No. 11/11 Softball Heads to Illinois for Wednesday Braggin’ Rights Doubleheader

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 11/11 University of Missouri softball team (20-3, 2-1 SEC) hits the road this week, traveling to Illinois (7-9) for Wednesday’s midweek Braggin’ Rights doubleheader before closing the week with a three-game conference series at No. 8/9 Tennessee (18-4, 0-0 SEC) Friday through Sunday. 

Wednesday’s pair of games are slated for 1 p.m., CT and 3:30 p.m., CT at Eichelberger Field in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. 

The Tigers weekend matchup in Knoxville, Tennessee, against the No. 8/9 Vols features three games on Friday (5 p.m., CT), Saturday (1 p.m., CT) and Sunday (12:30 p.m., CT) at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

The three-game series will be available on SEC Network+ with Zack Nelson (play-by-play) and Faith Cain (analyst) on the broadcast. 

Mizzou enters the week on the heels of its first SEC series win over #25/25 Auburn, claiming a pair of victories over the visiting Tigers to open the 2024 home slate at Mizzou Softball Stadium. 

Missouri began the 2024 campaign 10-0 and notched perfect preseason tournament weekends three out of the four times. 

The Tigers 20-3 record is the best start for Missouri since the Tigers opened the 2013 campaign 22-2 en route to a 38-14 finish. 

Mizzou is ranked in all four polls heading into the weekend after first appearing following week one (Feb. 13). The Tigers enter the fifth week of the season #11 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, and ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. Mizzou is also #11 and #12 in the Softball America and D1Softball polls, respectively.

WEEK SCHEDULE

• #11/11 Missouri vs. Illinois, Wednesday, March 13 at 1 p.m., CT | Eichelberger Field
• #11/11 Missouri vs. Illinois, Wednesday, March 13 at 3:30 p.m., CT | Eichelberger Field
• #11/11 Missouri vs. #8/9 Tennessee, Friday, March 15 at 5 p.m., CT | Sherri Parker Lee Stadium
• #11/11 Missouri vs. #8/9 Tennessee, Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m., CT | Sherri Parker Lee Stadium
• #11/11 Missouri vs. #8/9 Tennessee, Sunday, March 17 at 12:30 p.m., CT | Sherri Parker Lee Stadium

AT ILLINOIS

Location: Urbana-Champaign, Ill. (Eichelberger Field)

Live Stats: Illinois (Game 1) | Illinois (Game 2)

Live Video: Big Ten Network+ 

Game 1 | Game 2 

AT TENNESSEE

Location: Knoxville, Tenn. (Sherri Parker Lee Stadium)

Live Stats: Tennessee (FRI) | Tennessee (SAT) | Tennessee (SUN)

Live Video: SEC Network+

Tennessee (FRI) | Tennessee (SAT) | Tennessee (SUN)

Twitter: @MizzouSoftball

Notes: Missouri

ILLINOIS SERIES HISTORY

• The Tigers lead the overall series against the Fighting Illini, 14-4. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 6-1 in her career against Illinois. 
• During the 2023 campaign, Missouri pulled off a doubleheader sweep over Illinois at Mizzou Softball Stadium on March 14. The Tigers defeated the Illini 3-2 in the opener, before taking Game 2 of the doubleheader 7-0. 
• Mizzou last faced off with Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, during the 2022 campaign, as the Tigers took a pair of games off Illinois, coming away with 7-6 (eight innings) and 10-2 (five innings) victories on March 16.  

TENNESSEE SERIES HISTORY

• Missouri trails in the all-time series record with Tennessee, 8-12. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 4-5 in her career against the Vols. 
• Mizzou most recently beat Tennessee, 3-0, on May 13, 2022, to advance to the 2022 SEC Tournament Championship game.
• In the pair’s most recent series in 2022, the Tigers dropped a doubleheader to the Vols at Mizzou Softball Complex on March 13. The Tigers fell 14-3 in six innings, before coming up just short 5-4 to close the series. 
• In Mizzou’s last trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, the Tigers came away with a series-win over the Vols. After dropping its first game, 4-0 (May 7, 2021), the Tigers racked up two wins (7-4, May 13, 2021, and 5-3, May 13, 2021) to secure the series. 

AUBURN RECAP

• Missouri captured its first 2024 SEC series-win over Auburn, securing a 5-2 victory in the opener on March 8, followed by a 5-0 win in game two on March 9. The Tigers closed out their opening weekend at Mizzou Softball Stadium on March 10, coming up short 4-0 against Auburn.
• Laurin Krings notched her 500th strikeout in her career as a Tiger in Friday’s (March 8) contest. She ranks eighth in Mizzou program history with 509 strikeouts behind Jen Bruck (05-08) with 519.
• Laurin Krings notched her seventh complete game of the season in the victory. She allowed two hits and two runs, while striking out nine.  
• Kara Daly and Julia Crenshaw (first of the season) each launched home runs, respectively, in Friday’s contest (March 8). With the pair of homers, Missouri tied its season-high two home runs in a game, a mark the Tigers have reached four times in 2024. 
• Kara Daly hit her third home run of the season, tying Katie Chester for the team lead. Daly went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run March 8. 
• Cierra Harrison logged an impressive performance in the circle on March 9, notching her third complete-game shutout of the season, second-straight of the week. Harrison tallied nine strikeouts while allowing no runs, five hits and a walk.
• Chantice Phillips added a home run for Mizzou in Game 2 of the series on March 10, marking her second homer of 2024 (matched 2023 career-high).
• Jenna Laird led the way for Mizzou at the plate on March 10, logging a 2-for-2 performance to extend her hitting streak to seven games, dating back to March 2 against Nebraska (March 10). She hit .444 over the opening SEC series. 
• Kayley Lenger notched a .429 batting average over the SEC opening series with a .571 slugging percentage. 
• Maddie Gallagher extended her reached-base streak to 15 games (snapped on March 9) in the SEC opener on March 8.
• Taylor Pannell picked up three strikeouts in the finale on March 10 over 1.2 innings of work.
• Mya Dodge (1-for-1) has notched a hit in each of her last two appearances. She registered a single in the seventh of the finale on March 10 after coming on as a defensive replacement in left. 
• Mizzou recorded a season-best attendance of 2,222 fans in the win on March 9.
• The Tigers then surpassed 2,000 plus fans in attendance for the second-straight game with 2,086 in attendance on March 10. 
• Missouri now sits at 4-2 against top-25 foes in 2024. 
• After March 10’s game, Mizzou’s all-time record against Auburn moved to 13-13. The series win marked the first for Missouri over Auburn since 2021.

MIDWEEK RECAP

• Mizzou picked up its first midweek win of the season with a 3-0 decision over Kansas City on March 6.
• Cierra Harrison, a Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native, held the Roos to just two hits, allowing zero earned runs and throwing a career-best 10 strikeouts in her backyard. Harrison also recorded her second complete-game shutout of the season.
• Maddie Gallagher tallied her third career home run (first in 2024), a two-run blast, in the bottom of the sixth. 
• Julia Crenshaw was 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, and a stolen base.  
• Mya Dodge (pinch hit, 1-for-1) and Jenna Laird (1-for-4, double) also each had a hit in the win. 

QUICK HITTERS

• The Tigers head into the second week of SEC play with a 20-3 record (2-1 SEC). 
• The Tigers 20-3 record is the best start for Missouri since the Tigers opened the 2013 campaign 22-2 en route to a 38-14 finish. 
• Mizzou is ranked in all four polls heading into the weekend after first appearing following week one (Feb. 13). The Tigers enter the fifth week of the season #11 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, and ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. Mizzou is also #11 and #12 in the Softball America and D1Softball polls, respectively.
• Missouri is ranked sixth (third highest SEC school) in this week’s RPI (Ratings Power Index).
• Alex Honnold has registered a team-best hitting streak of 12 games.
• Maddie Gallagher has registered a team-best 15 game reached base streak. She ranks eighth in the SEC with a .514 on-base percentage to go with six doubles.
• Jenna Laird is currently on a nine-game reached base streak (seven-game hitting streak).
• The one-two punch of Laurin Krings and Cierra Harrison have combined for 15 wins in the circle with 8-3 and 7-0 records, respectively. 
• Alex Honnold paces the Tigers with a .403 batting average in the two-hole to go with 21 runs, 16 RBI, 10 doubles (first in SEC) and a .653 slugging percentage. 
• Along with Honnold, five Tigers are batting over .300 in Jenna Laird (.397, 28 runs, 11 RBI), Maddie Gallagher (.327, six doubles, 12 RBI, 15 runs), Katie Chester (.313, team-high three home runs, 17 RBI, .563 slugging percentage) and nine-hole hitter Kayley Lenger (.343, .543 slugging percentage).
• Mya Dodge is six runs away from 100 in her collegiate career.
• Jenna Laird (99) Alex Honnold (97) are both knocking on the door of 100 career RBI.
• Laurin Krings is two wins away from 50 in her career at Mizzou. With 51 wins, she will enter the program’s top 10. 

FIRST SEC SERIES-WIN     

• Missouri captured its first SEC series win of the 2024 campaign, getting past Auburn, 2-1, this past weekend. 
• Friday’s (March 8) Game 1 victory marked the Tigers’ first SEC opener win since 2021, when MU conquered No. 19/20 Georgia on the road (March 8, 2021). 
• With the series win, the Tigers’ claimed their first SEC opening series victory since a 3-0 home sweep of Ole Miss in 2020 (March 10, 2020). 

HEY HONNOLD!!    

• Alex Honnold batted .300 (.600 slugging percentage and .417 on-base percentage) with three runs, three hits, and an RBI last week over Missouri’s opening SEC series against Auburn and midweek with Kansas City. 
• On March 9 in Game 2, Honnold went 2-for-3 at the plate against Auburn, tallying an RBI and a double.
• With the two hits, the senior from West Des Moines, Iowa, extended her reached base streak to 14 consecutive games (tied for second on team in 2024, snapped on March 10). 
• Honnold is also three RBI away from 100 in her career at Mizzou.
• So far on the season, Honnold leads the way for Missouri, averaging .403, while logging a .653 slugging percentage and .476 on-base percentage to go with 29 hits (seventh in the SEC), 10 doubles and two home runs. 
• She leads the conference with 10 doubles (11th in the NCAA, 0.43 doubles/game). Mizzou as a team is second in the SEC for doubles (41, 1.78 doubles/game). 
• Honnold also ranks 13th for toughest to strikeout (18.2) in the SEC.

OUR LEADOFF HITTER

• Jenna Laird logged an impressive performance at the plate this weekend, going 4-for-9, while batting .444 and logging a .500 on-base percentage over the opening SEC series with #25/25 Auburn. 
• On March 9, Laird finished 1-for-3 with a run and a stolen base. 
• After finishing 2-for-2 and reaching based on a hit by pitch on March 10, Laird extended her hitting streak to seven games dating back to March 2 against Nebraska. 
• The game also marked Laird’s first perfect performance at the plate this season. For Laird, this is the sixth time she has achieved the flawless feat (with at least two at bats) in her career. 
• The senior also extended her reached-base streak to nine games this weekend, logging her ninth multi-hit game of the 2024 campaign on March 10.
• Laird opened the week with a 1-for-4 outing at Kansas City, knocking a double. 
• The senior from East Meadow, New York, is second on the team in 2024 with a .397 batting average with 27 hits (10th in the SEC), 28 runs (1.22 runs/game, fourth in SEC, 13th in the NCAA). 
• On the basepaths, Laird is sixth in the SEC with 10 stolen bases (0.43 stolen bases/game, eighth in the SEC). 

THE COLUMBIA KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

• A pair of Columbia, Missouri, natives made their home debuts at Mizzou Softball Stadium in Columbia, Missouri, this past weekend against Auburn. 
• Marissa McCann, made her first career appearance in the circle at Mizzou Softball Stadium on March 10. McCann surrendered one run on three hits in 1.1 innings of work. 
• First baseman Abby Hay also logged her first career appearance at Mizzou Softball Stadium, picking up her first career start March 10, appearing at first. 

LENGER IN THE NINE-HOLE

• Kayley Lenger notched a productive weekend at the plate, putting up three hits, a double and tallying a run. Lenger averaged .429 over the SEC weekend series, going 3-for-7 (.571 slugging percentage and .429 on-base percentage). 
• The sophomore nine-hole hitter tied her career-high two hits (2-for-3) during Friday’s win on March 8. Lenger previously posted the mark against Wichita State on March 2. 
• Lenger also added a double on March 9 to help the Tigers clinch the series over Auburn.
• Lenger ranks third in the SEC with 0.32 hit by pitches per game.  
• She is third on the team with a .343 batting average (.543 slugging percentage, .511 on-base percentage). 

PHILLIPS WITH THE LONG BALL 

• Chantice Phillips went 2-for-8 on the weekend with three RBI and a home run in Missouri’s series-win over Auburn. 
• The senior from Kansas City, Missouri, notched her second homer of the season on March 9 to match her career high set in 2023.
• The blast marked Phillips’ fourth career home run.
• She also finished 1-for-3 in the March 9 contest, logging a season-best three RBI. 
• Phillips also launched a home run in Mizzou’s previous contest against Nebraska (March 2).

CIERRA IN THE CIRCLE

• Cierra Harrison registered two complete-game shutouts to go 2-0 this past week. Harrison pitched 14.0 innings, allowing no runs on seven hits with 19 strikeouts over the week. She limited opposing hitters to a batting average of .143. 
• Harrison, a Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native, held Kansas City to just two hits, allowing zero earned runs and throwing a career-best 10 strikeouts in her backyard during the midweek (March 6) for the complete-game shutout.
• Shen then posted her second-straight complete-game shutout of the week in her 2024 SEC debut against No. 25/25 Auburn on March 9. Harrison limited the visiting Tigers to no runs on five hits with nine strikeouts. 
• In 2024, Harrison paces Mizzou with a 7-0 record, a 1.10 ERA and three complete-game shutouts.
• Harrison currently ranks eighth in the SEC for ERA and eighth in the conference with 3.58 hits allowed per seven innings. She is also eighth in the league with 1.37 walks allowed per seven innings. 

KRINGS ON A TEAR 

• Senior ace Laurin Krings put in some work in the circle this weekend, pitching 11 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits to go with 12 strikeouts.
• Krings notched her 500th strikeout in her career in Friday’s win over No. 25/25 Auburn on March 8.
• The senior recorded nine strikeouts, and now has 509 in her career. Krings sits eighth for career strikeouts in program history behind Jen Bruck (05-08) with 519.
• Krings also did not allow a hit to the first 12 Auburn batters she faced, recording four strikeouts in that span during the SEC opener on March 8.
• With the win, she notched her eighth win of the season (8-3) with her seventh complete game.
• Krings ranks fifth in the SEC for wins and sixth for innings pitched (62.2) this season. 
• She has registered 57 strikeouts over 62.2 innings with a 1.90 ERA.

2023 RECAP 

• Mizzou made its 16th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023.
• The Tigers finished the 2023 season with a 35-26 mark, including a 7-17 in SEC play. With its 2023 record, Missouri has registered 35 wins in four of the last five seasons (2020 COVID-19 shortened season was the only time the Tigers didn’t meet the threshold in that span).
• During the 2023 campaign, Missouri totaled 51 home runs, while logging 75 doubles to go with 310 runs as a team. 
• On the dirt, Mizzou tallied a .978 fielding percentage. The clip ranks second in program history, after the Tigers’ surpassed their previous .976 fielding percentage from 2022. 

LOOKING AHEAD  

• Mizzou next heads to Lawrence, Kansas, for a midweek matchup against Kansas on March 20. The contest will commence at 5 p.m., CT. The Tigers will then return home, hosting LSU for a three-game series March 22-24 at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.