The Black and Gold Game gave fans a first look at the 2017 Missouri Tigers softball team. The Black team edged the Gold team 2-1 in a low-scoring affair.

The Black team opened with redshirt sophomore Madi Norman on the mound, who looked sharp. Norman held the Gold team hitless and scoreless in three innings and ended her day by striking out the side.

Norman transferred to Mizzou from Louisville this season.

“Mizzou has always been my dream since day one,” said Norman, a native of Tipton, Missouri. “I’ve always been so excited to play here and I’ve worked twice as hard as I think I ever would have anywhere else.”

Chloe Rathburn started the scoring for the Black team with a solo home run in the top of the second inning, one of her two hits on the day. Jolie Duffner drove in Lexi Rampetsreiter to extend the team’s lead to two in the top of the third.

The spark of offense from the Gold team came from Braxton Burnside. She reached base in the first on a towering fly to center field that was dropped by Raime Cohen. In her second at bat, Burnside gave the Gold team its only run of the game, with a long ball that just managed to clear the left field fence. Perhaps her best hit came in her third at bat, when she hit a towering fly ball that would have been destined for the outfield bleachers had a ceiling not been there to interfere.

“I thought I hit it good, but the ump had a different opinion, and that’s OK,” Burnside said.

Burnside’s performance is all the more impressive considering she needed unexpected gallbladder surgery over winter break. She referred to the injury as a “minor setback.”

Coach Ehren Earleywine noted how quickly Burnside has been able to get back into her groove.

“The cool thing is every couple days since her surgery, she’s gotten it to where she’s swinging it a little bit better and a little bit faster,” Earleywine said.

Despite what seemed to be dominant pitching, coach Earleywine was not completely satisfied.

“I think all of [the pitchers] did OK,” he said. “I don’t think anybody had a great day.”

He did, however, note that the velocity being down was probably due to the rigorous practice schedule they have been having.

“We’re not preparing for the Black and Gold game,” Earleywine said. “We’re preparing for conference and postseason play.”

Mizzou’s season starts next week with a trip to Charleston, South Carolina. Over the course of the weekend, Mizzou will play five games, two of them against No. 14 James Madison.

_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_