Missouri softball is in action this weekend at the Mary Nutter Classic and took the field three times between Thursday and Friday. The Tigers split their doubleheader on Thursday to open the weekend and added a thrilling upset victory over Washington on Friday.
The Tigers were in complete control in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader, routing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 8-0.
It was redshirt sophomore Madi Norman who overpowered the Irish on the mound. Norman went the distance, allowing just three walks and four hits. Most impressively perhaps were her 10 strikeouts. The strikeouts set a career high and helped further prove that Norman is now the go-to ace of the team, improving to 3-1 on the season.
The Tigers looked like their old selves on the basepaths, swiping a season-high seven bases. The stolen bases, mixed with an explosive third inning headlined by a long ball from freshman Rylee Pierce, put the Tigers ahead.
In the second game of the day, the Tigers hung tight with the Texas Longhorns but fell off late, losing 10-3.
Despite allowing no hits in her three innings pitched, junior Cheyenne Baxter experienced some control issues, walking four Longhorns. Her two runs allowed came off a wild pitch in the first inning and a bases-loaded walk in the third. It was an out-of-character outing for Baxter, who was replaced by freshman Danielle Baumgartner after three innings.
Baumgartner did not provide much relief, allowing eight runs on 11 hits in her four innings pitched. The Tigers, who fared well on offense in the contest, missed the dominant pitching from the first game of the day.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Missouri cut the lead to 4-3 by capitalizing on errors made by Texas. Pitching and defense were sloppy on both sides, and the game looked destined to come down to the wire. That’s when Texas exploded on offense, scoring six in the sixth, putting the nail in the Tigers’ coffin.
The Tigers faced a mighty test on Friday, taking on the No. 7 Washington Huskies. Norman, who dominated Notre Dame the day before, allowed five runs in the top of the first, although only one was earned. The defense behind her was the problem, as an error by Braxton Burnside led to four of the runs.
Early on, it looked as though Missouri was experiencing a bad hangover from the Texas meltdown the day before. But the Tigers were resilient, scoring the final nine runs of the game en route to a 9-5 win, which captured their second top-25 win of the season.
In the final six innings of action, Norman settled in. The ace surrendered no further runs and allowed only three more hits. She struck out 10 batters in her second consecutive start.
Missouri’s offense, which was nowhere to be found against Texas, came back to life in the bottom of the first against Washington. Missouri trimmed the lead with back-to-back home runs from senior Kristen Mack and Burnside, cutting Washington’s lead to 5-3. Burnside was not done yet, as she blasted another one out of the park in the third to tie the game.
The Tigers broke a school record in home runs hit last season, and the power trend appears to be continuing early on in 2017. The icing on the cake came in the sixth inning, when Natalie Fleming hit a three-run bomb to extend the Tigers’ lead to 4.
The Tigers take on Nebraska and UC Santa Barbara today in the final day of the Mary Nutter Classic. The team will look to carry momentum from its win Friday.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_
