The No. 15 Missouri Tigers opened the softball season with five games in three days at the Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla., winning four and beating two ranked opponents.
Day 1
To open the season, the Tigers cruised past Marshall 9-1 in five innings.
Abby Hay drove in four runs on two doubles as the Tigers scored at least one run in every inning except the third.
Taylor Ebbs had a single and an RBI in her first career plate appearance and Julia Crenshaw kicked off her senior season with a home run in the bottom of the fifth to end the game by run rule. She finished 2-for-2 with three runs scored, two walks and an RBI out of the leadoff spot.
Kara Daly added a 2-for-2 game with a walk and an RBI.
Sophomore pitcher Marissa McCann was credited with a complete game, pitching five innings and allowing one run on five hits, while striking out three.
Then the Tigers moved on to face No. 20 Northwestern, shutting out the Wildcats 3-0.
Cierra Harrison returned to the circle for the first time this season, throwing a three-hit shutout as she notched her fourth career seven-inning complete game.
She struck out six, while allowing one walk.
The Tigers capitalized on a Wildcat error to score in the first, then a Stefania Abruscato single in the second created a 2-0 lead.
Crenshaw added an insurance run on an RBI single in the sixth, scoring Claire Cahalan who had a two-out triple the at-bat before.
Day 2
After starting 2-0, the Tigers rematched with No. 7 Duke, the team that sent the Tigers home in the Super Regionals last season.
The teams went into the fourth inning scoreless before Duke took the initial lead with a run in the bottom half.
The Tigers tied it in the top half when Abruscato hit a home run to right field, but the Blue Devils added two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-1 lead.
But the Tigers bats exploded in the sixth, sending 13 batters to the plate to score nine two-out runs, building the final score of 10-3.
The win was No. 350 in coach Larissa Anderson’s career. She was then inducted into the Gannon University Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Abruscato led the Tigers with a 3-for-4 day offensively, including two runs and two RBI. Crenshaw went 2-for-4 with two runs, while Madison Walker was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI and Daly was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Harrison picked up her second win, pitching five innings and allowing three runs on nine hits with a strikeout. Taylor Pannell made her first appearance of the season, throwing two innings and allowing three hits, while striking out one.
The Tigers then dropped a 4-3 game to Notre Dame to finish Day 2.
The Fighting Irish took the lead with a run in the bottom of the first, then the Tigers tied the game with a run in the top of the fourth and took the lead with another in the fifth.
Notre Dame responded to tie the game at 2 in the bottom of the fifth, but the Tigers jumped ahead with another run in the sixth.
But the Irish were able to plate two in the bottom of the seventh to walk off the win and hand Missouri its first loss of the season.
Walker had a home run for one of Missouri’s three total hits. Abruscato and Sophie Smith had the other two.
McCann pitched the first 2.1 innings, allowing four hits, two walks and one run, while striking out two.
Courtney Donahue came in for the next 2.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits.
Then Pannell came in for the two-inning save, but completed just 1.1 innings and allowed two runs on three hits, while striking out two.
Day 3
The Tigers then bounced back with a 3-2 win against Iowa, earning a walk-off win of their own with two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Iowa took the lead with a run in the second, then created a 2-1 advantage with a run in the top of the seventh.
The Tigers’ first run came in the bottom of the fifth.
Hay launched her first home run to lead a 1-for-1 day with three walks, while Abruscato and Daly each had a double. Smith and Cahalan both had singles in the Tigers’ five-hit attack.
McCann pitched the first four innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits and two walks, while striking out three. Nathalie Touchet pitched the next 2.1, allowing an unearned run on two hits and two walks with a strikeout.
Then the day after getting the loss, Pannell earned the win with .2 innings pitched, one hit and one hit batter allowed and one strikeout.
Missouri (4-1) will remain in Florida to play UCF at 5 p.m. Tuesday, then will play in the Clearwater Invitational from Thursday through Saturday.
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