A bushy tail popped out of Missouri’s dugout on Saturday afternoon in celebration of freshman Trenity Edwards’ two-run single.
The tail belonged to a stuffed squirrel on a bat, and the bat had a picture taped to the top of it, something to designate that the squirrel wasn’t just a squirrel.
A “squiger,” they called it. A squirrel with tiger colors. It sounds just as bizarre as it looks.
Players passed the squiger and its bat around the dugout as they cheered during Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of Arkansas Pine-Bluff, swinging it around and showing it off to the fans at Mizzou Stadium. But when asked about it after the game, players went mute.
“It’s a team thing,” Edwards said.
Edwards did offer a few more details: The team has a few different stuffed squirrels and pictures of squirrels taped to bats. Edwards also said that Saturday was the squiger’s debut.
Beyond that, though, not even the team spokesman is allowed to know the meaning behind it.
“We’ll just keep confusing people,” freshman Kara Decker said.
Whatever the meaning is, it seemed to propel the players on Saturday. Missouri (28-24, 6-14 SEC) swept Arkansas-Pine Bluff (15-26, 12-8 SWAC) 10-0 (six innings) and 2-0. The Tigers were supposed to have the weekend off, but they cancelled their mid-week doubleheader against Wichita State, who is receiving votes in the latest rankings, and added Saturday’s instead.
In Game 1, Missouri pitcher Lauren Rice effectively shut down any Golden Lion offense while the Tiger bats exploded. Rice had a no-hitter until the top of the fifth inning, when she allowed a base hit to left field. Missouri recorded 13 hits and three home runs from Regan Nash, Kolby Romaine and Decker, who blasted it over center field for the walk-off win.
Decker, along with Abby George, Gabby Garrison and former Rock Bridge High School standout Delaney McDannold, all saw the field in the first game thanks to a 7-0 lead by the second inning.
“Really it takes the pressure off of you to get that playing time,” Decker, who has had 45 at-bats this year, said. “It’s softball, you do it every day.”
Game 2 was a bit slower on the offensive side but still effective thanks to Edwards’ RBI in the second inning. Madi Norman began in the circle for the Tigers and recorded six strikeouts in four innings.
With the two wins, the Tigers clinched a winning record in the regular season, even if they lose all three games to Florida next weekend in the last series before postseason play. A team must be over .500 to make the NCAA Tournament, so the two wins on Saturday were crucial for Missouri, even against a smaller team like Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“When a smaller team like that comes into your house, it’s their World Series,” interim head coach Gina Fogue said. “They want to beat you. In our case, it’s just as important for us. This is going to make us eligible, so we need to be aware of that and come out fired up.”
Edwards and Decker both said that the team didn’t talk about being eligible after the game, but it does take the pressure off.
“You can’t go out there and play with a burden on your shoulders thinking you have to win or you have to do this,” Edwards said. “Just go out there and play our game and let our game speak for itself.”
The Tigers needed to have today’s hitting efficiency under their belt in preparation for next weekend’s series. Florida’s Kelly Barnhill is one of the nation’s best pitchers with a 0.79 ERA, a 23-1 record and 52 hits in 160 innings pitched this year. No. 5 Florida (43-8, 16-4) comes to town a week before Missouri hosts SEC Tournament.
The Tigers sit at No. 12 in the SEC right now with a .300 conference percentage, tied with Mississippi State. Twelve teams make the conference tournament. Ole Miss is the last team in the standings, at 5-13 in the SEC.
If Missouri wins at least one against Florida, the Tigers should be playing at least one more weekend at their home field.
Although a conference tournament berth is in question, Missouri is No. 23 in RPI, a ranking system that takes strength of schedule into consideration. And now that the Tigers are officially eligible to make the NCAA Tournament, a regional berth seems likely with their RPI. Last year, all 13 SEC teams made an NCAA Regional. With how talented the conference is this year, the Tigers shouldn’t be ruled out.
Still, it would be difficult to not make the SEC Tournament — especially when hosting — and then have to play in the NCAA Regional. Simply put, the Tigers are going to need to play very well to beat Florida at least once next weekend.
“It takes a little bit of weight off your shoulders (being at .500), but every day you have to go out there and grind,” Edwards said. “Grinding like it’s not off of our shoulders, grinding like we still have to fight.”
