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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Missouri Softball program (19-10, 1-4 SEC) split its doubleheader with No. 8/11 Florida Friday at the Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium. The Tigers upset Florida, 7-3, in the opener, for Mizzou’s first SEC win in 2023. Missouri then dropped the night cap, 4-3.
Missouri and Florida will conclude the weekend series Sunday at noon, CT. The schedule was adjusted due to inclement weather that is expected in the Gainesville area Saturday.
Missouri 7, No. 8/11 Florida 3
Alex Honnold hammered a career-high two home runs and accounted for a personal-best five Tiger runs (5 RBI) as Mizzou opened the Florida series with a 7-3 upset victory.
Missouri handed the Gators their fifth loss of the campaign.
Jordan Weber earned the win in the circle, allowing three runs on five hits over 6.2 innings to improve to 5-4 in 2023. Weber notched a trio of strikeouts in the win.
Honnold knocked a two-run shot to right in the first for an early Tigers advantage. Jenna Laird opened the game with a leadoff single to right center before rounding the bases on Honnold’s homer.
The Gators then evened the contest at 2-2 with a two-run home run of their own from Skylar Wallace in the third.
Honnold, a junior center fielder from West Des Moines, Iowa, then knocked her second-round tripper of the game in the fifth, a three-run blast.
She is the third Tiger this season to have a two-home run game, joining Julia Crenshaw (Feb. 23, BYU) and Kara Daly (March 4, Tulsa).
Daly then added a solo bomb to right in the sixth before a Crenshaw RBI sacrifice fly in the seventh grew the advantage to 7-2.
Florida scratched a run across in the seventh before Taylor Pannell came on in for the final out to secure the win.
The Tigers take down the Gators!
Two home runs off the bat of @alex_honnold22 helps lift @MizzouSoftball to a 7-3 upset of No. 11 Florida.#NCAASoftball x ?? SECNpic.twitter.com/ZZztW4pMCI
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) March 18, 2023
GAME NOTES
- Alex Honnold matched a season-high three hits (3-for-4) with a career-best two home runs, five RBI, and two runs.
- Kara Daly added a career-best three hits (3-for-4) with a personal-best two doubles, a run and RBI. She now has six multi-hit games in 2023.
- Katie Chester matched a career-best two hits (2-for-3).
- Jenna Laird and Chantice Phillips (double in each game against Florida Friday) each had hits in game 1.
- Jordan Weber improved to 5-4 in 2023 (37-20 in her career) with the win. She pitched 6.2 innings, allowing just three runs on five hits.
- Jordan Weber registered four strikeouts and now has 29 this season.
- Taylor Pannell made her ninth appearance of the season, tallying the final out.
Missouri 3, No. 8/11 Florida 4
The Tigers were then edged by Florida, 4-3, in the night cap Friday.
Mizzou scored first, capitalizing on a Gators throwing error in the first for an early 1-0 lead.
Florida then notched a three-run third before a Skylar Wallace RBI triple in the following inning increased the margin to 4-1.
The Tigers would come as close as 4-3, scoring a pair in the fifth.
Jenna Laird opened the fifth frame with a single before touching home on an Alex Honnold base hit.
Julia Crenshaw then compiled her second RBI sacrifice fly of the day (one in each game of the doubleheader) to cut the deficit to 4-3.
GAME NOTES
- Jenna Laird led the Tigers, going 2-for-4 with two runs and a stolen base.
- Alex Honnold, Chantice Phillips (double), and Katie Chester each added a hit.
- Alex Honnold extended her hitting streak to five games.
- Jenna Laird extended her reached base streak to 10 games.
- Laurin Krings was assessed the loss, allowing one earned run on eight hits. She compiled five strikeouts.
- Laurin Krings has now registered five or more strikeouts six times in 2023 including six of her last seven starts.
- Megan Schumacher made her 10th appearance of the season, coming on in relief of Krings.
UP NEXT
- Mizzou and Florida will conclude the weekend series Sunday. First pitch is noon, CT at the Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.
