With two losses and a win, here is what we learned from Missouri’s face-off against No. 2 Texas A&M on April 18-19.
Starting out strong
A continuous pattern for the Tigers is forming, as they consistently win games when they take an early lead. In the two games they lost to the Aggies, A&M took a quick lead, and the Tigers struggled to keep up.
In the first game, Missouri didn’t start bringing in the runs until late into the sixth inning. The Tigers put up a fight in the second game, taking it to the ninth inning, but despite runs in the seventh, they still took the loss 4-3.
However, in the final game, the Tigers took a quick 4-0 lead with two home runs from senior catcher Julia Crenshaw and senior third baseman Kara Daly. Two more runs came in the third, and another three runs were scored in the fifth. Missouri eventually took home a 9-1 win.
“It’s really important for this team to start early,” head coach Larissa Anderson said, confirming their weakness. “It takes the pressure off our pitching, and they can pitch a lot more loose and free when we know we have the run advantage.”
The Tigers have shown the ability to compete in the Southeastern Conference. However, if they don’t learn to recover after a rough first inning, they will never hold their ground against ranked teams.
To swing, or not to swing
Missouri struggled to get on base and get around the Aggie pitchers, deeply affecting its scoring. This issue has popped up before, as a similar situation occurred against the University of Texas.
The Aggies also brought strong pitching, partly from freshman pitcher Sydney Lessentine. The Tigers struggled to get around her in the second game, along with senior pitchers Emiley Kennedy and Emily Leavitt.
The lack of players on base minimized the amount of runs scored when hitters did make it out of the box. It also resulted in scoring opportunities being thrown away. The majority of Tiger outs were made off of strikeouts, which made points hard to come by.
If Missouri learns how to hit off talented pitchers, its scoring could significantly improve.
Pitching problems
The defense brought its own problems, as Missouri pitchers had trouble on the mound. Wild pitches were prominent in all three games, as the Aggies had a lot of free runs under their belt.
Junior pitcher Cierra Harrison threw a wild pitch in the first game, allowing an Aggie runner to make it to third. While it didn’t result in a run, junior pitcher Taylor Pannell threw her own wild pitch in the second game, which led to a runner stealing second.
Sophomore pitcher Marissa McCann took the 8-10 loss in the first game, allowing four runs on six hits with four errors. She did, however, take the win in the third game 9-1, allowing one hit with no runs or errors. Pannell took the 5-6 loss in the second game with four runs on eight hits and four errors.
The pattern here is pitching errors. When errors are minimized, so are runs and hits. If Missouri makes pitching one of its strengths, it will hold off SEC teams.
The Tigers will go on the road to face Alabama at 6 p.m. on April 25 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Edited by Colin Simmons l csimmons@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Avery Copeland and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com
