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COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri softball program (24-18, 3-12 SEC) continues its extended homestand when it hosts Ole Miss (24-18, 3-9 SEC) for a three-game SEC series Saturday through Monday. The series will open Saturday at 2 p.m., CT before Sunday (3 p.m.) and Monday (6 p.m.) matchups at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Saturday’s game will be broadcasted on SEC Network+ with Ben Arnet and Noah Reed on the call. Sunday and Monday’s games will be on SEC Network and feature Tiffany Greene and Erin Miller on the broadcast.
Head coach Larissa Anderson will be mic’d up in the finale as part of SEC Network’s Mic’d Up Monday.
Monday’s game will also be on the radio at KTGR (105.1 FM, 100.5 FM, 1580 AM) with Andy Humphrey on the call.
Saturday is Pink Out; the Tigers will wear specialty pink jerseys to support Breast Cancer Awareness and fans will receive Pink Out shirts, while supplies last. Sunday is Family Funday Sunday where fans can run the bases and receive postgame autographs. Monday is a Gold Rush. Fans in attendance will receive Monday Night Softball shirts and gold shakers, as supplies last.
U.S. Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer will throw out the ceremonial first pitch Saturday while Missouri Governor Mike Parson will throw out the ceremonial first pitch Monday.
Saturday’s game is sold out while tickets are still available for game 2 and 3 of the Ole Miss series.
Missouri ranks first in the SEC for fielding percentage (.980, eighth in the NCAA) and stolen bases (82, 1.95 stolen/game) in 2023. Additionally, the Tigers are third in triples (0.29).
Missouri (24-18, 3-12 SEC)
vs. Ole Miss (24-18, 3-9 SEC)
Dates: Saturday, April 15, 2023-Monday, April 17, 2023
Venue: Mizzou Softball Stadium
Location: Columbia, Mo.
Game Times: 2 p.m., CT Saturday | 3 p.m., CT Sunday | 6 p.m., CT Monday
All-Time Series: Missouri leads Ole Miss, 14-8
Last Meetings: Missouri 1, Ole Miss 5 | March 27, 2022 | Oxford, Miss.
Missouri 3, Ole Miss 5 | March 26, 2022 | Oxford, Miss.
Missouri 1, Ole Miss 5 | March 25, 2022 | Oxford, Miss.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
Live Video: SEC Network+ Saturday | SEC Network Sunday | SEC Network Monday
Live Stats: Saturday | Sunday | Monday
Twitter: @MizzouSoftball
Series History
- Ole Miss captured the 2022 series, taking all three games in Oxford, Mississippi, March 25-27, 2022.
- Head coach Larissa Anderson is 0-3 in her career against Ole Miss.
- Ole Miss Head Coach Jamie Trachsel coached Mizzou Graduate Assistant Amber Fiser at Minnesota. Fiser was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and a First Team All-American in Trachsel’s second season at Minnesota in 2019.
Tigers Run-Rule Lindenwood in Midweek
Powered by a one-hit shutout from freshman Cierra Harrison, Missouri earned a 9-0 run-rule victory over Lindenwood Wednesday at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Harrison took a perfect game into the fourth, retiring the first 11 batters she faced. She wrapped up the complete-game shutout by allowing just a single hit while striking out six over five innings.
Megan Moll and Riley Frizell each registered home runs. For Moll, it was her first of the season while it was the fourth long ball in 2023 for Frizell. Moll, Frizell, and Crenshaw each tallied a pair of RBI.
Alex Honnold (career-best two triples) and Jenna Laird (double and a base hit) paced the Tigers with two hits each Wednesday.
Honnold became the first Tiger to record two triples in a game since Sami Fagan accomplished the feat at Illinois on March 25, 2015.
Seven Tigers posted a hit in the win.
AL PAL
Alex Honnold is second in the SEC (16th in the NCAA) this season with a .446 batting average and third in the conference with a .575 on base percentage (10th in the NCAA). She is also fourth in the SEC with a .871 slugging percentage (11th in the NCAA).
On the basepaths, Honnold has snagged 16 bags (0.42 stolen bases/game) which is fifth in the SEC.
The junior from West Des Moines, Iowa, is currently on a six-game reached base streak. Honnold most recently belted a career-best pair of triples with two runs and a RBI in the midweek win over Lindenwood on Wednesday. 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 had a pair of hits in both the opener (April 6) and the finale (April 8) of the LSU road series and led Mizzou with a .571 batting average over the series.
Honnold connected on her ninth dinger of the season in the finale on April 8. It marked her third home run in SEC play. She leads the Tigers in 2023 for homers followed by Julia Crenshaw and Kara Daly who each have seven.
Honnold has registered 14 multi-hit games in 2023 and is third on the Tigers with 33 RBI (seven multi-RBI games, second 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.
Gally
Second base Maddie Gallagher extended her hitting streak to six games with a double in the midweek win over Lindenwood on Wednesday. In that span, she has notched seven hits with five RBI and is batting .467 (.533 slugging percentage).
Gallagher batted .571 this past week at LSU, good for first on the team with Alex Honnold. She notched a hit in all three games of the road series.
Gallagher tallied a season-high (Missouri career-best) three RBI outing in the series opener with LSU on April 6. It marked her second multi-RBI game of the season.
The junior from Port Washington, N.Y., also notched a pair of hits (2-for-2) in the LSU finale on April 8 for her fourth multi-hit game in 2023 (third two-hit game of the season).
Overall, Gallagher is third on the team with a .278 batting average.
In the Circle
Four Tigers pitchers have earned two or more wins this season.
Laurin Krings leads the Tigers with an 8-9 mark, throwing six complete games over 99.2 innings. She has registered 81 strikeouts and has an ERA of 2.53.
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 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 nine times in 2023 including eight of her last 10 starts.
Krings is 12 strikeouts away from 400 in her career as a Tiger. She ranks 10th all-time in program history with 388.
Freshman Cierra Harrison has 59 strikeouts and is first for Tiger starters with a 2.51 ERA. She is 7-1 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 .192 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 most recently threw a one-hit complete game shutout of Lindenwood in midweek action on Wednesday. Harrison wrapped up the complete-game shutout by allowing just a single hit while striking out six over five innings.
Jordan Weber is 6-7 this season with a 4.30 ERA to go with 45 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.
Megan Schumacher is 2-1 thus far in 2023 with a 4.54 ERA over 24.2 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.
Freshman Taylor Pannell paces the conference with five saves (fifth in the NCAA). She has made 14 appearances (14.1 innings) in 2023. The Tigers closer from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, has compiled a 2.93 ERA and opposing batters are hitting .200.
Our Leadoff Hitter
Jenna Laird ranks fourth in the SEC with 48 hits. The junior shortstop from East Meadow, New York, is second on Mizzou in 2023 with a .358 mark at the dish.
She has compiled a .877 OPS (.452 OB%) and paces the Tigers with 16 multi-hit games (three hits four times). She also has seven multi-RBI games.
On the basepaths, Laird is second in the conference (14th in the NCAA) with 25 stolen bases (0.60 stolen bases/game, third in the SEC).
LSU Series
Missouri recently went 1-2 this past weekend in its road SEC series at No. 12/11 LSU April 6-8.
The Tigers opened the series with an 8-6 win over LSU in the opener after a three-run sixth.
Alex Honnold (2-for-2, three walks, two runs and a double) and Chantice Phillips (2-for-3, run, walk, and two stolen bases) each registered a pair of hits, while Maddie Gallagher pitched in a season-high (Missouri career-best) three RBI outing.
Kara Daly notched a pair of RBI with a run. She now leads the team with eight multi-RBI games in 2023.
Emma Nichols notched her first win of the season (11th in her career at Missouri). She pitched a scoreless inning, allowing just one hit in her fourth appearance in 2023.
Freshman Taylor Pannell grabbed the save, allowing just one hit in the seventh. She leads the SEC with five saves this season (fifth in the NCAA).
Katie Chester belted her first career SEC home run in game two of the series. She paced the Tigers at the plate, going 2-for-3 which matched a personal best two hits for her third multi-hit game of the campaign.
Kara Daly registered her ninth double of the season (11 in her career) in the middle game of the series.
Alex Honnold posted her ninth home run of the season (third in SEC play) in the series finale on April 8.
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
Following the home series with Ole Miss, Missouri continues its homestand with a midweek against Kansas on Wednesday, April 19 before a non-conference series with North Texas April 21-23. The Tigers conclude their nine-game homestand April 25 with a midweek against SIUE.
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.
