March 31, 2018
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AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Starting pitcher Davis Daniel turned in a season-best performance on the mound, but a trio of fielding miscues hurt No. 9 Auburn in a 2-1 loss to No. 24 Missouri Saturday night at Plainsman Park.
Auburn (22-6, 4-4 SEC) received 6.2 strong innings from Daniel (2-1, 3.34), who allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits with two walks and a season-high seven strikeouts in the tough-luck loss.
Trailing 2-1 in its last two at-bats, the Tigers put the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the eighth and on base again in the ninth but came up empty against Missouri (20-7, 4-4 SEC) reliever Andy Toelken (4-2, 3.52).
"We're discouraged whenever we don't win a ballgame, but to see how we pitched, and even the competitiveness of the at-bats, it's exciting to see," head coach Butch Thompson said. "The guys were competing as hard as they could, it just didn't come for us offensively. I'm still not dismayed by the at-bats. The guys are competing and battling just like Missouri is doing. We get to come back out tomorrow with an opportunity to win the series."
Auburn jumped out to a lead in the bottom of the second inning as Luke Jarvis ripped a one-out double to left field to score Conor Davis, who started the inning with a double, from second.
Missouri evened the score on a two-out RBI double from Trey Harris in the top of the fifth. The next time Harris came back around, he lifted a ball to left field that was misplayed in the outfield and allowed the visiting Tigers to take the lead in the top of the seventh.
Left-handed reliever Welby Malczewski replaced Daniel on the mound with two outs in the seventh and worked 2.1 scoreless innings to keep the Tigers within striking distance.
Offensively, Auburn's six through nine hitters accounted for six of the team's seven hits, including a pair of two-hit efforts from Davis and Jarvis.
The series finale between the two teams is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. Freshman right-hander Tanner Burns (2-3, 2.86) will take the mound for Auburn opposite Missouri's Bryce Montes De Oca (3-1, 2.80).