During the first two seasons of her college career, Missouri Tiger third baseman Kara Daly was nearly the definition of consistency.
The Jefferson City native jumped right into the Tiger starting lineup as a freshman and batted .270 with 13 home runs and a .547 slugging percentage led by 15 total extra base hits.
Then she batted .271 as a sophomore with 10 home runs, 13 doubles and two triples to help build a .537 slugging percentage.
But her numbers took a dive her junior season as she batted just .207 with seven home runs, eight doubles and a triple to create just a .375 slugging percentage.
“Last year, she just was never comfortable,” Missouri coach Larissa Anderson said. “She didn’t know what her swing needed to be, what it felt like. She was always trying different things. So then, there’s a lot of uncertainty when she would step in the batter’s box.”
But as the Tigers pass the midpoint of the 2025 season, Daly isn’t just back to herself, she’s been even better.
Daly has produced a .292 batting average, seven home runs, seven doubles and a .583 slugging percentage while also producing a career-high .400 on-base percentage and 26 RBI.
“I think it just comes down to just knowing, like, this is it for me,” Daly said. “And I just want to go out there and have fun and just play this sport that I’ve loved ever since I was a little girl.”
And that improvement has come along with the shift from where she had spent every game her first three seasons, third base, over to her left as she became the Tigers’ regular shortstop.
Daly has moved back to third base the past week because of an injury to teammate Abby Hay that allowed Madison Walker to move over to first base, but as Daly grew more comfortable playing in the middle of the field, she also grew more comfortable at the plate with the help of some movement specialists the Tigers brought in during the offseason.
“It’s her staying within her profile of what her movements need to be and being able to recognize when she’s in her profile,” Anderson said. “When she’s out, what happens when she’s out of her profile, but when she’s out of time and swings at poor pitches, she gets out of profile. So how can she stay within what her body needs to do to be successful? … Those types of things that they start to trust a little bit more and then they start to see the results of what their hard work does.”
And as Daly continues to learn to trust her swing and herself in the batter’s box, she’s also focusing on enjoying the final season of her college career. She has just 21 regular-season games left with just 12 more at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
“It’s just not putting too much pressure on myself,” Daly said. “Just going out there, looking to my left and right and enjoying every moment. I mean, it’s, it’s sad, but I’m just trying to enjoy as much time as I have left here.”
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