AUBURN, Ala. – Early offense for No. 13 South Carolina (36-13, 11-10 SEC) was enough as Auburn softball (30-21, 6-18 SEC) came up short in a 4-1 loss in Sunday’s series finale at Jane B. Moore Field.
“We did not do a great job of setting the tone early,” said co-head coach Chris Malveaux. “We lost a couple innings due to that. The way the game started took us out of our groove a little. We had a hard time managing ourselves enough to get back into it. We took that into the offensive side of the ball and were pressing right away. We did finally settle in a bit and compete but weren’t able to capitalize.”
South Carolina took advantage of a pair of walks to start the game and forced Auburn to go to the bullpen early. Arianna Rodi got the Gamecocks on the board with a three-run home run to left field. A leadoff walk in the second frame turned into an additional run as South Carolina built a 4-0 lead.
Reliever Haley Rainey settled in with scoreless third, fourth and fifth frames to give Auburn a chance. She struck out three over her 5.2 innings of relief.
Auburn found offense in the fourth inning as a Nelia Peralta walk and an AnnaLea Adams double put two Tigers on base. KK McCrary knocked a single to center field to cut the lead to 4-1. The next three Tigers went down in order, leaving two stranded in scoring position. The Tigers only had one hit over the last three frames as Rose Roach doubled in the fifth.
SJ Geurin closed the game out for the Tigers. She issued just one walk over her 1.1 innings of scoreless relief while striking out a pair. Chalea Clemmons was tagged with the loss to fall to 4-5.
UP NEXT
The Tigers conclude the regular season next weekend as Auburn hosts NC State for the War Eagle Classic. The three-game series begins Friday at 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network+. Friday will feature an on-field graduation ceremony for the Tiger senior class.