No. 12/12 Softball Edges Kansas City, 3-0, Wednesday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The No. 12/12 University of Missouri softball team (18-2) defeated Kansas City (6-15), 3-0, Wednesday afternoon at the Kansas City Royals Urban Youth Academy. 

The 18-2 start to the 2024 season is the best start for Missouri since the Tigers opened the 2013 campaign 22-2 en route to a 38-14 finish. 

The Tigers were led by a strong pitching performance from sophomore Cierra Harrison Wednesday. The 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. 

Harrison and Kansas City’s Camryn Stickel did not allow a single hit through the first three innings, as the game started as a pitcher’s duel. 

The Tigers seemed to gain momentum in the fourth as senior Jenna Laird doubled to lead off before Mizzou loaded the bases, but Stickel was able to escape unscathed. 

Kansas City then recorded its first hit of the day in the bottom half of the fourth as Katie Noble hit a single up the middle. Harrison retired the first 11 batters she saw before the KC knock. She would wrap the inning with a strikeout. 

Both pitchers continued to stay in command until the top of the sixth when senior Alex Honnold tripled to center field. Junior Julia Crenshaw then drove her in for the Tigers’ first run of the game with an RBI single. 

Maddie Gallagher then belted a two-run homer, putting the Tigers up 3-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth. 

Harrison then closed out the game, allowing zero hits over the final two innings. She struck out a pair before a flyout in the sixth before utilizing her defense for three-straight outs in the seventh. 

NOTES

• Cierra Harrison recorded a career-best 10 strikeouts in the complete-game shutout victory.
• Cierra Harrison, a Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native, held the Roos to just two hits, allowing zero earned runs.
• Cierra Harrison recorded her second complete-game shutout of the season after throwing a no-hitter against Texas A&M-Commerce on Feb. 16.
• Cierra Harrison improved to 6-0 in 2024 and is now 2-0 in her career against Kansas City as she also picked up the midweek win in 2023, allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts over five innings. 
• Alex Honnold pushed her hitting streak to 12 games with a triple (first in 2024) in the sixth. She finished Wednesday, 1-for-2 with a run and a walk.
• Maddie Gallagher extended her reached base streak to 14 games with a walk in the fourth and tallied her third career home run (first in 2024) in the bottom of the sixth. 
• Maddie Gallagher concluded the game 1-for-2 with two RBI, a home run and a run. It marked her third multi-RBI game of the season. 
• 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. 
• The midweek win is the first for Mizzou in 2024.  
• Missouri now leads the all-time series with Kansas City, 55-1. 
• Head coach Larissa Anderson improves to 5-0 against the Roos.

LOOKING AHEAD  

• Mizzou next returns to Columbia, Missouri, for its 2024 home opening/SEC opening weekend series against No. 25/25 Auburn Friday through Sunday at the Mizzou Softball Stadium. The three-game series will be available on SEC Network+. 

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

• For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouSoftball (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).