Coming off a series-ending win against Ole Miss, the Missouri Tigers were focused on not having an emotional letdown against the Missouri State Lady Bears on Wednesday.
“Emotionally, you’re putting everything you have, every single rep, toward your conference opponent,” Missouri coach Larissa Anderson said. “Coming off of a win in a Monday night game with a very fast turnaround to then play a midweek and then you have a big series coming up. So, emotionally, sometimes it’s challenging to get yourself up.”
The Tigers avoided the let down with a 7-2 win on the strength of a seven-run second inning and a strong start from Cierra Harrison.
“It was really good to see that she was getting those swings and misses,” Anderson said. “We worked both sides of the plate, she had really, really good command. She was throwing exactly where we needed the ball to go.”
After the top of the Tiger order went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first inning, the Missouri bats got going in the second.
Stefania Abruscato led off and sent her third home run of the season into right field to put the Tigers up for good.
“She’s had a lot of loud outs, she’s had a lot of warning-track balls,” Anderson said. “... the biggest thing is that it was a changeup. And that’s been something that teams have been throwing her a lot of because they know the threat that she is. For her to be able to be on time for that changeup and hit it as hard as she did was a huge tribute to her.”
Madison Uptegrove followed with a walk, then Sophie Smith continued her torrid week with a single to right before Kayley Lenger lined a double into left-center field to put the Tigers up 3-0.
Then Mya Dodge went the other way and sent her first home run of the season into right-center field to extend the Tiger lead to 5-0.
Julia Crenshaw walked and stole second, then Taylor Ebbs sent the Tigers’ third home run of the inning - and her seventh home run of the season - into the bleachers in right field for two RBI to create a 7-0 lead.
The Tigers did not score again.
But seven runs was enough for Harrison who racked up eight strikeouts and allowed only one baserunner, a single to left in the third inning, on the way to earning her ninth win of the season with five shutout innings.
The Tigers turned to Courtney Donahue in the sixth as Anderson was hoping to add a run on to the 7-0 lead and get the game over in five innings. But the offense didn’t get that run and Harrison had reached 76 pitches, leading to the change.
Donahue allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits, while striking out a batter in the sixth.
Then, Missouri went to Nathalie Touchet for the seventh and she allowed one hit while shutting down the game.
“I was hoping we could get one more run and end that game early,” Anderson said.
And now the Tigers (20-18) turn to one of the biggest series of the season, hosting No. 1 Texas (34-3) for a 6 p.m. game Friday, a 5 p.m. game Saturday and a noon game Sunday.
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