When #13 Georgia entered Mizzou Softball Stadium, the Missouri softball team took a few innings to settle into their groove. A back-and-forth, low-scoring affair ended with a final score of 4-3 in favor of Georgia as the Tigers spent the entire game trying to make up for an early deficit.
The game began with starting pitcher Laurin Krings forcing two Bulldogs into groundouts, putting the Tigers in a great position to take some early momentum. But Krings walked the next two batters and allowed a hit into right field to open up the scoring.
Krings would have struck out the next batter, Jaiden Fields, to end the inning. But on the dropped third strike, Hatti Moore elected to throw to third base instead of first attempting to put the runner at third in a pickle with two outs. When Georgia’s Davis reached on an infield single with the bases loaded, scoring one before a flyout to Brooke Wilmes in center field ended the inning.
Missouri got one back immediately when Jenna Laird’s leadoff single and a wild pitch paid off with a subsequent single from Wilmes to cut the lead in half. That was all that would come from the bottom of the first as the next two batters grounded out.
It wouldn’t take long for Georgia to respond to Mizzou’s run. In her second time at bat, second baseman Sydney Kuma homered to center to put the Bulldogs up 3-1. All three runs had been scored with two outs.
In the top of the third, Georgia began with a leadoff walk and an error by Kara Daly. A two-out single from Ellie Armistead scored Fields to make it 4-1 before Krings ended the inning with another strikeout.
A successful bottom of the third for Missouri brought in Wilmes with two outs after two wild pitches and a single through the middle infield by Kimberly Wert brought her all the way around from first. The luck ended there, as the Tigers cut their deficit to just two at 4-2.
It was Casidy Chaumont brought Mizzou within one as she belted a solo home run to left field to make the score 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth. The Tigers put two more runners on first and second, but couldn’t send any more home.
After the fifth inning, coach Larissa Anderson chose to give the ball to Megan Schumacher for the final six outs.
“I just gotta go in there and do what I can to get my team back in the dugout,” Schumacher said. “I’ve got to make sure I keep everyone off base and do what I can to get us back in the dugout to hit.”
After the Tigers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Schumacher got two outs with a runner at first. This time, it was Moore’s turn to make a play, as she fired a bullet into second base to catch the stealing Kearney and end the inning.
A newly-energized Mizzou Softball Stadium saw the pinch-hitting Gabi Deters get on with two outs after an error by third baseman Sara Mosley to keep Mizzou's hopes alive. With an RBI opportunity, Kendyll Bailey swung on a 2-0 count and gently lined out to the shortstop to end the game at 4-3, Georgia.
“We have no control over the results,” coach Anderson said after the game. “That's completely out of our hands in our game. Like, we could have scorch the ball and it's right at somebody. We have no control over that.”
Putting substance to her claim that the Tigers had no control of the results of the game, Anderson spoke about how she wants her players to “not get themselves out.”
“When I'm evaluating a hitter, and those at-bat situations, I'm saying, ‘Did you get yourself out? Or did the pitcher get you out?’ If the pitcher got you out, then tip your cap. Nothing we can do. She just beat you on that pitch,” said Anderson. “But if you got yourself out, then you have to do a better job and understanding what pitches you’re swinging at and making sure that you’re on time for those pitches; putting a good swing and a good pitch.”
The Tigers are back in action for game two on Friday at noon against Georgia once against in game two of the three-game series. Missouri, now 24-16 and 4-8 in conference play, fell to 11th out of 13 in the SEC softball standings table with some of their hardest games still awaiting them.
After falling out of the NCAA Top-25 rankings for the first time since February 2020, the Tigers will have to look to bounce back in a big way with a critical series win against a nationally-ranked Georgia team after losing game one.
Talk about this story and more in The Tigers' Lair
Make sure you're caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video and live streaming coverage
