Laurin Krings and Cierra Harrison struggled on the road, allowing three runs and five runs in their respective starts, however, Krings got the win in game 2 behind a strong offensive performance from the Tigers.
Missouri softball traveled to No.19 Arkansas for a battle between two top-20 teams. Arkansas took the series, winning games 1 and 3, while Missouri won game 2 by run-rule, 12-3. Here’s what we learned from this series loss:
Missouri’s struggles against SEC teams continue
Missouri softball has a good record so far this season, sitting at 30-10. However, their conference record is a meager 5-7 by comparison. Missouri’s worst performances — both pitching and hitting — have come against SEC teams. These aren’t necessarily unexpected series losses because SEC opponents such as Tennessee and Arkansas are ranked in the top 25.
The good news for coach Larissa Anderson is that this is a young team with several underclassmen starters who can benefit largely from the tough schedule. These younger players can make mistakes and have rough days like the Arkansas series, but they can also have great days like freshman Abby Hay in game 1 of this series where she hit a two-run-home-run, and those can happen more often as they gain experience.
This team is set for the future
While the team is led by seniors Alex Honnold, Maddie Gallagher, and Jenna Laird offensively and Laurin Krings in the circle, the majority of the Tigers’ roster is underclassmen.
Sophomore Cierra Harrison is a great complement to Laurin Krings, boasting a 10-2 record with a 2.00 ERA on the season. Harrison also has her rough days, like game 1 against Arkansas where she allowed five runs on seven hits. But those days are few and far between, as Harrison’s stats show that through her 77.0 innings pitched so far this season, she has struck out 64 batters, while only walking 19. Freshman Marissa McCann has been a staple of the pitching rotation this year, appearing in 47.2 innings with a near 3:1 strikeout-walk ratio.
Offensively, Missouri has even more young firepower led by Hay and freshman second baseman Madison Walker. Walker and Hay started the season rotating in at first and second base, playing any chance they got. Hay has come on recently and shown why she should be the everyday starter at first.
Starting all three games against Arkansas, Hay went a combined 3-7 with two RBI’s and one home run and raised her season average to .333. Missouri has three regular starters who are all underclassmen, with an additional three more who get consistent playing time. Missouri has plenty more freshmen and sophomores on the bench just waiting to get their shot and help Missouri continue its success.
SEC: it just means more
The SEC boasts five top-10 teams and nine in the top 25. This excludes No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 4 Texas, who will join the conference next season.
Missouri is in the middle of one of the most talented conferences where Missouri is currently ranked at No. 18 in the country. This team needs experiences like a close series loss on the road to a tough team in Arkansas to be able to compete with top-10 teams in the SEC like Tennessee and Georgia. The Tigers played Tennessee earlier in the season and got swept handily, while their matchup with Georgia is on the road from April 19-21. Missouri hopes to right the ship, returning above .500 in SEC play.
The Tigers will take a short trip to Iowa to face Drake on April 10 before returning home to face No. 8 Florida on April 12-14.
Edited by Dylan Heinrich
Copy Edited by Grace Knight | gknight@themaneater.com
Edited by Genevieve Smith | gsmith@themaneater.com