Missouri Tigers softball beats Auburn, gets rematch with Alabama in SEC Tournament

The end of Missouri softball’s regular season ended in a controversial and frustrating loss to Alabama. On Thursday, the Tigers will get another crack at the Crimson Tide in the SEC Tournament.

Seventh-seeded Missouri advanced to the quarterfinals in Gainesville, Florida, defeating No. 10 seed and No. 17 ranked Auburn 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon behind seven scoreless innings from Jordan Weber.

The win wasn’t the prettiest for 24th-ranked Mizzou (34-19). Entering the seventh inning, Weber hadn’t retired Auburn in order. But she made quick work of Auburn (39-15) in the final frame.

A Jenna Laird opposite field double that scored Emma Raabe in the fourth inning was all Missouri’s offense mustered. Center fielder Brooke Wilmes went hitless and designated player Kim Wert reached twice on a hit-by-pitch and walk.

In Missouri’s road series against Kentucky less than three weeks ago, Weber, the Tigers ace, secured wins in each of the three games. The sweep was arguably the turning point for a team with just one Southeastern Conference series win coming into the weekend. She’s lowered her earned run average to 2.61 on the season.

Missouri split the first two games against Alabama last weekend, but in the final matchup, Alabama scored three runs on a home run that did not appear to go over the wall. Left fielder Casidy Chaumont brought the ball back onto the field, but the play was not reviewable and MU lost 3-1.

First pitch for Thursday’s game against the No. 2 seed and fourth-ranked Crimson Tide (41-10) is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Central time on SEC Network.

This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 6:31 PM.