Missouri baseball needed to win its series against Auburn this weekend if it wanted to keep its hopes alive for a trip to the SEC Tournament.

Trailing 9-1 heading to the 8th inning of Sunday’s rubber match at Taylor Stadium, the hosting Tigers furiously rallied to score six runs in the final two frames but came up short and lost 9-7.

The gave Auburn the series and ensured Missouri will need to sweep Mississippi State next weekend and get some other help on top of that if it wants to make it to Hoover.

The eighth inning was the heart of Missouri’s rally Sunday.

MU refused to go down easy, getting RBI singles from Jedier Hernandez, Kaden Peer, Juju Stevens, and Matt Garcia.

Two runs scored on Stevens’s single after an error by the left fielder.

In the ninth, the hosting Tigers got another one back with a Trevor Austin solo home run, but it came with two outs and Hernandez grounded out to end the game in the next at-bat.

Auburn’s offensive production was much more consistent than Mizzou’s.

The visiting Tigers plated four off MU starter Ryan Magdic in his six innings of work, three off Bryce Mayer in the seventh, and another two runs in the eighth off Brock Lucas.

Jacob Peaden, who pitched the ninth, was the only Tiger pitcher to go unblemished.

MU outhit Auburn 13-9 but was unable to translate those knocks into runs until the final two innings.

The only win of the weekend for Mizzou came Friday.

Much like Sunday, MU furiously rallied late, but this time, it came all the way back to win 12-11.

Auburn led 11-6 heading to the bottom of the seventh, but Mizzou plated two in that frame and four more in the eighth.

The big blow was a three-RBI double from Matt Garcia in the eighth that gave the hosting Tigers a 12-11 lead.

Hernandez also delivered two RBI singles in the rally.

Despite struggling Sunday, Mayer delivered a good outing out of the bullpen for MU to help complete the comeback.

He threw the final two innings of the game, struck out two and allowed just one base runner.

Game 2 was much more straightforward than Game 1 or Game 3.

Auburn dominated from start to finish and run-ruled MU 12-2.

The visiting Tigers scored in every inning from the third through the eighth.

Carter Rustad was the victim of most of the damage.

The KC product relieved starter Ian Lohse and allowed 10 runs, nine of which were earned, in 3.1 innings.

Jackson Lovich drove in both Missouri runs on an RBI single and a bases-loaded walk. Auburn outhit MU 17-6 in the beatdown.

Missouri travels to Starkville, Mississippi, for a three-game series with No. 14 Mississippi State in need of a sweep to keep its SEC Tournament hopes alive.