Mizzou baseball had spurts of moments against N0. 6 Auburn, where it was close to picking up its first SEC series win but was ultimatetly swept by the Tigers in orange at Taylor Stadium in Columbia.
Both of the Missouri starting pitchers in the doubleheader, Josh McDevitt and Brady Kehlenbrink, pitched six innings; the Mizzou offense just couldn’t match the same energy throughout.
GAME ONE
On Friday, the efficient starting pitcher was Javyn Pimental.
On Saturday, it was Josh McDevitt’s turn to match that standard.
For most of the afternoon, he did exactly that.
Offensively, this game brought as much of a stalemate as one college baseball game could muster. In turn, neither pitching staff had to flex its depth muscles, as McDevitt and Auburn starter Jackson Sanders took turns mowing down the opposition for nearly seven innings apiece.
By the end of the third inning, McDevitt already had seven strikeouts, nearly eclipsing his career high of eight, and he carried that same edge deep into the game. McDevitt finished with 10 punchouts and just three hits allowed, the only real blemish coming in the fifth when a throwing error on a pickoff attempt moved a runner to third and set up a simple RBI groundout.
Missouri couldn’t build on the early 1–0 lead Jase Woita helped manufacture in the second, and the longer the game stayed tight, the more it drifted into a classic SEC stalemate — every baserunner feeling like a turning point.
Auburn finally broke through in the seventh against left-handed reliever Isaiah Salas with a sac fly, after McDevitt exited. After Sam Rosand came in from the bullpen to stop any more bleeding, Auburn then added another in the eighth on a bases‑loaded walk to make it 3–1.
After Rosand forced Brandon McCraine to pop out, ending the inning, Missouri’s response when it punched back in the bottom of the eighth made it feel for a moment that they might flip the whole Saturday.
A hit‑by‑pitch, a sac bunt, and Jamal George’s stolen base set the table. Kam Durnin shot an RBI single through the left side, Woita followed with another to tie it 3–3, and the 2000ish fans in Taylor Stadium had some juice again. One batter later, Cameron Benson nearly caused mass pandemonium with a near-home run shot that was caught at the right-center field fence by Bristol Carter.
Rosand put the Auburn batters down 1-2-3 in the top half of the ninth, leading to a potential walk-off opportunity. Despite a leadoff single from Mateo Serna, Missouri couldn’t get the walk-off hit. Pierre Seals followed up with a single of his own, and Serna was gunned down, attempting to advance to third base by Bub Terrell, the left fielder. Keegan Knutson and Eric Maisonet both went down swinging to end the inning.
answered in the 10th and answered strongly. Cade Belyeu was hit to start the inning, Chris Rembert singled, and Chase Fralick punched in a go-ahead RBI down the right‑field line.
The top of the order came up for the Tigers in the bottom half of the 10th. A comeback was to no evail, as Macon, Kaden Peer and Kam Durning all went down swinging to end the contest.
Ultimately, 13 strikeouts and just a handful of empty innings with runners on base kept Mizzou from fully capitalizing.
“It was a tough weekend for our guys,” Missouri coach Kerrick Jackson said. “There are a couple of opportunities there where we had chances to take games, and we just didn’t take advantage.”
McDevitt gave them a winning start. For the second straight game, Missouri’s pitching set the tone; the bats couldn’t match it when it mattered.
All our starters this weekend gave us great outings,“Jackson said. ” That’s the part that kind of sucks for our guys, is that, they came out, and they pitched their tails off, and we couldn’t help them out by getting a little bit of some runs here and there when we needed to.“
GAME TWO
The second game of the evening settled into yet another low-scoring duel. In six innings, Missouri looked comfortable riding behind Brady Kehlenbrink’s pace. One notable change, however? No Tyler Macon in the starting lineup for the first time this season.
He’d been pressing the last two games and taking some uncharacteristic at‑bats,“ Jackson said.” “I think he put a lot of pressure on himself to do more than he needed to do. So give him a mental break, put somebody else in there, and see what happens.”
Auburn managed only one run through the first six innings, a fourth‑inning RBI single, and Brady Kehlenbrink immediately answered by retiring the next five batters he faced.
Missouri finally broke through in the sixth inning when Cameron Benson drilled a line‑drive double into the right‑center gap. Kaden Peer followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 1‑1, giving Missouri a jolt of momentum and briefly flipping the feel of the afternoon.
The seventh inning saw the floodgates open up for War Eagle.
Auburn opened the frame with a single and a double, and a walk loaded the bases and ended Brady Kehlenbrink’s outing after another competitive start. Kehlenbrink ultimatetly ending his outing with five strikeouts,
Auburn then attacked the Missouri bullpen, stringing together six hits against PJ Green and Juan Villareal in the inning, including a three‑run home run, and turned a 1‑1 game into an 8‑1 lead before Missouri recorded the third out. In SEC play, innings like that tend to decide games, and this one did.
I think game one today just took the wind out of the sails a little bit, which is unfortunate,“ Jackson said. What we talk about is it’s doubleheader day, we get it, we understand you can’t get swept in the league. You have to come out, you have to be competitive.”
After Auburn added another run in the eighth inning, Missouri tried to salvage something in the ninth when Pierre Seals led off with his second hit of the game, and freshman Blaize Ward punched an RBI single through the right side to bring Pierre Seals home.
The late push wasn’t enough to erase the damage from the seventh, and Missouri closed the doubleheader with a 9‑2 loss.
