GAINESVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Auburn softball struggled to find offense against No. 4 Florida and Keagan Rothrock as the Gators claimed the series with a 7-1 win Sunday at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could feel early on when the game was close that we tightened up both offensively and defensively,\u201d said co-head coach Chris Malveaux<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like we changed the entire meaning of why we were out here. We turned this journey into a chore. We wanted to be intentional throughout the week of understanding and bringing that positive energy and \u2018go after it\u2019 mindset. We kind of lost that a little bit today.<\/p>\n \u201cThis weekend wasn\u2019t all for naught. We have to use yesterday as something that\u2019s possible the rest of the season. It was the game repaying us after all the hard work. We have to chase that every day and not let one negative thing deter us. If you want it bad enough, nothing is going to stop you. We\u2019ve got to remember that and get back at it.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida (43-6, 16-5 SEC) struck in the first inning with a two-run home run from Kendall Grover. The Gators led off the second inning with three straight singles to load the bases, but sophomore Ella Harrison<\/a> and the Tiger defense responded with three quick outs to strand the runners.<\/p>\n Auburn (24-21, 3-15 SEC) didn\u2019t have similar luck in the third inning as the Gators manufactured three runs on four hits, including a pair of doubles. Errors plagued the Tigers in the fifth as a pair allowed two unearned runs to score, extending the lead to 7-0.<\/p>\n The Tigers earned four free passes through the first three innings but were hitless until sophomore AnnaLea Adams<\/a> led off the fourth frame with a single through the left side. Adams accounted for two of Auburn\u2019s four hits, adding another single in the sixth. Freshman Ava Ratliff<\/a> put the Tigers on the board, leading off the seventh with a home run to left field.<\/p>\n Auburn used four pitchers in Sunday\u2019s finale. Harrison (11-10) made her second consecutive start but suffered the loss. Freshman Charley Butler<\/a> turned in another strong relief outing. In 2.1 innings, she allowed just two hits and one walk. Both runs she allowed were unearned.<\/p>\n Redshirt freshmen Blayne Godfrey<\/a> and Abby Herndon<\/a> also made relief appearances, combining for a scoreless sixth inning. <\/p>\n GAME NOTES<\/p>\n Kylie Shaw<\/a> drew her 43rd walk of the season and is now in a four-way tie for the sixth most in a single season at Auburn with Nelia Peralta<\/a> (2023), Tiffany Howard<\/a> (2015) and Kasey Cooper<\/a> (2014). Shaw has reached safely in 42 of 45 games this season. UP NEXT BACK AT HOME
\nAnnaLea Adams<\/a> recorded a pair of singles for her eighth multi-hit game of the season and the 22nd of her career.
\nAva Ratliff<\/a> homered in the seventh inning. It was her second home run of her freshman season.<\/p>\n
Auburn\u2019s road swing continues with its final midweek contest of the regular season as the Tigers trek to Troy on Wednesday. First pitch on ESPN+ is set for 6 p.m. CT. Fans can listen locally on WEGL 91.1 FM or stream the broadcast on the Auburn Tigers website and mobile app.<\/p>\n
Auburn returns to Jane B. Moore Field for the final time this regular season April 24\u201326 to host Ole Miss in a three-game series. Friday\u2019s series opener is set for 6 p.m. CT and will feature a player trading card giveaway while supplies last. Saturday\u2019s contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. Auburn\u2019s graduating student-athletes will participate in a pregame on-field graduation ceremony. Sunday is Senior Day as the Tigers will honor McKaela Walker<\/a> and Destiny Rodriguez<\/a> in a pregame ceremony. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. CT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GAINESVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Auburn softball struggled to find offense against No. 4 Florida and Keagan Rothrock as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-238176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}