Auburn (23-25, 4-21) was defeated by Missouri (22-28, 8-17) 12-11 Friday night in game one of the three-game series. The game had plenty of offensive fireworks and went back and forth throughout the night. Auburn took a six-run lead after a big seventh inning but ultimately was not enough to win on Friday night.
Missouri scored the first runs of what became a high-scoring affair on Friday night in the second inning on a two-run home run. Auburn responded with two runs in the third inning and three home runs in the fourth inning to take the lead. Missouri took the lead back in the fifth inning on three unearned runs due to a costly error from Auburn.
After the back and forth early, Auburn finally broke through in the seventh inning. Auburn second-baseman Caden Green singled to start the inning beginning the rally. Green then stole second before outfielder Mason Maners reached on a hit-by-pitch and catcher Cale Stricklin reached on an error.
Then, third-basemen Eric Guevara drove in Green and Maners with a double. Outfielder Chris Stanfield followed up with a single loading the bases for Auburn before catcher Ike Irish cleared them with a triple. First-basemen Cooper McMurray grounded out to short driving in Irish capping off the inning. Auburn batted through the order in the inning scoring six runs on four hits.
"I thought the first five innings of offense reminded me of earlier in the season when we were playing great offense," Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. "Then the big inning came in the seventh so man it just felt really good."
Auburn extended the lead to five after the top of the seventh, but Missouri responded once again. The home Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh and four runs in the eighth inning to retake the lead. Auburn had all the momentum after the top of the seventh inning, but Auburn's kryptonite all season has been the pitching and it struck Auburn once again on Friday resulting in another gut-wrenching loss.
"You know the things that usually don't happen have happened to prevent us from having a chance (to win)," Thompson said.
While blowing a big lead late will be a bitter pill to swallow, Auburn still has the chance to win the series if it can win the next two games. The good news for Auburn is the offense showed promise in game one. If Auburn can get the same production over the next couple of games from the batting lineup paired with stronger pitching, winning the series would still be possible.
The first pitch of game two is set for 3:00 p.m. on Saturday in Columbia. Can Auburn respond after a brutal loss in game one? We'll find out on Saturday. The game will air on the SEC Network+ and the Auburn Sports Network.
