After picking up a win in the first game of the series, the Auburn Tigers (38-16, 14-9 SEC) fell 5-4 in nine innings to the Mississippi State Bulldogs (28-23, 7-15 SEC) in the second game of the series at Jane B. Moore Field yesterday afternoon.
“We fought,” said Auburn head coach [autotag]Mickey Dean[/autotag]. “We have to put ourselves in better defensive positions and clean things up on defense on Sunday. It’s little things, but defense is who we are. We need to return to that.”
Junior left-hander [autotag]Shelby Lowe[/autotag] got the start for Auburn and allowed four runs off of seven hits, walked one batter and struck out four in five innings of work. Sophomore right-hander [autotag]Annabelle Widra[/autotag] pitched the remaining four innings and allowed one run off of three hits and struck two batters out.
Senior right-hander Aspen Wesley got the start for Mississippi State and allowed two runs off of two hits, walked three batters and struck out two in two innings of work. Freshman right-hander Josey Marron went the rest of the way for the Bulldogs and allowed two runs off of three hits, walked three batters and struck out seven in seven innings on the mound.
Mississippi State got the scoring started in the top of the second inning when graduate catcher Jackie McKenna singled to right field to bring in a run.
Auburn took the lead in the bottom of the second inning when sophomore shortstop [autotag]Rose Roach[/autotag] singled to center field to bring in two runs.
The Bulldogs jumped back in front in the top of the fourth inning when shortstop Madisyn Kennedy hit a two-run homer to left center.
Auburn tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Roach hit a sac-fly to center field to score junior third baseman [autotag]Denver Bryant[/autotag]. The Tigers took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth inning when sophomore left fielder [autotag]Abbey Smith[/autotag] scored on an error while base running.
Mississippi State struck back in the top of the sixth inning when McKenna reached on an infield single to drive in the tying run. In the top of the ninth inning, graduate left fielder Chloe Malau’ulu singled up the middle to bring in the go-ahead run. The Tigers were not able to answer back in the bottom of the inning and the Bulldogs picked up the 5-4 victory and evened up the series.
The rubber match is set for Sunday at 11:00 a.m. CDT. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
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