No. 14 Softball Shuts Out No. 18 Mississippi State Saturday

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 14/14 University of Missouri softball team (36-13, 9-10 SEC) opened its series with No. 18/18 Mississippi State (30-15, 9-10 SEC) with a 4-0 victory Saturday night at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.

The victory makes MU 36-16 (9-10 SEC) in 2024, and the Bulldogs drop to 30-15 (9-10 SEC) for their campaign.

Laurin Krings earned the complete-game shutout victory in the circle, fanning five and not allowing an extra-base hit. MSU never managed multiple runners on base in the contest.

Freshman Abby Hay set the pace for Missouri offensively, finishing the day 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Senior Jenna Laird went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and came around to score.

Krings would shut down Mississippi State to open the game, coaxing three quick outs in the first frame Saturday.

Mizzou then capitalized in the bottom of the frame, as Hay knocked an RBI single into left field which, thanks to an error, plated seniors Alex Honnold and Maddie Gallagher for the early 2-0 lead.

Krings remained locked in, allowing just one hit through the first three innings. In the top of the fourth, the Loveland, Colorado, native, fanned the side as Mizzou held onto their two-run advantage.

Hay would bring in another run in the bottom of the fifth, as an RBI fielder’s choice scored Laird and widened the MU lead to three.

Laird pushed another run across in the sixth, as an RBI double in shallow center field brought senior Chantice Phillips home from second and pushed Mizzou ahead 4-0.

In the seventh, Krings shut down the side, forcing two groundouts before sophomore Kayley Lenger secured a popup in right field to seal the win, and Krings’ first complete-game shutout of the season.

GAME NOTES

• Abby Hay extended her hitting streak to five consecutive games with a single in the first inning. She finished a career-best matching 2-for-3 with two RBI.
• Abby Hay tallied her fourth multi-hit game in a row and third multi-RBI performance.
• Abby Hay has recorded an RBI in back-to-back contests for the first time in her career.
• With two RBI’s, Abby Hay becomes the ninth Tiger to tally double-digit (10) RBI in 2024.
• Abby Hay has now posted six career-best two hit outings in her freshman campaign.
• Jenna Laird went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI for her team-leading 17th multi-hit game of the season.
• Laurin Krings has recorded a punchout in each of her last 52 appearances with her fourth-inning strikeout.
• Laurin Krings made her 123rd career appearance, matching Madi Norman (2016-19) for eighth in Mizzou program history.
• Laurin Krings earned her first complete-game shutout of 2024 and now has 36 complete games and 14 shutouts in her career.
• Laurin Krings improved to 11-7 in 2024, surrendering three hits with no runs (0 earned runs), five strikeouts and a walk over 7.0 innings Saturday.
• Laurin Krings picked up her eighth complete game of the season.
• Laurin Krings earned her 51st career win and now ranks tied for 10th in Mizzou program history.
• Alex Honnold extended her hitting streak to five games with a single in the fifth. She finished Saturday 1-for-3 with a run and a stolen base.  
• Maddie Gallagher (1-for-3, run) and Stefania Abruscato (1-for-3) each added hits.
• Claire Cahalan tallied her second stolen base of her freshman campaign.
• Mizzou picked up its ninth shutout of the season and second in SEC play after last earning the feat against Auburn on March 8.
• The Tigers move to 26-1 when they limit their opponents to two or fewer runs.
• Mizzou leads the all-time series with Mississippi State, 13-9.
• Head coach Larissa Anderson is 6-5 against the Bulldogs in her career.

LOOKING AHEAD

• Mizzou continues its SEC series against Mississippi State Sunday at 5 p.m. CT, before wrapping the three-game set Monday evening at 6 p.m., CT
• Next weekend, the Tigers travel to Columbia, South Carolina, to take on the Gamecocks for a three-game series, May 3-5.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

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