During a nine-day stretch where the Missouri Tigers played 11 games, Missouri softball coach Larissa Anderson learned a lot about her team.
First off, that it was good to see them on dirt for nearly the first time this season and second, it’s going to take some time for the numerous Tiger newcomers to get used to the speed of the college game..
“It’s going outside and having top-25 teams hit the ball at us at, you know, 85 miles an hour plus and our freshmen not realizing how fast the game actually is,” Anderson said. “The faster it is, the faster you have to make decisions. So that’s where we have to have a lot of growth.”
The Tigers cruised through their first few games, gaining revenge on Duke for ending Missouri’s 2024 season and beating No. 21 Northwestern. But the Tigers struggled through their second week, dropping four of their next six games after starting 2-1.
“I thought our first three games, we played extremely well,” Anderson said. “Saw a lot of promise. I was really happy with the pitching staff, and then with a hiccup with Notre Dame, I felt like we didn’t really get ourselves back on track. We found ways to win some games, but we really weren’t working simultaneously. We weren’t really smooth.”
Anderson said the second week was filled with peaks and valleys with the peaks largely coming on the offensive side of the ball.
“I’m really happy with (Julia) Crenshaw at the top of the lineup,” Anderson said. “I thought she was an exceptional leadoff hitter. I believe that she was successful with batting about .558 in the leadoff position, which is absolutely outstanding in getting on base. … Madison Walker’s stats are not an indication of really how great she was, she hit so many balls right at people, which is just part of the game. And we just got to remind her that she will get some bloops every now and then that are going to be some jam shots. But having production from different people all throughout the lineup was extremely helpful.”
Anderson added that slap hitter Clair Cahalan, who collected nine hits in 11 games for batting average of .375, has helped to turn over the lineup and get the offense rolling.
But on the other end, the Tigers have struggled massively on defense, especially with those new players still adjusting to the game.
Anderson attempted to move three-year third baseman Kara Daly to shortstop to help up the middle.
“She’s not a shortstop,” Anderson said. “We gave it a shot and it allowed us to have Walker, Daly and (Abby) Hay all in the lineup and not have to use one of them as a DP (designated player) … Kara gave it a shot, but it’s such a different depth perception moving her.”
Anderson said Daly will move back to third and remain there after the experiment didn’t work, but that leaves an opening up the middle.
“We still have a lot of uncertainty in the middle of the field,” Anderson said. “I felt like second base, we had four different players have opportunities to be able to win that and no one really has, pun intended, taken the ball and run with it. So we need to have a lot more consistency at second base and I think what’s disappointing from my standpoint, is defense is hurting us at times, so we have to be more consistent on defense.”
The Tigers will look for more consistency defensively as they head to their third early-season tournament when they head to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif., with a doubleheader Thursday and Friday, then one game Saturday.
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