No. 18 Missouri closed out its series with No. 15 LSU in a doubleheader Sunday, as Saturday’s game had been postponed to due to inclement weather. Mizzou only needed five innings on Friday to beat LSU 9-1, but Sunday represented a totally different story.
Missouri lost its first game 4-2 and its second game 12-5, dropping the three-game series and falling to 29-9 overall and 7-5 in the SEC.
In game one, Brooke Wilmes led off for Mizzou in the bottom of the first with a leadoff double. Two batters later, Hatti Moore singled up the middle, bringing in Wilmes for a 1-0 lead.
LSU responded over the next two innings. Georgia Clark tied the game at 1-1 as she smashed a home run into left field in the top of the second. Then, in the top of the third inning things would get ugly for Mizzou. LSU’s Ciarra Briggs reached second after a single and a bad throw to first base. Aliyah Andrews, who went 3-4 in game one, doubled, and the next batter, Danieca Coffey, singled as well, allowing Briggs to score and making it 2-1. An RBI hit by Taylor Pleasants and a sacrifice fly by Clark then extended LSU’s lead to 4-1.
It was a rough day for Missouri senior pitcher Sophie Dandola, as she fell to 3-1 on the year. In four innings she gave up five hits while only striking out one batter. She would be replaced by Laurin Krings, who had a strong final three innings allowing just one hit while striking out four batters.
The Tigers were able to add another run as Kimberly Werts' home run in the bottom of the fourth inning made it 4-2, but unfortunately for Mizzou, the Tigers couldn't muster any more runs. The team's next best chance to catch up with LSU came in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Missouri loaded the bases, but no one was able to reach home. LSU’s Ali Kilponen improved to 9-4 after game one, pitching a complete seven innings and striking out eight Mizzou batters.
In game two, Mizzou took another early lead in the bottom of the first. A single up the middle by Moore brought in Wilmes for the score, and Werts sacrifice scored Jenna Laird and made the score 2-1. With the bases loaded later in the inning, freshman Riley Frizell hit a nice ball that floated into center field, bringing in Moore. Mizzou kept it going as Kendyll Bailey doubled deep into right center for a two-RBI double, making it 5-1.
That ended the day for LSU pitcher Shelby Wickersham. Kilponen then returned to shut down Mizzou’s offense once again. After her complete game shutout in game one, Kilponen pitched 6.2 more innings, allowing only three hits while striking out seven Mizzou batters, bringing her total to 15 strikeouts on the day.
“She threw an unbelievable game," Missouri coach Larissa Anderson said of Kiloponen. "She was outstanding, kept us off balanced with the change up and we really didn’t make great adjustments."
Trailing 5-1, LSU slowly closed the gap and eventually took game two. Over the next six innings, the visitors would put up 10 more runs and out hit the Tigers 18 to seven. Mizzou’s pitching struggled as Emma Nichols, Megan Schumacher and Laurin Krings each gave up at least four hits.
“Our pitching today, they just didn’t compete, and they got to compete, they got to be able to make that big pitch,” said Anderson “We got to come in and we got to be able to shut some offenses down and keep them off balanced.”
Next up for the Tigers is former Big 12 rival Kansas. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday.
