventh, with Katie Chester drawing a walk, and Mya Dodgeconnecting on a pinch-hit single, before Auburn closed out their win, 4-0.
NOTES
- Jenna Laird extended her hitting streak to seven games, dating back to March 2 against Nebraska. She finished 2-for-2 and reached on a hit by pitch.
- Jenna Laird recorded her ninth multi-hit game of the season.
- Jenna Laird also extended her reached-base streak to nine games.
- Jenna Laird (2-for-2) went perfect from the plate for the first time this season and for the sixth time in her career with at least two at bats.
- Maddie Gallagher (1-for-3) connected on her sixth double of the season, and her seventh extra-base hit as she looks to restart her on-base streak which was snapped at 15 games on Saturday.
- First baseman and Columbia native Abby Hay picked up her first career start.
- Marissa McCann, who is originally from Columbia, made her first career appearance in the circle at Mizzou softball stadium.
- Taylor Pannell picked up three strikeouts in the game over 1.2 innings of work.
- Mya Dodge (1-for-1) now has hits in consecutive appearances. She registered a single in the seventh after coming on as a defensive replacement in left.
- Alex Honnold saw her 14-game reached break streak come to an end Sunday.
- Mizzou surpassed 2,000 plus fans in attendance for the second-straight game as 2,086 was the announced attendance Sunday.
- The series win marked the first for Missouri over Auburn since 2021.
- Missouri is now 4-2 against top-25 foes in 2024.
- After Sunday’s game, Mizzou’s all-time record against Auburn moved to 13-13.
- Missouri captured the series, 2-1, marking the Tigers’ first SEC opening series win since a 3-0 home sweep of Ole Miss in 2020.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Mizzou next turns its attention to a midweek doubleheader as they travel to Champaign, Illinois, to take on Illinois, Wednesday, March 13 with game one set to begin at 1 p.m. CT.
- The Tigers will then continue their road trip, traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee, for a three-game series against No. 8/9 Tennessee March 15-17.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
- For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouSoftball (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
