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Tigers drop regional opener

Friday night, while NBA fans were scanning channels amidst Cleveland’s 44-point route of the Boston Celtics (an apparent homage to the Boston Massacre), some may have come across the opening round of the College Softball World Series.​

The Missouri Tigers (29-27) opened their NCAA Regional round in Eugene, Oregon with a 7-2 loss against the No. 3 seeded Wisconsin Badgers.​

With senior ace Cheyenne Baxter in the circle, the Tigers quickly jumped ahead thanks to a first-inning RBI from senior catcher Kirsten Mack; her 14th in 15 postseason appearances.​

A two-run homer from Wisconsin’s Chloe Miller helped the Badgers take the lead in the top of the third, but Missouri’s Braxton Burnside tied the game at two with a groundout to second that scored Anna Reed.​

The game remained tied until the fifth inning.​

With a three-hit, three-run inning from the Badgers, Wisconsin took complete control of the game. In the middle of the inning, freshman Parker Conrad stepped into the circle to replace Baxter, who ended her night after giving up four hits, five runs, two walks and just two strikeouts.​

The Badgers would tack on two more runs in the seventh before the Tigers replaced Conrad with sophomore Danielle Baumgarter in the circle.​

In the bottom of the seventh, Missouri couldn’t make up for the five-run deficit, going down in order as the final out in Eugene was recorded.​

After accounting for just three hits against Wisconsin, the Tigers will now play an elimination game tonight at 6:30 p.m. CT against Illinois-Chicago in order to keep their hopes of advancing to Super Regional play.​

Kirsten Mack talked to the media after last night’s game about what she expects tonight.​

“All we can do is prep for our next opponent the best we can,” she said. “We need to reel off four straight wins now in order to advance out of this weekend. One game at a time and play to our best ability.”

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