Tigers Softball Splits Final Day of NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic Sunday to Open Season with 3-2 Record

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The No. 23 University of Missouri Softball (3-2) split its pair of games to wrap up the 2023 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic Sunday at the Eddie C. Moore Complex. The Tigers run ruled Prairie View A&M (0-5), 11-0, in five innings before falling to Louisville (4-1), 4-0. 

Missouri and Louisville resumed their game initially started on Saturday that was postponed due to rain and lightning. 

Jenna Laird was named to the 2023 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team for her performance over the three-day Classic. 

Laird, a junior from East Meadow, New York, hit .500, starting in all five games for the Tigers at shortstop. She also had a .667 slugging percentage and was 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts. 

No. 23 Missouri 11, Prairie View A&M 0 

The Tigers scored in four of the five innings Sunday afternoon against Prairie View A&M as Missouri picked up an 11-0 victory. 

Mizzou scored three in the first, two in the second, one in the third, and five in the fifth to secure the run-rule win. 

Freshman Cierra Harrison earned the win in the circle, allowing just one hit over four innings. Harrison, a Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native, posted seven strikeouts Sunday. 

For Harrison, the win was her second of the 2023 season. 

Taylor Pannell, a lefthanded freshman pitcher also from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, retired the final three batters of the game, notching a pair of strikeouts. 

Riley Frizell opened the scoring with a RBI groundout to score Jenna Laird who led off with a single to center.

Vanessa Hollingsworth then notched an infield single to bring home Alex Honnold who picked up her first of three walks in the first inning Sunday. 

Chantice Phillips then tagged home on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 3-0. She came aboard on a walk before advancing to second on Hollingsworth’s base hit. 

Kara Daly then commenced the second stanza with a walk and made it home on an Addie Lange RBI single to right. 

Lange would then benefit from a Tigers double steal as she touched home while Honnold beat the throw at second. 

Hollingworth then increased the edge to 6-0, scoring on a wild pitch in the third. 

Mizzou sealed the victory with a five-run fifth.

Maddie Snider drew a bases loaded walk before consecutive RBI singles from Maddie Gallagher and Laird increased the margin to 9-0.

Honnold’s RBI walk pushed the lead to 10-0 and Laird capped the scoring on a passed ball. 

NOTES

• Jenna Laird (2-for-4), Vanessa Hollingsworth (2-for-2, career high) and Addie Lange (2-for-2, career high) each had two hits in the Sunday opener. 
• Jenna Laird, Vanessa Hollingsworth, Addie Lange, and Riley Frizell each posted a RBI. 
• Ten Tigers scored Sunday against Prairie View A&M. 
• Alex Honnold drew three walks while the Tigers totaled eight on the day. 
• Maddie Snider tallied her first RBI and run against Prairie View A&M.
• Katie Chester knocked her second hit in a Tigers uniform and scored her first run at Mizzou against Prairie View A&M.
• Maddie Gallagher was 2-for-2 hitting at the 2023 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic.
• Cierra Harrison improved to 2-0 in 2023 with the win. She let up just two hits over eight innings (0.00 ERA) at the Classic with 14 strikeouts. 
• Pitcher Taylor Pannell made her Tigers debut in the final inning.
• The run-rule win was the second for the Tigers in 2023. 

Louisville 4, No. 23 Missouri 0

Mizzou then fell to Louisville, 4-0, in a continuation of Saturday’s weather and lightning delayed game. 

The Cardinals had a 2-0 lead through three innings before the game was postponed on Saturday afternoon. Daisy Hess and Taylor Roby knocked consecutive RBI doubles to provide Louisville the early advantage. 

Louisville then added runs in the fourth and fifth as the game resumed Sunday afternoon. 

Ally Alexander had a RBI single in the fourth before Korbe Otis legged out an inside the park home run in the fifth. 

NOTES

• Julia Crenshaw paced the Tigers with two hits (2-for-3) while Jenna Laird also registered a hit (double) against Louisville. 
• Jordan Weber was assessed the loss, pitching 2.2 innings while allowing two runs on five hits. She had two strikeouts.
• Megan Schumacher came on in relief for her second appearance in 2023. She totaled three strikeouts, while surrendering two runs on four hits in the final 3.1 innings. 

UP NEXT

Following Mizzou’s season-opening NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic, the Tigers will stay in the Sunshine State. Missouri will face UCF in midweek action on Wednesday in Orlando, Florida, before trekking to Miami, Florida, for the Florida International Panther Invitational Feb. 17-19. 

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