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COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 25/23 University of Missouri Softball program (16-9) will take on Illinois (16-7) in a home doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at the Mizzou Softball Stadium. First pitch for Braggin’ Rights is set for 1 p.m., CT and the second game will follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opener.
The Tigers are currently ranked in three polls including No. 25 by USA Today/NFCA, No. 23 by ESPN/USA Softball and No. 25 by Softball America.
Tuesday’s game will be broadcasted on SEC Network+. The game will also be on ESPN 100.5/105.1 KTGR with Andy Humphrey and Aidan O’Connor on the radio broadcast.
Illinois
vs. No. 25/23 Missouri
Game Information
Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Venue: Mizzou Softball Stadium
Location: Columbia, Mo.
First Pitch: 1 p.m., CT
All-Time Series: Missouri leads, 12-4
Last Meeting: Missouri 10, Illinois 2 (5 Innings) | March 16, 2022, G2 | Urbana-Champaign, Ill.
Missouri 7, Illinois 6 (8 Innings) | March 16, 2022, G1 | Urbana-Champaign, Ill.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
Video: Game 1 | Game 2
Radio: ESPN 100.5/105.1 KTGR
Twitter: @MizzouSoftball
Notes: Missouri | Illinois
Series History
- Missouri leads the all-time series with Illinois, 12-4.
- The Tigers swept the 2022 (March 16) doubleheader at Illinois.
- Mizzou captured the opener 7-6 in eight innings before run ruling the Fighting Illini, 10-2, in the finale.
- Laurin Krings and Jordan Weber both picked up wins in the Wednesday midweek.
- The Tigers hit five home runs in the five-inning run rule win.
- Head coach Larissa Anderson is 4-1 in her career against Illinois.
Last Mizzou Midweek
Mizzou notched their 16th win of the season, with a decisive 11-5 decision over in-state foe Kansas City March 8 in the Tigers home opener.
Freshman Cierra Harrison retired the first 12 batters she faced in the first home start of her collegiate career, punching out four in five innings of work to earn the win and improve to 5-0 in 2023. She allowed just one run on two hits with a walk.
Taylor Pannell, a freshman from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, picked up her third career save, allowing just two hits with a trio of strikeouts over the final two innings. She ranks second in the SEC and seventh in the nation for saves.
Junior left fielder Chantice Phillips hit a three-run homer, the first in her career at Mizzou, to go with a career-high four RBI.
Phillips and Payton Jackson each claimed their second multi-hit contest of the season, while Megan Moll recorded her first multi-hit game of the year.
SEC Opening Weekend
Mizzou dropped its 2023 SEC opening weekend series to Kentucky.
Jenna Laird led the Tigers with a .500 batting average followed by Alex Honnold (.300) and Payton Jackson (.286). During Sunday’s doubleheader, Laird was 3-for-3 in the opener and concluded the day, 4-for-6.
Vanessa Hollingsworth connected on her first career double in the finale on Sunday.
Laurin Krings pitched a complete game (fourth of the season) in the opener with Kentucky, tallying five strikeouts.
Emma Nichols picked up a season-high three strikeouts in relief over 2.0 innings in the finale.
In the Circle
Four Tigers pitchers have earned two or more wins this season.
Laurin Krings leads the Tigers with a 6-4 mark, throwing four complete games over 55.1 innings. She has registered 39 strikeouts and has an ERA of 3.16. Krings was dominant in a complete-game victory over Northwestern. She also registered a season-high nine strikeouts against Long Beach State.
Freshman Cierra Harrison paces Mizzou with 45 strikeouts and leads the Tiger starters with a 2.81 ERA. She is 5-1 in 2023 with a complete-game win over Maine and career-best eight strikeouts against Butler. Opposing batters are hitting .203 against Harrison this season.
Jordan Weber is 3-4 this season with a 4.12 ERA to go with 20 strikeouts. Weber threw a no-hitter at FIU with a season-high four strikeouts. She also pitched five innings (season best) against Oregon.
Megan Schumacher is 2-0 thus far in 2023 with a 3.71 ERA over 17.0 innings (11 strikeouts). Schumacher registered a complete-game shutout, allowing just one hit as the Tigers registered a 10-0 run-rule win over Maine March 4. The start was her first of the 2023 campaign, tallying two strikeouts.
Our Leadoff Hitter
Jenna Laird is second on Mizzou in 2023 with a .427 (seventh in the SEC) mark at the dish. The East Meadow, New York, native, is also second in the SEC (16th in the NCAA) with 35 hits this season.
She has compiled a 1.039 OPS and paces the Tigers with 13 multi-hit games (three hits four times) and seven multi-RBI games.
On the basepaths, Laird is first in the conference (seventh in the NCAA) with 19 stolen bases (0.76 stolen bases/game).
She is currently on six-game reached base streak.
AL PAL
Center fielder Alex Honnold made her return to the starting lineup this weekend against Kentucky after missing the past four games due to injury.
Honnold leads the Tigers this season, hitting .473 which is second in the SEC and 20th in the nation.
The West Des Moines, Iowa, native, also has an on base percentage of .595 which is fourth in the league (eighth in the NCAA). She also ranks in the top 20 nationally (17th) for slugging with .891 (sixth in the SEC).
Honnold has belted a career-best five home runs in 2023 to go with 21 RBI, six doubles and 1.486 OPS. She has compiled eight multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games.
JULIA!!
Sophomore second baseman/catcher Julia Crenshaw leads the Tigers thus far with six home runs, 24 RBI and seven doubles.
Crenshaw is third on the team with a .338 batting average and holds a .676 slugging percentage.
She has registered nine multi-hit games and has five multi-RBI games in 2023.
The Jeff City Kid
Kara Daly has reached base safely in each of the last seven games for the Tigers.
The sophomore third baseman from Jefferson City, Missouri, is hitting .268 this season with five homers, three doubles, 21 RBI and a .846 OPS.
Addie Lange’s Journey to Missouri
Redshirt junior Addie Lange has had quite the journey to Mizzou. The Gallatin, Tennessee, native, dreamt of playing for the Tigers and transferred to Missouri after earning 2021 NJCAA First Team All-American honors at Vol State.
Read her full journey in the Gallatin News article.
2023 Preseason SEC Poll
Missouri Softball was selected to finish eighth in the Southeastern Conference in 2023, the league announced Jan. 26. The Tigers received 63 points in the annual preseason poll voted on by the conference’s 13 head coaches.
Jenna Laird Preseason Accolades
Missouri Softball junior shortstop Jenna Laird has been named to five 2023 preseason lists ahead of the season. She was named to the 2023 Preseason All-SEC Team on Feb. 2, to the Top 50 Watch List for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year on Jan. 25 and has also been named to D1Softball’s Preseason D100 Players, Extra Inning Softball’s Extra Elite 100 College Player Rankings and Softball America’s 2023 Preseason Top 100.
Laird led the Tigers in 2022 for batting average (.338), doubles (11), triples (3), runs scored (44) and stolen bases (22) as she garnered 2022 NFCA Third Team All-Region honors.
Laird was named to the 2022 SEC All-Tournament Team after she led the Tigers to the Championship Final, batting .500 over the four games. She was also selected to the 2022 All-SEC Second Team after posting a hitting line of .291/.519/.341 in conference play.
In the field, Laird was tabbed a 2022 Rawlings Gold Glove recipient for her play at shortstop. She posted a .975 fielding percentage, turning 10 double plays in total over 163 chances.
Looking Ahead
Mizzou next heads to Gainesville, Florida, for its first SEC road series at No. 8/12 Florida March 17-19.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
- For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouSoftball (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
- Single game and limited season tickets are currently on sale. Tickets can be purchased online, in-person at the Mizzou ticket office, or by calling 1 (800) CAT-PAWS.
