In a Battle of Tigers, Harrisons, and coaches with Mizzou connections, the Tigers of the black & gold variety headed out to The Plains of Auburn, Ala. to take on the Tigers (23-10, 2-4) of the blue & orange variety— a weird color combo, in my opinion — looking for their second conference win and hoping to put an end to losing in close games (4 of their 5 losses are by one run this season).
“Missouri is going to be a very hard-nose teams,” c0-head coach Chris Malveaux said earlier this week. “They
are going to play hard. They are very gritty. Pitching and defense are going to be a very big staple for them. When you let up, they are going to find a way to score. We’ve got to make pitches, and we’ve got to be locked in offensively. Their record is a little misleading. They’ve played an incredibly tough schedule, and they can beat anyone. We’ve got to show up and get after it.”
In the circle for Auburn at Jane C. Moore field, Ella Harrison (10-4, 3.80 ERA in 92 IP), who entered the game with 97 strikeouts on the season. For Missouri, another Harrison, CeCe (7-4, 3.62 ERA in 69 IP), coming into the game fresh off her second career no-hitter in Wednesday’s win over SIUE.
Besides sharing the same mascot and coaching connections — Auburn’s co-head coaches, the Malveauxs, formerly were on staff at Mizzou under head coach Larissa Anderson, serving as an associate head coach (Chris) and Director of Ops (Kate) — both teams get a lot of contributions from baby Tigers, with four freshmen starters apiece in the lineup for Game 1. Per the SEC+ data presented during the game, the teams utilize their freshmen at a higher rate than the rest of the conference (I think the stat was 13%), with 38% of Mizzou’s at-bats coming from newbies vs. 27% for Auburn. Additionally, 38% of Mizzou hits this season have also been from newbies vs. 25% for Auburn.
This weekend also presents an interesting matchup for the Tigers2, as they are pretty evenly matched, with Auburn taking the edge in batting (.331 BA/245 R/282 H/56 2B/49HR vs. .285 BA/169 R/256 H/51 2B/34 HR) and Mizzou in pitching (3.36 ERA/224 H/ 110 ER/ 90 BB/193 K/ 40 HR vs. 4.41 ERA/245H/132 ER/94 BB/177 K/31 HR).
Would the black & gold Tigers be able to keep the potent blue & orange Tiger offense at bay? Which Harrison would prevail? One thing was for certain; a Tiger would come out on top.
Early Offense
With the Tigers (Mizzou) posting a 12-8 record when scoring first, it was great to see them take an early lead in the top of the second after a leadoff double by Abby Carr. A Sophie Smith sac bunt advanced Carr to third, and after a Madison Uptegrove groundout, Kayley Lenger laced a two-out RBI single to left, making it 1-0.
Not satisfied with the one-run lead, Uptegrove made it count in her next two ABs, hitting a solo shot in the fourth to make it 2-0, and an RBI triple in the sixth to make it 3-0. The triple brough in pinch runner Saniyah Hill, who had taken over for Carr, who was on with a one-out single.
Pitchers Duel
For her part, CeCe showed the be the Better Harrison on the evening, finishing with her second consecutive impressive start, allowing just three hits (two doubles) and two walks in five innings of work to go with four strikeouts in 86 pitches. She allowed two baserunners via walk in the bottom of the second, a double in the third and fourth, and a single in the fifth. That was it.
Abby Carr entered in the bottom of the sixth in relief and allowed a runner to get into scoring position after a one-out walk and a wild pitch. A strikeout looking ended the treat, however. In the seventh, after allowing a leadoff single, she coaxed a strikeout and a nifty double play to end it. Easy peasy. Never a doubt.
As for Auburn, the Other Harrison made very few mistakes, striking out nine Tigers in her complete game effort. She allowed six hits (3 for extra bases) and no walks. With her nine Ks, obviously, that took her over the century mark for the season, an impressive accomplishment. It wasn’t enough though, as the Missouri Tigers picked up their second SEC win.
Some Stats
It was a tough game for Tiger freshmen not named Abby Carr, as five of the team’s nine strikeouts came from the freshies. Auburn’s freshmen tandem wasn’t much better, going 2-10, with three strikeouts. Haven Roebuck had the most success, going 1-for-2 with a double, walk, and strikeout.
UP NEXT: Game 2 of the Tigers v. Tigers show. I imagine it will be Marissa McCann (5-7 / 3.49 ERA in 80.1 IP) vs. SJ Geurin (5-3 / 3.97 ERA in 49.1 IP). The game is at 2pm CST on SEC+.
