Mizzou softball’s season comes to an end in first round of SEC Tournament
LEXINGTON, Ky. (KMIZ)
After clawing to get themselves into NCAA Tournament contention this season, the Mizzou softball team fell just one win short of extending their year, on Tuesday. The Tigers fell to Auburn in the first round of the SEC Tournament, 6-2, marking the end of the season.
In order to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, teams must finish the season at .500. With the loss to Auburn, MU ended the 2026 campaign just one win short of that, sitting at 28-29 overall. It's now the second-straight season that head coach Larissa Anderson and company have missed the NCAA Tournament, after having made it for 17-consecutive seasons.
Mizzou took control out of the gates, as a couple of Coach Anderson's freshmen got the scoring started. Pitcher Abby Carr wiped MU's goose egg off the scoreboard with a resounding RBI double to left field to give her team a one-run lead. Then, a couple of batters later, outfielder Sidney Forrester knocked an RBI single through the left side to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
However, after that the Mizzou offense went quiet, as pitcher Ella Harrison regained control and ended up going 4.0 innings, allowing those two runs on four hits with five strikeouts.
Despite the lack of production at the plate, starting pitcher Cierra Harrison kept the Tigers in the drivers seat. She went 5.0 innings into Tuesday's game, allowing just one run, three hits and fanning three Auburn batters.
Harrison was pulled out of the game in the sixth, after she let a big leadoff triple go, and was replaced by Carr. The freshman struck out the first batter she saw, but then things went off the rails after that. Auburn plated its first run of the game on an uncharacteristic throwing error from catcher Stefania Abruscato, as she tried to catch the base-runner in a run-down between third and home. Then, shortly after, Auburn tied the game on a wild pitch from Carr. That momentum proved to be just what the Alabama-based Tigers needed because the very next batter called game, as Haven Roebuck knocked a two-run bomb off of Carr to grab the 4-2 advantage.
Head coach Chris Malveaux's squad added on some more insurance in the top of the seventh, courtesy of a solo home run from Kyla Stroud and a Ma'Nia Womack RBI single to center field to gain a four-run lead.
Down to the final three outs of the season, the Mizzou offense couldn't find the miraculous comeback it needed. Auburn pitcher Charley Butler ended her day by forcing a fly-out from Carr to earn the win, going 3.0 innings and allowing just one hit.
Up next - Coach Anderson will turn her attention to the 2027 campaign, as her team will look to make its highly-anticipated return to the NCAA Tournament stage.
