The Tigers could not seem to break through in their first home series of the season, going scoreless and suffering a beat-down in their series against the Wildcats.
Missouri softball was back in action this weekend as it hosted Kentucky for a three-game series. The Tigers came into the series riding a two-game win streak — their most recent win coming in thrilling fashion against the visiting UMKC Roos.
Riding that high was short lived, as Kentucky jumped on Missouri in game one of the series.
The Tigers fell 5-0 in the series opener and were out-hit 10-2 by the Wildcats, marking the second time all year being shut out and the first time at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
The Wildcats jumped out to a lead in the third inning on an RBI single from their senior Catcher, Kayla Kowalik. Kowalik proved to be the star of the game at the plate for Kentucky as she went 2-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Once the Wildcats got their lead, there was no looking back as they continued to tack on runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. The lone home run in the game was smashed by Kentucky’s Erin Coffel in the fourth inning.
One bright spot for the Tigers was the outing from their junior starting pitcher, Laurin Krings. Krings was electric on the mound as she went a full seven innings. Though she gave up five runs in those innings, Krings gave the bullpen a rest day as she was able to complete the entire game.
The second game of the series was scheduled for Saturday, but due to rainfall in Columbia, the game was rescheduled to Sunday, setting up a double-header for the Tigers.
However, the extra day of rest didn’t seem to help Missouri regroup, and they came out slow once again.
The team failed to score a run again and was defeated 5-0 in the first game of the double-header. That game was a momentum killer for the Tigers, who were blanked for their second consecutive game.
Regardless, Missouri battled through five innings.
Heading into the sixth inning, the score was deadlocked at 0-0, and a pitchers duel was underway. Both Jordan Weber for Missouri and Alexia Lacatena for Kentucky made it to the sixth inning untouched; neither starting pitcher conceded a run through five.
In the sixth inning, Kentucky’s Kennedy Sullivan connected on a ball and smacked a two-run double to right-center field, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead over the Tigers going into the seventh inning. Kentucky later tacked on three more runs in the seventh as it toppled Missouri 5-0 and took game two of the three-game series.
Game three of the series took off and was almost a carbon copy of the first two.
The only difference in the third game was that Kentucky started by ripping off three runs in the first inning to jump out to an early lead. The Wildcats’ Rylea Smith started things off in the first for Kentucky when she drove in a run on a double down the line, Smith finished the game 3-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.
A slight positive for Missouri came on the batting side from Alex Honnold. She was the only Tiger to record multiple hits, going 2-4 in the game. The Tigers struggled drastically with runners on base, stranding 16 runners throughout the game.
The Tigers offensive struggles plagued them all weekend, and they were shut out in three consecutive games. This was a tough series for Missouri because they had gained momentum coming into the weekend.
The Tigers will look to get back on track Tuesday, March 14, when they take on Illinois in the always-entertaining border war, followed by another weekend series — this time on the road — against the Florida Gators. First pitch from Gainesville on Friday will be at 5 p.m.
Edited by Matt Guzman | mguzman@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Mary Philip
