To say the Missouri softball team’s 2011 season ended in heartbreak would be a massive understatement. Thirteen scoreless innings and 19 Chelsea Thomas strikeouts, as well as the Tigers’ season, ended in an instant by a Baylor walk-off home run in the second round of the Women’s College World Series.
An ending as disappointing as that 1-0 affair will only make the fire in Missouri’s belly grow. Combining the passion with one of the country’s top pitchers and a dynamic offense headed by a Second Team All-American makes the No. 5 Tigers, boasting their highest-ever preseason ranking, a strong threat to return to the Women’s College World Series for the fourth consecutive year.
“I think (the disappointment) had fueled all the returners,” junior shortstop Jenna Marston said. “Any time we were gearing up for a long day of practice or conditioning, we kind of used it as a reminder. … When you remember something like that loss, it makes it easier to push now so that in the future that hopefully doesn’t happen again.”
**Faith in the ace**
Thomas, the team’s redshirt junior ace pitcher, is the biggest name on the Tigers’ roster. The Pleasantville, Iowa, native had a dynamite 2011 season for the Big 12 Conference champions, leading the country with a 0.95 ERA and earning First Team All-American honors. Thomas led the Big 12 with 32 wins and a .155 opponent batting average, as well as notching 397 strikeouts to break Missouri’s single-season record by a whopping 116 Ks.
Thomas, along with former Missouri outfielder Rhea Taylor, was also named to the 2011 USA Women’s National Team, an opportunity she said gave her valuable experience.
“You can’t get away with missing your spots when you play Japan and Canada,” Thomas said. “I think it’s only going to make me better knowing that I need to freshen up and get everything crisp hitting each corner … you can’t get away with missing, even if you have good spin.”
Thomas also emphasized finesse over power when relating her keys to success for the season.
“Just being able to mix up pitches and being able to use the whole strike zone will be a big part of my game,” she said.
**Dynamic duo paces offense**
Missouri’s offense will revolve around the duo of junior shortstop Jenna Marston and senior first baseman Ashley Fleming. Marston was named First-Team all-Big 12 in 2011, and Fleming was named Second Team All-American.
Fleming was the Tigers’ offensive juggernaut in 2011. She led the team in almost every major offensive category, finished sixth in the Big 12 with 14 home runs and tied for second in the league with 62 RBIs. She was also named to USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List along with Thomas.
Missouri coach Ehren Earleywine gushed about Flemings’ preseason performance.
“This year, she is crushing it,” he said. “She hit two laser ground balls off Chelsea (Thomas in an intersquad game). People don’t do that, and every intersquad we have, she’s bomb, bomb, bomb, double, bomb, double. So she’s going to be scary.”
Marston’s offensive forte is run production. She tied for second in the Big 12 last season with 57 runs, helped by her 41 walks and 15 doubles, both good for third in the league. But Marston said one area she hopes to improve is her aggressiveness, maintaining her plate discipline yet being willing to jump on a good first pitch.
One massive gap left by the departing seniors is the absence of Taylor. The outfielder acted as instant offense for the Tigers, leading the Big 12 and tying for fourth in Division I with 43 stolen bases and finishing fourth in the conference with 70 hits.
“You can never replace the intimidation factor she brought as a leadoff hitter,” Earleywine said. “There was a domination factor involved that you can’t quantify… but I think we’ve gotten better at three or four different positions and hopefully that’ll make up for it.”
**Rounding out the rotation**
In the pitching rotation, Thomas is certainly the most prominent name. That does not, however, mean she is the only option.
Senior Kristin Nottelmann had a stellar sophomore campaign last season. Her 1.91 ERA was eighth-best in the Big 12. Her 17-1 record broke the school record for single-season winning percentage. Nottelmann had an excellent showing in the Tigers’ annual Black and Gold intersquad game, blowing through six shutout innings and allowing only two hits.
**New faces**
A quirk of the Tigers this year is their freshman class of 10 athletes. According to the more experienced members of the team, the influx of newcomers has been a challenge to manage.
“You just have to realize and keep it in perspective that one of the main things is that all of us upperclassmen have to realize what it was like as a freshman,” Fleming said.
One of coach Earleywine’s most coveted recruits is freshman Corrin Genovese. The second baseman from East Amherst, N.Y., received offers from Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, among others, and was an Under Armour All-American three times.
One of Genovese’s best attributes, according to Earleywine, is her composure and the way she carries herself.
“She’s number one,” Earleywine said. “She just wears it. You can see it all over her body, and I wish my whole team was like that, because those type of kids there, you don’t have to worry when the lights get really bright, and when there’s a big stage … that’s what wins in championship, kids like that.”
Earleywine also mentioned catcher Angela Randazzo and first baseman Kelsea Roth as freshmen who would figure prominently into the Tigers’ plans. Roth led Missouri in home runs during the fall exhibition games, and Earleywine hopes she can fit into the third to fifth spot in the batting order.
In the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 rankings, conference rivals Oklahoma and Baylor sit directly behind the Tigers at Nos. 6 and 7.
Missouri will look to get revenge on Baylor after the Bears knocked them out of the College World Series. The teams’ first meeting is March 30 in Columbia.
Multiple players also mentioned Oklahoma as an important series, and Earleywine expressed an overt, yet cryptic animosity toward the Sooners, who meet the Tigers in Norman on April 20.
“There have been some events,” he said, and did not go into further detail.
The Tigers appear to have all the tools to make another deep postseason run in their final season as a member of the Big 12. They kick off the season Friday, facing Ball State in Troy, Ala., in the Quality Inn Classic.