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COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 13-seeded University of Missouri softball program (33-23) will open 2023 SEC Tournament play against No. 12-seed Mississippi State (28-24) Tuesday at Bogle Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m., CT.
With a victory over the Bulldogs, Mizzou would face No. 5-seed Alabama Wednesday at 4 p.m., CT.
Tuesday’s game will be broadcasted on SEC Network with Kevin Brown, Amanda Scarborough, and Courtney Lyle on the call.
The game can also be found on XM Radio 190 Online 961.
Missouri ranks first in the SEC for fielding percentage (0.978, 11th in NCAA), as well as second in stolen bases (99, 18th in the NCAA). Additionally, the Tigers are second for triples per game (0.27).
No. 13-seed Missouri (33-23)
vs. No. 12-seed Mississippi State (28-24)
Date: Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Stadium: Bogle Park
Location: Fayetteville, Ark.
Game Time: 6:30 p.m., CT
All-Time Series: Missouri leads the all-time series, 12-9
Last Meetings:
Missouri 8, Mississippi State 5 – Eight Innings | April 10, 2023 | Starkville, Miss.
Mississippi State 2, Missouri 0 | April 9, 2023 | Starkville, Miss.
Mississippi State 9, Missouri 2 | April 9, 2023 | Starkville, Miss.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
Live Video: SEC Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Radio: XM Radio 190 Online 961
Twitter: @MizzouSoftball
Series History
- Missouri leads the all-time series with Mississippi State, 12-9. The Bulldogs took the 2022 series, 2-1, in Starkville, Mississippi.
- The Tigers took the 2022 series finale, 8-5, on April 10, 2022.
- Gabi Deters crushed a two-run home run to give the Tigers the lead in the eighth and Jenna Laird followed that up with an inside-the-park home run to put the game away.
- Jordan Weber pitched 1.1 innings in relief with a strikeout for the win.
- Head coach Larissa Anderson is 4-5 against Mississippi State in her career.
SEC Tournament History
Mizzou is 7-8 all-time in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers went 3-1 in the 2022 SEC Tournament, as Missouri advanced to the Tournament title game for the first time in program history.
Missouri shutout No. 17/20 Auburn (1-0 win), No. 5/7 Alabama (3-0 win) and No. 13/10 Tennessee (3-0 win) en route to the Tournament Championship.
Jordan Weber, Jenna Laird, and Laurin Krings each earned spots on the All-Tournament Team.
In the Tournament Championship, the No. 7-seeded Tigers faced top-seeded No. 4/5 Arkansas, dropping the contest, 4-0.
Missouri Against the Rest of the Tournament Field
1. Tennessee (41-8, 19-5 SEC)
Tennessee has a 12-8 lead in the all-time series with Mizzou. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 4-5 in her career against the Vols.
2. Georgia (39-12, 16-7 SEC)
Georgia has a 14-10 lead in the all-time series with the Tigers. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 4-5 in her career against the Bulldogs.
3. Auburn (39-16, 15-9 SEC)
Mizzou and Auburn are tied in the all-time series at 11-11 after the Auburn Tigers swept the regular-season series in 2023, March 25-27. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 3-5 in her career against the Tigers.
4. Arkansas (38-16, 14-10 SEC)
Mizzou holds a 16-11 advantage in the all-time series with Arkansas after capturing its first SEC series win of the season in the final weekend of the regular season May 5-7. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 4-3 in her career against the Razorbacks.
5. Alabama (38-17, 14-10 SEC)
Alabama has a 19-11 advantage in the all-time series with Missouri. In the 2023 regular-season series, the Crimson Tide took two of three on the Tigers March 31 to April 2 in Columbia, Missouri. Mizzou run-ruled Alabama, 11-3, in the finale. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 3-7 in her career against Alabama.
6. LSU (40-14, 13-11 SEC)
LSU has a 18-11 lead in the all-time series with Mizzou, as the Bayou Bengals took two of three in the 2023 series April 6-8 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 3-6 in her career against LSU.
7. Texas A&M (33-18, 12-12 SEC)
The Aggies lead Mizzou, 42-35, in the all-time series grabbing two of three this season in College Station, Texas, April 28-30. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 7-2 in her career with Texas A&M.
8. Florida (35-19, 11-13 SEC)
The Gators lead the Tigers, 17-6, in the all-time series, with Florida taking two of three in Gainesville, Florida, March 17-19. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 2-6 in her career against the Gators.
9. Kentucky (30-19-1, 10-14 SEC)
Kentucky now holds a 13-12 edge in the all-time series after sweeping Mizzou over the SEC opening weekend March 10-12. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 6-3 in her career against the Wildcats.
10. South Carolina (34-19, 9-15 SEC)
Missouri leads the all-time series with the Gamecocks, 14-9. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 8-4 in her career against South Carolina.
11. Ole Miss (29-25, 8-16 SEC)
Mizzou leads Ole Miss, 15-10, as the Rebel grabbed two of three in Columbia, Missouri, April 15-17. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 1-5 in her career against Ole Miss.
Softball Earns First SEC Series Win of Season
Mizzou secured its first SEC series win of the 2023 campaign, with a pair of walk-off homers from Kara Daly over the final regular-season series May 5-7.
The Tigers claimed back-to-back walk-off wins for the first time since May 3-4, 2019, when Mizzou accomplished the feat in consecutive games against South Carolina.
The Tigers evened the series at 1-1 with an eighth inning walk-off for the 4-3 Senior Day victory on May 6. Daly and Maddie Snider combined for a pair of extra inning home runs to seal the win.
Snider’s game-tying home run was the second of her career and second in 2023. It also counted as her first-career blast at Mizzou Softball Stadium in her hometown of Columbia. She finished the weekend batting .286 and picked up her fifth multi-RBI contest of 2023 in game two.
Daly then blasted her second-straight walk-off home run in the Sunday finale to complete the series win.
Alex Honnold paced the Tigers, hitting .429 over the series while Riley Frizell and Daly added .375 weekends.
Frizell capped the series with a 2-for-3 Sunday to go with a home run and three RBI.
Freshman Taylor Pannell picked up wins Saturday and Sunday, combining to throw 2.0 shutout innings (0.00 ERA) with two strikeouts.
With her go-ahead, two-run single in the third inning of the finale, Maddie Gallagher recorded her third multi-RBI contest of 2023. She finished 1-for-2 with two RBI and a walk.
Anderson Coming Up on 300 Career Wins
Head coach Larissa Anderson is three wins away from 300 in her career (297-167-1 over nine seasons). Anderson is currently in her fifth season at Mizzou, holding a 167-94 overall mark at the helm of the Tigers program.
AL PAL
Alex Honnold is fifth in the SEC this season for batting average (.417), slugging percentage (.813, 16th in the NCAA) and on-base percentage (.557, 11th in the NCAA). Honnold also ranks eighth in the SEC with 58 hits.
On the basepaths, Honnold has snagged 18 bags (0.37 stolen bases/game), which is eighth in the SEC.
She is also third for free passes with 41 walks, which ranks tied for fifth for a single season at Mizzou.
Honnold, a Top 25 Finalist for 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, leads the Tigers in 2023 for homers (13, eighth in the SEC) followed by Kara Daly (10).
Honnold is tied for first on the Tigers (11th in the SEC) with 44 RBI with Julia Crenshaw.
Honnold most recently led Mizzou in its final regular-season SEC series, batting .429 with two runs after reaching base in all three games with Arkansas. She paced the Tigers at the dish in the opener, going 2-for-2 for her 19th multi-hit game of the campaign.
Honnold 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.
On the Daly
Kara Daly belted consecutive walk-off home runs Saturday and Sunday to help Mizzou secure the series victory over No. 12/12 Arkansas. She hit .375 over the final regular-season series.
Daly finished game two of the series on Saturday, 2-for-3 with a run, a double, and a RBI to go with her game-winning walk-off home run in the eighth inning. Daly then concluded the weekend series, 1-for-3 on a walk-off dinger in the seventh. She also had two runs in the finale.
Daly now has 10 home runs in 2023, joining Alex Honnold as the only Tigers to reach double figures in home runs this season. She finished the weekend series with a 1.250 slugging percentage.
Daly ranks seventh in the SEC with 12 doubles.
She has accumulated 10 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI games in 2023.
FRIZZY
Designated player/first base Riley Frizell has appeared in the starting lineup in each of the last six games for Mizzou.
She was second on the team, batting .375 this past weekend over the Arkansas series win. Frizell posted a double in game two of the series before a 2-for-3 finale with three RBI and a run to secure her sixth multi-RBI game of the year.
Frizell’s home run in the fifth inning of the finale marked her fifth of the campaign. The multi-hit game was also her seventh of the season.
The Willoughby, Ohio, product’s, RBI total for 2023 now sits at 22, as she joins Alex Honnold, Julia Crenshaw, Kara Daly, and Jenna Laird as the fifth Tiger to drive in at least 20 runs this season.
Our Leadoff Hitter
Jenna Laird ranks sixth in the SEC with 60 hits. The junior shortstop from East Meadow, New York, is second on Mizzou in 2023 with a .333 mark at the dish.
She paces the Tigers with 20 multi-hit games (three hits four times). She also has nine multi-RBI games.
On the basepaths, Laird is second in the conference (18th in the NCAA) with 30 stolen bases (0.57 stolen bases/game, third in the SEC).
Laird most recently extended her reached-base streak to eight games (two-game hitting streak), with two hits, a walk, and a run over the Arkansas series.
In the Circle
LAURIN KRINGS
Laurin Krings leads the Tigers with 11 wins (11-11), throwing eight complete games over 142.2 innings this season. She has registered 134 strikeouts and has an ERA of 2.61.
She most recently pitched 7.2 innings, her 14th game of six or more innings this season in the game two victory over Arkansas. It was also Krings’ second time going past the seventh in 2023. She finished the outing, allowing just three runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
Krings has notched five-or-more strikeouts 14 times in 2023 including 13 of her last 17 starts.
Krings was named the Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week and SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week April 25 after she pitched 15 consecutive scoreless innings (0.00 ERA, 3-0) with 28 strikeouts (26 over UNT series) including a career-best 17-strikeout no hitter (third career no hitter including perfect game in 2022) over North Texas on April 21.
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 registered 11 strikeouts in a complete-game shutout of Illinois on March 14.
Krings surpassed 400 strikeouts in her career as a Tiger with five in the Ole Miss finale on April 17. She ranks ninth all-time in program history with 441 ahead of Kristin Nottelmann (429 strikeouts, 2009-12). Krings also registered her third-straight 100-plus strikeout (134) season.
CIERRA HARRISON
Freshman Cierra Harrison has 71 strikeouts and is first for Tiger starters with a 2.39 ERA. She is 8-2 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 .197 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 pitched 7.0 innings in relief during the Ole Miss series, striking out four with a 2.00 ERA (.182 batting average).
Harrison picked up the win in the circle in game two of the series with North Texas on April 22, allowing just a hit with two strikeouts and a walk over two innings.
She also started the midweek win over SIUE on April 25, allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts over 3.0 innings.
JORDAN WEBER
Jordan Weber is 8-8 this season with a 3.78 ERA to go with 54 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 picked up her eighth win of the season (40 career wins), pitching 6.1 innings, allowing no earned runs over four hits with two strikeouts in Mizzou’s game two win over Texas A&M on April 29.
MEGAN SCHUMACHER
Megan Schumacher is 3-1 (23-8 in her career) in 2023 with a 4.85 ERA over 34.2 innings (23 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.
She earned the win for Missouri in the midweek against SIUE on April 25, compiling a career-best matching six strikeouts over the final four innings (no runs on two hits).
Schumacher pitched three scoreless innings in relief in the opener with Texas A&M, finishing with a pair of strikeouts.
TAYLOR PANNELL
Freshman Taylor Pannell is second in the conference with six saves (seventh in the NCAA). She has made 19 appearances (18.2 innings) in 2023. The Tigers closer from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, has compiled a 3.37 ERA and opposing batters are hitting .208.
Pannell most recently picked up a pair of wins after pitching 2.0 shutout innings over the weekend to help Mizzou secure the series victory over No. 12/12 Arkansas. She earned the final out in the eighth inning of game two of the series en route to the win. Pannell then wrapped the weekend with 1.2 innings of shutout softball with a pair of strikeouts in the game three victory. The two wins were the first in her career as a Mizzou Tiger.
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.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouSoftball (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
