Auburn’s bats were no match for Jordan Weber.

The Missouri starting pitcher set a career high with 13 strikeouts, setting the tone for what turned out to be a pitcher’s duel between her and AU starter Shelby Lowe in a 2-1 Tigers win in nine innings.

Neither team was able to gain an early offensive edge Friday as the two teams played out an extra-inning nail-biter at Mizzou Softball Stadium.

In the final inning, Cayla Kessinger’s short dribbler forced a hurried throw from Lexie Handley, who was in the circle at the time. It was just off-target enough to draw first baseman Justus Perry off base and prevent the third out, allowing Casidy Chaumont to score the winning run.

The two starting pitchers, meanwhile, were nearly untouchable. The two duelists took markedly different approaches to their clash in the circle.

Weber hunted the strike zone, working the Auburn hitters to two-strike counts early and often. Emma Nichols kept the same tactic when she came on in relief, with the pair combining for 17 punch-outs.

The aggressive approach got Weber into trouble early.

In the second and third innings, Weber let runners get into scoring position with one out. She struck out the next two batters on both occasions. With her 10th strikeout in the top of the fifth, she set her new career high. When she finished six innings, she had 13, the highest total by a Missouri pitcher since Chelsea Thomas in 2013.

Thomas was a star for the Tigers in 2009-2013 and has the most wins and strikeouts in school history. Weber spoke after the game about how it felt for her to be in the company of someone like Thomas.

“It’s really exciting, first time its ever happened to me I’ve gotten that many, so it’s really cool.”

Missouri coach Larissa Anderson was also thrilled to see her starter achieve those numbers.

“We talk a lot about the history of our sport and the history of out game and history of Mizzou softball,” Anderson said, “And to have Jordan and Chelsea Thomas in the same sentence is pretty remarkable.”

On the Auburn side of things, Lowe relied on the defense behind her rather than strikeouts. While Weber was running up her K count, Lowe worked to keep her pitch count down. She pitched into the eighth, finishing at 99 total pitches. She preyed on the edges of the zone, getting the MU hitters to make poor contact and ground or fly out.

That approach was most evident when facing Brooke Wilmes. Wilmes typically is a very tough out for opposing pitchers. Even when she gets out, she often stays alive in counts, fouling off pitches to run the count up early and often.

Friday, Wilmes was hitless, only facing a total of nine pitches across her four at bats against Lowe. She and the rest of the lineup were unable to make much headway against the AU ace. Hatti Moore accounted for the one Missouri run before the ninth inning, with a solo shot in the fourth.

Kendyll Bailey also proved to be a bright spot in the order, especially considering her struggles at the plate so far this season. She was 3 for 3 on the day after coming into the game batting .200, by far the lowest of any of the typical Missouri starters.

“A lot of this game is mental,” Bailey said, “I think changing that mental approach and trusting what you do in practice has been the biggest thing.”

That mental shift paid dividends for her Friday and could prove to have a lasting impact on her hitting going forward in this series and for the rest of the season.