The No. 12 Missouri softball team swept a doubleheader on the final day of the DeMarini Invitational on Sunday. Missouri (16-3) defeated Alcorn State 9-0 and Northern Illinois 8-0 behind heavy hitting and flawless pitching to complete a perfect weekend.
“I think weʼre finally starting to play smarter softball,” coach Ehren Earleywine said. “We’re getting better. Some of these freshman have grown up a lot in these last few weeks.”
That statement rang true in the Tigers’ win over Alcorn State. Freshman starter Bailey Erwin threw five innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits and only one runner to reach third base.
At the plate, freshman Kelsi Jones hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and finished 3-for-3 with five RBI. Freshman second baseman Corrin Genovese blasted a leadoff homer in the first inning and added a two-run triple in the second.
“I knew I hit it well,” Jones said. “I knew they were going to go outside on me because they had in my first two at bats. She just left it over the heart of the plate and I was able to get my hands extended.”
The victory over Northern Illinois featured much of the same.
Senior starter Kristin Nottlemann threw five innings, allowing no runs and only two hits while striking out six.
The only real threat came in the fourth inning. With a scoreless tie, Husky designated hitter Shelby Miller doubled to left center, giving Northern Illinois its first hit. After a flyout, pinch-hitter Jennifer Barnett slapped a hard grounder off the glove of junior shortstop Princess Krebs and into left field for a single. Junior left fielder Nicole Hudson got to the ball quickly and fired a perfect strike to junior catcher Jenna Marston, who applied the tag on Miller to prevent the score.
Krebs led off the bottom of the inning by smacking a single to center and advancing to second on an error. Sophomore Mackenzie Sykes followed with a long triple off the wall in right, scoring Krebs. One pitch later, Sykes scored on a wild pitch.
Missouri added six runs in the sixth, highlighted by Hudson’s RBI double and a towering two-run homer to left by Krebs. After a single, a fielder’s choice and a walk, senior first baseman Ashley Fleming lined an infield single off Northern Illinois pitcher Allyson Hecht’s leg, scoring Sykes and ending the game via run-rule.
“I was seeing the ball really well,” Krebs said. “I was just in a groove. I felt like they were going to throw me inside, so I was looking there.”
With rain coming down hard, game one was played inside Devine Fieldhouse for the first time all season. A makeshift diamond was created on top of the practice football field, making for unusual dimensions, including a center field deeper and a right field much shorter than on University Field. Any fly ball that hit the ceiling required an umpire’s judgment on the ruling.
The Missouri players and coaches said other teams don’t like to play inside because they feel it gives the Tigers an unfair advantage.
“They were probably a little freaked out by it,” said Jones, whose grand slam nicked the roof of the building just before the right field wall. “Coming from Alcorn State, they’ve never been in such a facility before. But it’s great for us because we practice in there all winter.”
The Tigers’ next outing is Wednesday at Arkansas.