Mizzou softball finishes 5-0 weekend with huge win
The Missouri Tigers hosted their home invitational Thursday through Saturday, winning two games Thursday and two Saturday after their Friday night game had to be rescheduled due to major storms sweeping through Missouri.
Then the Tigers finished the weekend with a 17-0 drubbing of Kansas City on Sunday, extending the Tiger win streak to five, which puts the Tigers over .500 on the season at 16-13.
The Tiger bats were working from the get-go on Sunday as Julia Crenshaw walked and Stefania Abruscato sent a line drive into right-center field to bring her all the way around from first.
Then Taylor Ebbs followed with a triple to right-center field, scoring Abruscato before Kara Daly sent a sacrifice fly to center field to put the Tigers up 3-0.
“Anytime you can put up 17 runs, it’s always extremely impressive,” Missouri coach Larissa Anderson said.
Then the Tigers really got moving with an eight-run second inning, with all eight runs scoring with two outs.
Madison Uptegrove led off with a walk, then Claire Cahalan tried to bunt for a hit and the Kansas City third baseman couldn’t handle the ball, putting runners on the corners before Cahalan stole second.
Crenshaw walked to load the bases, then with two outs, Madison Walker was hit by a pitch to score Uptegrove, Ebbs sent a ground ball through the right side of the infield for two RBI, Daly doubled down the line in left for two RBI, Abby Hay walked and Uptegrove launched a home run to dead center field to put the Tigers ahead 11-0.
“The emphasis, really, since we’ve been home, has been quality at-bats, passing the bat, not trying to do too much,” Anderson said. “You can’t go up there trying to hit a home run every single time. If it’s a good pitch, put a good swing on a good pitch and have a quality at-bat.”
The bats stayed hot in the third as Cahalan and Sophie Smith both walked and moved to second and third on a wild pitch before Walker sent a soft line drive to right-center field for two RBI and Daly sent a home run to just in front of the new Rock M in center field.
“I felt pretty confident today,” Daly said. “Felt like I was seeing the ball really well. Just trying to keep it simple with this pitching, it’s just not trying to do too much. I was just trying to focus on line drives and it worked out that it went over the fence that time.”
The Tigers added two insurance runs in the fourth when Adi Koller singled, Jordyn Thurman doubled, Smith sent a sacrifice fly to center and Nevaeh Watkins singled to score Thurman for her first career hit.
The Tigers were able to get a number of young players into the game in the final two innings.
“Those people that are not in the starting lineup have worked justa s hard, if not harder, than a lot of our players,” Anderson said. “So knowing that they’re going to be called upon at any time, that’s what we talk about with our potential players.”
And while the Mizzou bats were rolling, the Tigers pitchers were cruising. Marissa McCann pitched the first three innings and allowed only one batter on a two-out walk in the first inning, while striking out five batters, all in the first two frames.
“She finished batters,” Anderson said. “That was the big thing that she was focusing on and how do we attack them and how do we be able to really capitalize on the opportunities.”
Taylor Pannell pitched the final two innings, allowing two hits and striking out three batters.
Ebbs and Daly both had two hits, while Abruscato, Watkins, Walker, Koller, Uptegrove and Thurman all had one.
Thursday
Game 1
The Tigers opened the Mizzou invitational with a five-inning 9-1 win against South Dakota State.
Missouri jumped out to a 7-0 run in the first with a Walker three-run homer, a Daly RBI double, an Uptegrove sacrifice fly and a Crenshaw double to score Cahalan.
Then Crenshaw hit a two-run home run in the third for the Tigers’ other runs.
Missouri had six total hits, two from Crenshaw and one each from Walker, Ebbs, Daly and Uptegrove.
Cierra Harrison threw a five-inning complete game, allowing one run on four hits and three walks, while striking out three.
Game 2
Then the Tigers beat Princeton 7-4, coming back from a 4-2 deficit after Princeton scored four runs in the top of the fourth.
Missouri scored two runs in the third to take the initial lead, then cut its deficit to 4-3 with a run in the fourth before tying the matchup with a run in the fifth.
Then a three-run sixth inning won the game for Missouri.
Abruscato had an RBI double and Walker hit a sacrifice fly to put Missouri in front in the third, then Hay doubled to score Lenger in the fourth and Walker launched a home run to left to tie the game in the fifth.
Hay hit a sacrifice fly to take the lead in the sixth, then an Uptegrove home run to left provided two insurance runs.
Missouri had 10 total hits, two each from Crenshaw and Lenger, then one a piece from Abruscato, Walker, Ebbs, Cahalan, Hay and Uptegrove.
Pannell got the start in the circle for Mizzou, throwing 3.1 innings and allowing four runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out five.
Nathalie Touchet pitched the next 1.2 innings, allowing three hits. McCann earned the win, pitching the final two frames and allowing just one walk, while striking out three.
Saturday
Game 1
After the game was pushed from Friday to Saturday morning, Missouri beat Michigan 7-3 after jumping ahead with a three-run first inning.
After Michigan took the initial lead with a run on a home run in the top of the first, Daly launched a three-run home run to left to put the Tigers in front for good.
Hay singled to score two runners in the third, then homered to right center to score two more in the fifth.
Missouri had nine hits, two each from Abruscato, Walker and Hay, while Ebbs, Daly and Cahalan all had one.
McCann pitched a complete game, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks, while striking out six.
Game 2
Finally, the Tigers completed the Mizzou Invitational with a 7-1 win against Quinnipiac.
Missouri scored three runs in the first on a Daly two-run double and a Cahalan bunt single, then added a run in the second on a Crenshaw home run, another in the third on an Ebbs home run and two more in the fourth on a Walker two-run bomb.
Missouri had eight hits with two from Daly and one each from Crenshaw, Walker, Ebbs, Hay, Cahalan and Lenger.
Harrison pitched the first five innings, allowing one run on three hits and two walks, while striking out eight. Courtney Donahue pitched the final two innings, striking out three batters and walking one.
Up next
Missouri (16-13, 0-3) will host Illinois at 3 p.m. Tuesday, then will return to SEC play by hosting Oklahoma at 5 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.
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