Shortly after throwing a no-hitter Saturday night, senior pitcher Chelsea Thomas lobbied forcefully to pitch Sunday afternoon’s Senior Day game against Tennessee.
“Last night, she was blowing my phone up,” Missouri coach Ehren Earleywine said after the team’s 12-8 win over the No. 2 Volunteers. “And this morning, she was working behind the scenes, trying to have people talk me into it.”
Earleywine held strong, keeping his ace on the bench while senior Nicole Hudson pitched her second straight game. Keeping his competitive side in check, Earleywine chose to look at the big picture instead, something he will continue to do in this week’s Southeastern Conference tournament, which starts Thursday afternoon for the Tigers (33-10, 15-8 SEC) against Arkansas in Lexington, Ky.
While both Earleywine and Thomas said she would pitch every game of the NCAA tournament, Earleywine said he plans to start Thomas on Thursday but wouldn’t start her if Missouri went on to play a second game at the SEC tournament.
“One of our goals was never to win the SEC tournament,” Earleywine said. “That’s not on our goal list, so we’ll let her pitch just to get her some work in and whatever happens, happens. But come regional tournament time, all bets are off.”
Thomas didn’t place any particular importance on the tournament, either.
“I think we treat it like any other weekend, any other series game,” Thomas said. “Just go and do our best and see what we can do.”
Rachel Hay, another senior, has seen sporadic playing time at a variety of positions this season. The veteran, along with the other true seniors on the team, went Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series her freshman and sophomore years.
“Our eyes are definitely set on the postseason, and we want to win a national championship,” Hay said. “Having an SEC conference ring would be great, but I think our goals are more heading into a national championship and getting back to the College World Series.”
While the SEC tournament doesn’t necessarily carry much emotional significance for the players, it could potentially benefit the team. The top eight seeds nationally earn the opportunity to host Super Regionals in the NCAA tournament.
Currently, Missouri sits at No. 7 and 8 in the two major polls and No. 10 in RPI. The Tigers have a high probability of playing several RPI top 50 teams in the SEC tournament, as Arkansas is ranked No. 24 and Tennessee, their likely second round matchup, sits at No. 9 in terms of RPI. Those matchups would make it easier for Missouri to jump up a few spots in the RPI standings.
The reason Earleywine will not go for both an NCAA and SEC tournament title remains because of the health of Thomas, who he hopes to be 100 percent come NCAA Tournament time.
“I think she might be dragging a little bit, but the plan is to throw her Friday, Saturday, Sunday in Regionals, and we’re preparing for that physically, emotionally, everything,” Earleywine said.
Missouri’s quarterfinal game against Arkansas is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Thursday and will be televised on ESPNU.
