It was a weekend of many ups and downs for Missouri softball, where the #17 ranked Tigers faced off against multiple top-25 caliber teams and were pushed to their absolute limit on many occasions. The Mizzou Tournament allowed the host Tigers to play two games against Northwestern, Stanford and Ball State, though due to weather constraints, the Tigers only ended up playing Stanford twice while playing Northwestern and Ball State once-a-piece.
Missouri finished 1-3 in the Mizzou Tournament, tied for the worst record in the tournament with Ball State, who earned their sole win against the Tigers on Saturday afternoon. One of the lone bright spots of the tournament was the emergence of young guns in big situations, such as when Alex Honnold recorded a career-high four RBI against Stanford on Sunday night or Laurin Krings’ four-hit complete-game shutout in the same contest.
In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Tigers played host to #12 Northwestern, whose record stood at 16-4 prior to the game. Missouri, while playing strong-enough offense to score five runs in seven innings, was unable to ward off the Wildcats as pitching woes would see them lose 9-6 in ten innings.
It took little time for the Wildcats to get on the board, as the second batter of the game, Rachel Lewis, took starting pitcher Laurin Krings deep. While only allowing one run in the first inning, it would set the tone for much of the rest of the game. The home run would be one of two for Lewis, who hit another in the seventh inning to equalize the game at 5-5 and force extra innings.
Outside of a three-run sixth inning, the Missouri offense scored just three runs in nine innings against the Wildcats. Albeit a strong defensive team, the Tigers rarely put themselves in a position to win the game outside of an event in the eighth inning that defined the game.
With Brooke Wilmes on second base and Jenna Laird on first base with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Mizzou had put themselves in the driver’s seat with a runner in key scoring position for Kimberly Wert, a primetime cleanup hitter. Wert was able to barrel a single through the hole in the left infield, and Wilmes was waved home.
While minimal video evidence exists of whether or not Brooke Wilmes touched home plate before Jordyn Rudd’s tag was applied, the Tigers were ruled out at home and the game was pushed to the ninth inning. Video shot by KOMU-TV suggests the Wilmes did, in fact, make it to the plate in time. However, home plate umpire Scott Mair doubled down, saying that Wilmes was tagged out at the plate.
The extra-inning runner rule was applied in the 10th, likely because of time constraints, and Northwestern scored the extra runner and more. Four runs were scored in one inning for the Wildcats to put the game out of reach for the Tigers.
In Saturday’s nightcap, the Tigers hosted Stanford, whose 19-4 record trumped Mizzou’s substantially despite sitting just outside of the top-25. At the end of the night, however, the Tigers would end up finishing the game on the losing end once again, losing by a final score of 7-4 in eight innings.
The first four innings would be rather uneventful until back-to-back home runs from Kendyll Bailey and Hatti Moore cracked the game open for the Tigers. It looked to be a good sign from a squad that had been quiet on offense building up to that point.
Missouri took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth, which would hold strong until the top of the sixth when Stanford answered with a three-run frame of their own, initiating a reaction from the Mizzou pitching staff, sending in Megan Schumacher. Schumacher was able to close out the inning and complete an unscathed seventh.
But in the eighth inning when Stanford was able to score four runs, just as Northwestern was able to, to put the Tigers down right away. Schumacher would end up earning all four runs in the eighth, and the offense would only be able to earn one back as freshman Kara Daly sent one out for a home run.
Following Saturday’s 0-2 performance, Missouri was matched up with Ball State with the chance to redeem themselves against the 6-15 Cardinals. Neither team had won a game in the tournament up until this point, so it looked like a good opportunity for the Tigers to grab a crucial win in their four-game Mizzou Tournament slate.
Once again, the offense looked dry and incompatible compared to their outstanding performance in the Mizzou Classic just two weeks earlier. Missouri would lose against Ball State, 4-3, and fall to 0-3 in the tournament ahead of its rematch with Stanford.
It appeared that it wouldn’t be too rough of a game for the Missouri offense, as they were able to tack two runs on the board in the first inning after four straight singles allowed Jenna Laird and Kimberly Wert to cross home plate and give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
Jordan Weber was given the ball to start the game for the Mizzou, and she was able to hold the Cardinals scoreless for the first two innings. That trend ended in the third inning when Haley Wynn sent a ball to deep right field to tie the game at 2-2.
Weber allowed a number of hits in this game, but it wasn’t until the sixth inning that it truly came back to bite her. With the Tigers leading 3-2, Kaitlyn Mathews sent a ball into the hole in left center that scored a walked runner, and Mathews would eventually cross the plate herself to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead that Mizzou couldn’t battle back from, eventually losing at the death with two runners stranded in the seventh.
“We let Ball State control the tempo,” said coach Larissa Anderson. “We have to recognize the pitches that we want to hit and put a good swing on a good pitch, and we’re going to hit the ball a lot harder.”
In the last game of the Mizzou Tournament, Missouri battled Stanford in a rematch of the Saturday night extra-inning duel in which Stanford pulled away. This time, it was the Tigers’ turn to take the Cardinal to the shed, as both sides of the ball found themselves dominating Stanford. The final score of 5-0 told an important story: if the Tigers can’t put up staggering batting numbers, the pitchers will have to step up and compete. Laurin Krings did just that.
In the first inning, the Tigers were able to put up a two-spot on offense when Alex Honnold looped a hit just barely over the Stanford shortstop’s head with the bases loaded to send two runners home and give Mizzou the early lead. Between Krings’ five strikeouts in the first two innings, Missouri came out firing and put the Cardinal on edge early.
The next run for either side wouldn’t come until the fifth inning when junior Megan Moll plastered a solo home run down the left field line to add to Mizzou’s lead, which then stood at 3-0. This prompted the first of two pitching changes for the Cardinal. The next inning, it would be Alex Honnold’s turn to get in on the action once again as she lifted a two-run home run to left center field to make the score 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth.
“We got lucky with Alex Honnold’s bloop to be able to score two runs,” said Anderson, “... but you don’t have that opportunity if you don’t put people on base. Looking at [Saturday], we scored runs on home runs and didn’t manufacture many runs. We weren’t having multiple base hits and getting runners in scoring position.”
Krings would add one more strikeout to her daily total, finishing with eight, and put away a double play to cap off her complete-game shutout as the Tigers were able to get their first and only win of the tournament, 5-0 over the Cardinal.
“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of work to do.” Moll said. “But, this is a really good feeling. Really good energy, good vibes. It’ll be a work week.”
Missouri is next in action on Wednesday, March 23 against the Western Illinois Leathernecks at 4:30 p.m. at Mizzou Softball Stadium. The Leathernecks, currently 4-19, pose as a great opportunity for the Tigers to hone their bats before heading to Oxford, Miss. next weekend for the first away SEC series against Ole Miss.
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