There was a short turnaround from Missouri softball’s home opener to its doubleheader as the Tigers continued their opening weekend with two strong games. Opening with Bradley, Missouri fought off an early drought to win 10-1 in six innings, hitting three home runs in the process and displaying more pitching prowess with Laurin Krings’ 14 strikeouts, which tied a career-high.
The Tigers were then tasked with a rematch against St. Thomas less than a day after their 13-0 win over the Tommies. Missouri crushed St. Thomas offensively, scoring six in the first inning along and rolling to an 11-0 win in the second game of the doubleheader. The Tigers would hit seven home runs in the game, setting a record for the most home runs hit in a game in program history. The two wins allowed Missouri to climb to 15-4 on the season.
Against Bradley, the Missouri bats proved strong early as singles from Kara Daly and Alex Honnold scored two runs in the opening frame. Opening up the game with two runs is always a plus, but it turned sour quickly as the Tigers then went ten straight hitters without putting a runner on base, with the trend pushing all the way until the start of the fifth inning.
Laurin Krings made her presence known early on, as her eight strikeouts in the first three innings powered her way to a total of 14 strikeouts in the game, tying her career-high that was set in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic against Texas Tech in a complete game 2-1 win. The only downside of Krings’ game was a solo home run to left center and a leadoff triple for Bradley’s Grace French that Krings was able to hold off of the board.
“It feels great they work so hard behind me, and then they go up to the plate and put up huge numbers,” Krings said. “It just takes a lot of pressure off of me. I'm trying my best to get us back to where we were last year and further.”
At that point, the Tigers had apparently grown tired of offensive dormancy. Riley Frizell, who started the game at first base, cranked a solo shot to deep center field to extend the Mizzou lead to two runs. It wouldn’t stop there, however, as Brooke Wilmes and Casidy Chaumont would reach second and third respectively. Kimberly Wert grounded to the shortstop, who elected to throw home. The catcher didn’t get the tag down in time, and the Tigers got a run.
Not long after, Kara Daly would assert herself in the form of her second home run of the tournament to score Wilmes. The lead, now 6-1, was only extended in the sixth inning, as a wild pitch, a Chaumont single, and a powerful two-run shot down the right field line for Wilmes would end the game via run-rule. Both Wilmes and Wert now rank in the school's all-time top ten in home runs.
In the second game, a rematch against St. Thomas, it would take the Tigers little time to get started. After Jordan Weber began the game with two strikeouts, the Tigers scored six runs before even recording an out. At the end of the first inning, Missouri had taken a 6-0 lead and stolen any bit of momentum that St. Thomas had entering the game.
It would be a story of the long ball in this game, as seven different Tigers hit home runs in the five-inning run-rule win. Brooke Wilmes, Kara Daly, Alex Honnold, Kendyll Bailey, Kimberly Wert, Hatti Moore, and Julia Crenshaw all hit home runs in the game, setting a school record for the most home runs hit in a single game.
Daly’s home run against St. Thomas was her third in as many games of the Mizzou Tournament. Wert elaborated on the presence of strong underclassmen:
“It's amazing because honestly, we're obviously getting older. It's almost our time to go. So, seeing then build off of what we've already created is the best feeling in the world.”
Wert’s home run in the second inning moved her into second all-time for home runs in a Missouri Tiger softball career with 46. With one more, she would move into a tie for first.
“I had no idea. I know my job on this team is to hit the ball very far,” Wert said. “Obviously, I don't run fast. So my job is to hit it far so I don't have to. That's my goal. See the ball, hit it hard.”
After Weber’s shutdown first inning, head coach Larissa Anderson elected to send in Megan Schumacher to pitch the second inning and kept her in for the rest of the game. Schumacher finished with a win two earned runs, both coming in the fifth inning following a full rotation of position players. The win improved Schumacher’s record to 3-1 for the campaign.
Missouri has now completed three of its four games in the Mizzou Tournament, with one more remaining against Bradley on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Anderson previewed the matchup saying, “My gut instinct usually tells me what to do, but right now, I said to my staff, like, ‘Do you think I'm crazy if I wanted to start Emma tomorrow?,’ and the response was ‘No, I think it's great.’ So, that's what I'm going with right now. Tomorrow might be different, but as of right now, I'd love to give Emma Nichols a start.”
Nichols, a junior from Hillsboro, Mo. has made six appearances in relief but is yet to start a game this year. The appearance, a rematch with the Bradley Braves, provides a great opportunity to make her first start of the season. Her last appearance came in a relief win over San Diego State in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
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