Mizzou falls to No. 24 Georgia on senior night; series heads to a rubber match

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou softball team fell just short of securing its first SEC series win of the season, on Friday's senior night, as the Tigers lost 3-2 to No. 24 Georgia.

Tolton alum Madison Uptegrove accounted for both of MU's runs agains the Bulldogs. The true freshman hit her fourth home run of the season in the first inning and then scored on an error in the fourth to cut the deficit to one. Uptegrove went 1-for-2 with two runs, a homer and a walk. She has now reached base safely in three-straight games.

Besides Uptegrove, the Tigers just couldn't come up with the offense they needed to topple the Bulldogs for the second game in a row. Head coach Larissa Anderson's team went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the loss, as Georgia out-hit Mizzou 9-3.

Despite the result, starting pitcher Taylor Pannell managed to hold it down in the circle for six innings. She allowed three earned runs on eight hits, while striking out three batters. Senior Jayci Cruse came in for the final inning of action and only allowed one hit.

After the game, Mizzou honored its group of five seniors: third baseman/shortstop Kara Daly, catcher Julia Crenshaw, outfielder Mya Dodge, designated player Taylor Ebbs and pitcher Jayci Cruse. You can watch highlights of MU's senior day celebration in the video player below.

Up next - the Tigers will look to capture their first conference series win of the season in rubber match action on Saturday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.