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COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri softball program (26-20) will take on Conference USA’s North Texas (26-17) in a three-game series this weekend at the Mizzou Softball Stadium. The Tigers and the Mean Green open the series with a 6 p.m., CT first pitch Friday before a 3 p.m. tilt Saturday and 12 p.m. Sunday finale.
All three games of the non-conference series will be broadcasted on SEC Network+.
Saturday’s game is All for Alex while Sunday is Bark in the Park and Family Funday Sunday (postgame autographs and base running).
All 13 SEC teams will participate in the third annual “All for Alex” weekend to honor the legacy of Mississippi State’s Alex Wilcox. Wilcox was a member of the 2018 Mississippi State softball team who inspired the nation with her courageous fight against ovarian cancer. Mizzou will wear specialty teal jerseys to recognize her impact on the softball community nationwide and in the fight against ovarian cancer.
Due to a Future Farmers of America (FFA) event on campus, softball parking will be limited on Friday.
Missouri ranks second in the SEC for fielding percentage (.981, eighth in the NCAA) and is second for stolen bases (87, 1.89 stolen/game) in 2023. Additionally, the Tigers are third in triples (0.28).
Missouri (26-20, 4-14 SEC)
vs. North Texas (26-17, 11-7 Conference USA)
Dates: Friday, April 21-Sunday, April 23, 2023
Venue: Mizzou Softball Stadium
Location: Columbia, Mo.
Game Times: 6 p.m., CT Friday | 3 p.m., CT Saturday | 12 p.m., CT Sunday
All-Time Series: Missouri leads North Texas, 4-1
Last Meetings: North Texas 9, Missouri 2 | May 30, 2011 | Denton, Texas
Missouri 4, North Texas 1 | May 30, 2011 | Denton, Texas
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Twitter: @MizzouSoftball
Series History
- Missouri leads the all-time series with North Texas, 4-1.
- The Tigers and the Mean Green split their most recent doubleheader on May 30, 2011, in Denton, Texas. Missouri won the opener, 4-1, before UNT took the finale 9-2.
- Head coach Larissa Anderson will face North Texas for the first time in her career this weekend.
Tigers Secure Border Showdown Victory Over Kansas
Mizzou beat border rival, Kansas (20-20, 9-7 Big 12), 4-3, Wednesday at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.
With the midweek tied at 3-3, Julia Crenshaw registered a game-winning RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to score Kara Daly and break the stalemate. Daly picked up her team-leading 10th double of the season to set the stage for Crenshaw’s hit.
Freshman closer Taylor Pannell then slammed the door on the Jayhawks in the top of the seventh for the save.
Crenshaw led Missouri at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, a run, and a RBI. It marked her 12th multi-hit game of the season. She extended her reached base streak to six games.
Alex Honnold, Kara Daly, Maddie Gallagher, and Riley Frizell each posted a hit in the win. Honnold belted her team-leading 10th home run of the season for her eighth multi-RBI game.
Laurin Krings came on in relief in the sixth, scattering a hit to go with a pair of strikeouts for the win.
AL PAL
Alex Honnold is fourth in the SEC (32nd in the NCAA) this season with a .425 batting average and fourth in the conference with a .560 on base percentage (11th in the NCAA). She is also fifth in the SEC with an .832 slugging percentage (17th in the NCAA).
On the basepaths, Honnold has snagged 16 bags (0.38 stolen bases/game), which is seventh in the SEC.
The junior from West Des Moines, Iowa, is currently on a 10-game reached base streak.
Honnold, who was most recently named a Top 25 Finalist for 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, blasted a two-run opposite-field homer to open the scoring Wednesday against Kansas. She finished 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run.
Honnold hit .333 this past week over the Lindenwood midweek and Ole Miss series. She went 2-for-3 with a RBI, and a run in game two of the series with the Rebels on April 16.
Honnold belted a career-best pair of triples with two runs and a RBI in the midweek win over Lindenwood on April 12. She became the first Tiger to record two triples in a game since Sami Fagan accomplished the feat at Illinois on March 25, 2015.
Honnold leads the Tigers in 2023 for homers (10) followed by Julia Crenshaw and Kara Daly who each have eight.
Honnold has registered 15 multi-hit games in 2023 and is third on the Tigers with 36 RBI (eight multi-RBI games, third on the team).
She was named the SEC Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 20, batting .643 with a 1.357 slugging percentage and a .762 on-base percentage as the Tigers went 6-0 over their non-conference Florida trip. Honnold was 9-for-14 at the dish, compiling 10 RBI, nine runs, four doubles and two home runs over the six games.
Honnold Named Top 25 Finalist for 2023 USA Softball Player of the Year
Junior outfielder Alex Honnold was listed as one of the Top 25 Finalists for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, the organization announced Wednesday.
USA Softball will narrow down the Top 25 Finalists to 10 athletes on May 3, and the Top 3 finalists will be released on May 17. The 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be announced prior to the Women’s College World Series, which will take place June 1-9.
Gally
Second base Maddie Gallagher posted a hitting streak of seven games with a single in the Ole Miss series opener. In that span, she notched eight hits with five RBI.
Gallagher is currently on a 10-game reached base streak and most recently posted a RBI single in the midweek with Kansas on Wednesday.
She hit .364 this past week (.333 in the Ole Miss series).
The junior from Port Washington, New York, posted a double in the Lindenwood midweek on April 12 and went 2-for-4 in the finale with Ole Miss on April 17.
Overall, Gallagher is third on the team with a .286 batting average.
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s PJ
Right fielder Payton Jackson led the Tigers against Ole Miss, hitting .500 with five runs and three RBI. The Texas Tech transfer from Missouri City, Texas, was moved from the nine hole to the cleanup position in the batting order in the finale on April 17.
Jackson registered a hit in all four games last week (including the Lindenwood midweek). She posted a pair of hits in each of the final two games of the series with Ole Miss including a two-run double in the finale.
CRANNY
Catcher Julia Crenshaw pushed her reached base streak to six games after a 2-for-3 day at the plate in Wednesday’s midweek with Kansas. It marked her 12th multi-hit game of the season.
She registered the game-winning RBI double in the sixth and also scored in the win. Crenshaw has now posted a pair of hits in each of the last two games.
Crenshaw also hit .400 this past week and was second on the Tigers with a .375 clip in the Ole Miss series. She had hits in all but one of the games including the midweek with Lindenwood.
Crenshaw wrapped the Ole Miss series with a 2-for-3 performance with a triple, a home run, and two RBI. The triple was the first of her career at Mizzou.
She added a trio of RBI (second time in 2023) in the second game of the series with Ole Miss.
Crenshaw is second on the team in 2023 with eight home runs and has produced nine multi-RBI games this season which paces Missouri with Kara Daly.
Crenshaw leads the SEC and is third in the NCAA with six sacrifice flies.
Our Leadoff Hitter
Jenna Laird ranks fifth in the SEC with 52 hits. The junior shortstop from East Meadow, New York, is second on Mizzou in 2023 with a .351 mark at the dish.
She has compiled a .871 OPS (.445 OB%) and paces the Tigers with 18 multi-hit games (three hits four times). She also has eight multi-RBI games.
On the basepaths, Laird is second in the conference (15th in the NCAA) with 26 stolen bases (0.57 stolen bases/game, third in the SEC).
She caused havoc in the opening inning of the finale with Ole Miss, stealing third and then touching home after a Rebels error.
Laird recently hit .333 in the Ole Miss series (.400 on the week) with three runs, three RBI, and two doubles. She had a pair of hits in all but one of the four games (including the Lindenwood midweek) this past week.
Laird opened the Ole Miss series, hitting 2-for-4 with three RBI and a double.
Ole Miss Series
The Tigers recently went 1-2 this past week in their series with Ole Miss.
Missouri took the opener 8-3 behind a five-run second inning on April 15. The Tigers scored eight runs over the second and third frames en route to the game one win.
Junior Maddie Gallagher extended her hit streak to seven games with a single in the opener.
Kara Daly capped off a five-run second with her eighth home run of the year (21st career home run).
Senior Jordan Weber earned her seventh win of the season (39 career wins), working 4.1 innings in the start. She allowed just three runs on seven hits with a strikeout and a walk.
Payton Jackson led the Tigers over the series with a .500 batting average with three RBI and five runs.
Julia Crenshaw went 2-for-3 with a triple (first at Mizzou) and a home run in the series finale. She finished the series hitting .375 with five RBI.
Jenna Laird and Maddie Gallagher each batted .333 against the Rebels.
Cierra Harrison pitched seven innings in relief, allowing just two earned runs (2.00 ERA) with four strikeouts. Laurin Krings made a pair of starts, working 11.1 innings (4.32 ERA) with 14 strikeouts.
In the Circle
LAURIN KRINGS
Laurin Krings leads the Tigers with a 9-9 mark, throwing six complete games over 112.0 innings. She has registered 97 strikeouts and has an ERA of 2.69.
Krings pitched a career-high 8.2 innings in the second game of the Alabama series on March 31, finishing with six strikeouts.
Krings was also dominant in a complete-game victory over No. 8/8 Northwestern on Feb. 11 (three strikeouts, one run on four hits in the complete-game win). She also registered a season-high 11 strikeouts in a complete-game shutout of Illinois on March 14.
Krings has notched five-or-more strikeouts 11 times in 2023 including 10 of her last 12 starts.
Krings surpassed 400 strikeouts in her career as a Tiger with five in the Ole Miss finale on April 17. She ranks 10th all-time in program history with 404. Krings is just three strikeouts away from her third career 100 strikeout season.
The junior from Loveland, Colorado, posted nine strikeouts for the second time in 2023 in game two of the Ole Miss series (4/16).
CIERRA HARRISON
Freshman Cierra Harrison has 63 strikeouts and is first for Tiger starters with a 2.45 ERA. She is 7-2 in 2023 with a complete-game win over Maine on March 3 and career-best eight strikeouts against Butler on Feb. 18. Opposing batters are hitting .191 against Harrison this season.
Harrison has registered seven-or-more strikeouts five times and matched her career-high eight punch outs against Drake on March 22.
She threw a one-hit complete game shutout of Lindenwood in midweek action on April 12. Harrison wrapped up the complete-game shutout by allowing just a single hit while striking out six over five innings.
She most recently pitched 7.0 innings in relief during the Ole Miss series, striking out four with a 2.00 ERA (.182 batting average).
JORDAN WEBER
Jordan Weber is 7-7 this season with a 4.22 ERA to go with 49 strikeouts. Weber threw a no-hitter (third career no-hitter, second individual no-hitter) at FIU on Feb. 18 with a season-high four strikeouts. She also pitched a complete-game, allowing just two runs on three hits with a season-high five strikeouts against Illinois on March 14.
Weber picked up her first SEC win of the season on March 17 at Florida, letting up just three runs on five hits with four strikeouts over 6.2 innings.
She earned her seventh win of the season (39 career wins), working 4.1 innings in the opener with Ole Miss on April 15. She allowed just three runs on seven hits with a strikeout and a walk.
MEGAN SCHUMACHER
Megan Schumacher is 2-1 thus far in 2023 with a 5.04 ERA over 25.0 innings (13 strikeouts). Schumacher registered a complete-game shutout, allowing just one hit as the Tigers notched a 10-0 run-rule win over Maine March 4. The start was her first of the 2023 campaign, tallying two strikeouts.
TAYLOR PANNELL
Freshman Taylor Pannell paces the conference with six saves (second in the NCAA). She has made 15 appearances (15.0 innings) in 2023. The Tigers closer from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, has compiled a 2.80 ERA and opposing batters are hitting .193.
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
Missouri next concludes its nine-game homestand Tuesday, April 25 with a midweek against SIUE at the Mizzou Softball Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m., CT and the game will be televised 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).
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.
