Missouri softball hosted South Carolina for a three-game weekend series from April 1-3 and Kansas City during a mid-week game April 6 at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
The Tigers picked up four consecutive wins, including three much-needed SEC wins in their sweep over the Gamecocks.
The Tigers started the first South Carolina game off hot when fifth-year infielder Kimberly Wert singled with the bases loaded, bringing home sophomore shortstop Jenna Laird.
Sophomore pitcher Laurin Krings put together a solid performance, holding the Gamecocks hitless through the first two innings. South Carolina got the bats moving when senior catcher Jordan Fabian hit a two-run homer to right-center field and took the lead in the top of the third.
The Tigers answered swiftly in the bottom of the third as poor defense and wild pitches from the Gamecocks led to two unearned runs for Missouri, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
The game stalled for a couple innings until Wert stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fifth. Wert — who had been tied for the home run record at Missouri since May 22, 2021 — finally broke through when she homered to right center.
Wert touched home plate with Missouri softball fans and her teammates cheering her on. She went to the dugout, grabbed the golden home run hat and walked out to tip her cap to the crowd that watched her make history.
Missouri finished off the game, winning 4-2 and picking up its first conference win of the season.
On April 2, the Tigers looked to earn two consecutive wins for the first time since the middle of March when Missouri took two in a row at Illinois.
The Tigers scored another first-inning run the same way they had the day before with Wert singling to bring Laird home.
Junior pitcher Jordan Weber started in the circle for Missouri but was removed from the game early. After holding South Carolina to two scoreless innings, things fell apart in the third.
Weber let up two runs on three hits and was subbed out with the bases loaded. Junior pitcher Megan Schumacher entered the circle and forced two ground balls for outs, which brought in one more run for South Carolina, but limited the damage and got Missouri out of the inning.
Schumacher dominated the rest of the game, allowing only two hits and zero runs in the final four innings.
Missouri’s offense cut into the lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the third from graduate infielder Kendyll Bailey. Freshman infielder Kara Daly scored on a fielding error from South Carolina, tying the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth.
The Tiger offense finally exploded in the bottom of the sixth, tacking on four more runs to give Missouri a 7-3 lead. Laird brought in two runs with a single to right field, Wilmes brought in another with a sacrifice fly and Bailey brought in the final run with an RBI single.
Missouri took game two 7-3 and looked to complete the series sweep on April 3.
For the third time this series, the Tigers scored a first-inning run. Once again, Wert had a first-inning hit, this one an RBI double that brought home Laird, giving Missouri an early 1-0 lead.
The Tigers’ defense stepped up in the top of the second with the bases loaded and nobody out. Missouri came up with a double play, including an out at home to prevent a run from scoring. Krings then struck the following batter out, somehow getting Missouri out of the inning with no damage done.
Bailey stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the third and roped a pitch to left field for a home run, giving Missouri a 2-1 lead it would never give up.
Krings held the Gamecocks scoreless after the fourth inning and hitless in the final three innings.
Missouri completed a series sweep of South Carolina and picked up three conference wins to hopefully give it momentum heading into the rest of SEC play.
The Tigers played one more home game against Kansas City on Wednesday.
Missouri scored a first-inning run again, this time sophomore infielder Alex Honnold with an RBI single down the line, scoring Laird from second.
Redshirt senior outfielder Casidy Chaumont hit a two-run homer to center field to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
Krings pitched five solid innings, only allowing one run in the fourth and tallying nine strikeouts en route to her 12th win of the season.
After scoring two more runs in the sixth inning, Missouri closed out the game and won its fourth consecutive matchup, moving its record to 23-13.
Edited by Brandon Haynes | bhaynes@themaneater.com