All information provided for the various collegiate softball teams’ previews are accredited to their respective sports writers and editors.

After four months and 58 games, it’s time for Missouri softball to enter the postseason. The Tigers were selected as the No. 7 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, their highest ranking since 2013. 

As a result Missouri hosts the first regional round in Columbia, and will host a super regional with a win. This idea is brilliant but far from a guarantee, as three teams travel to Columbia trying to upset the Tigers on their own turf — Washington, Indiana and Nebraska-Omaha. 

Here’s what to expect from these four teams in the coming days from student journalists at each school. 

Missouri  (43-15, 13-11 SEC)

Season recap

This has been a bounceback season for Missouri, after finishing last in the SEC during the 2023 season. The Tigers started red-hot, entering SEC play with an 18-2 record. This included wins against tournament teams like Utah and Clemson during the NFCA Leadoff Classic. 

Missouri held their own in a competitive SEC, finishing fifth with series victories over regional hosts Florida and LSU. The only letdown came early in the SEC playing field when Missouri was swept on the road against Tennessee. 

The Tigers closed strong by sweeping South Carolina before winning three games en route to the SEC tournament championship game. Missouri came up just short, falling to Florida 6-1. 

The Tigers finished the regular season with 34 wins away from home, more than any other team in a power five conference.

Strengths

The biggest strength of this Missouri roster comes from its pitching. Out of the four pitchers with 20-plus appearances, each of them have an ERA below 3.00. The team’s overall ERA of 2.09 ranks third in the SEC. 

Offensively the Tigers manufacture runs in a variety of ways. Missouri ranks top five in the SEC in hit by pitch (77), sacrifice bunts (27), sacrifice flies (23) and stolen bases (60). 

Weaknesses

The primary pitching weakness for Missouri comes in the team’s tendency to give up extra base hits. The Tigers rank in the bottom half of the SEC when it comes to allowing doubles (64), triples (7) and home runs (39).

Offensively the Tigers struggle timing pitches, ranking second worst in the conference with 280 strikeouts. 

Players to watch

Sophomore pitcher Taylor Pannell is Missouri’s most unique player, acting as one of the few true closers in college softball. Pannell holds the all-time single season save record in Missouri history with 14. She is close to breaking the all-time record for Division I, which currently sits at 15. Pannell boasts a 0.97 ERA with a 3-1 record, striking out 29 batters in 29.0 innings pitched.

One hitter to watch is senior outfielder Alex Honnold. In her final season Honnold led the SEC with 21 doubles. In addition to her doubles Honnold finished the year with a .348 batting average, 5 home runs and 35 RBI. 

Omaha (41-13, 14-4 Summit) 

Season recap

Coming off a 2023 Summit League championship and an NCAA tournament berth, expectations were high for the Omaha Mavericks entering 2024.

Omaha started the season on a high note, including a 15-game win streak in March featuring a sweep over the Purdue Boilermakers. Despite not losing a conference series, 14-4 only earned Omaha second place in the Summit League. 

After losing to No. 1 seed South Dakota State, the Mavericks notched three straight wins in the tournament to punch their ticket back to the NCAA tournament. Omaha isn’t as proven against tournament teams, finishing 1-4 in the regular season against teams that made it to the next round.

Strengths

Omaha finds its strength in every aspect, finishing first in the Summit in nearly every statistical category. This includes first in batting average (.283), ERA (2.39) and fielding percentage (.981).

Their ERA is nearly one-point better than the second place South Dakota Coyotes (3.22), led by graduate student pitcher Kamryn Meyer.

The Mavericks were the only team in the entire Summit League to eclipse 40 wins and the only under 20 losses. 

Weaknesses

While Meyer has dominated on the mound, the rest of the Mavericks have failed to pick up the slack when she doesn’t play. Omaha’s top two relievers both have an ERA over four despite seeing less than 30 innings of action each. 

The Mavericks field at a .980 rate which ranks No.5 in the nation, but the only soft spot in the defense can be found at shortstop. Junior Maggie O’Brien leads the team with 11 errors, stemming from the occasional lapse in judgment.

Players to watch

While O’Brien leads the team in errors, it is the only noticeable weakness in her game. O’Brien led the team and finished third in the conference with a .376 batting average along with 13 stolen bases. Despite hitting a rough spot and batting 1-17 in the Summit League Tournament, the junior shortstop is a player to watch on the Mavericks. 

Meyer came out as the best player in the Summit League, winning the conference tournament MVP. In the last four games of the regular season Meyer pitched 34.0 innings while allowing only three runs with 43 strikeouts. Looking at the overall season the pitcher registered a 1.51 ERA and a 25-4 record.

“With Meyer certainly on the mound Friday, I would expect a low-scoring affair,” Sports Editor for The Gateway, Issac Nielsen said. “Mizzou is clearly a great squad, hence the No. 7 seed, but Omaha is pretty well-positioned to cause some trouble in Columbia.”

Indiana (40-18, 12-11 Big Ten)

Season recap

Indiana softball is back in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. However, this success for the Hoosiers has been relatively recent. Before 2023, Indiana was in the middle of an 12-year tournament drought. The recent success comes courtesy of head coach Shonda Stanton. 

Indiana started the non-conference right with a 22-6 record including a leadoff win against Oregon. The Hoosiers slumped during the start of Big Ten play, starting 0-6 suffering sweeps at the hands of Penn State and Michigan. 

After finishing No. 8 in the Big Ten, Indiana made a push to the Big Ten championship final with three straight wins before falling to No. 2 Michigan. 

The Hoosiers skimmed into the tournament as one of the last four teams in.

“Now there’s new life and you get a second chance,” Softball Reporter for IUSTV, Emma Watson said.

Strengths

What stands out the most when looking at the Hoosiers is the team’s ability to hit. Indiana led the Big Ten in batting average (.312), home runs (66) and runs scored (356).

“They know that it doesn’t really matter if you score three on us,” Watson said. “We’ll score six in the eighth inning and beat you.”

The pitching staff pulls their weight , finishing third in the conference in both ERA (3.02) and strikeouts (313).

Weaknesses

Indiana’s struggles manifest themselves in the field. The Hoosiers’ fielding percentage of .966 ranks last of the four teams in the regional and No. 104 in the nation. 

“There are moments that I have seen where Indiana will just shoot themselves in the foot,” Watson said.

On the mound this Indiana pitching staff ranks in the bottom half of the Big Ten in terms of walks allowed per seven innings (3.2) and home runs (45).

Players to watch

Two players that stand out are freshmen utility players Aly VanBrandt and Alex Cooper. VanBrandt finished the season with a team-high .370 batting average. Cooper finished her first year with a .283 batting average along with seven home runs and 35 RBI. 

Perhaps the player with the biggest impact on the team has been junior Taylor Minnick. On the field, Minnick finished with a .360 batting average along with 10 home runs and 53 RBI. The biggest impact for Minnick came in her work as a teammate.

“She’s one of those players that [her] mentality is so strong,” Watson said. “You can equate her to Caitlin Clark in a way.”

Washington (31-13, 13-10 Pac 12)

Season recap

Last year was a dream season for Washington softball. The Huskies made it to the Women’s College World Series, winning a single game in Oklahoma City. Thanks to a large departure of seniors, Washington’s production has dipped.

The season started well enough, as the Huskies entered conference play with a 16-2 record including a big win against top-25 Kentucky. Washington limped into the postseason, losing its last four games including a run-rule loss in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament against Arizona. 

Washington played a fairly light schedule at 44 games, as the rest of the regional teams played at least 50. As a result the Huskies are the only team in the regional without 40 wins despite having a comparable number of losses. Part of this light schedule comes due to four game cancellations across the season. This included regional hosts and potential resume building wins in the forms of LSU and Florida State.

“That hurt [Washington’s] RPI ranking,” Sports Editor for The Daily, Andrew Sousa said. “It was a brutal year in terms of the weather.”

Strengths

Washington’s top ability is the team’s ability to minimize mistakes in the field. The Huskies rank first in the nation with only 23 errors committed throughout the season. 

“Those [mistakes] can add up when you’re playing postseason teams, so that will be a nice plus for them,” Sousa said.

The pitching staff has been a major advantage for Washington this year. The Huskies have allowed 245 hits for first in the Pac-12, and second in the conference with a 2.71 ERA.

Weaknesses

Washington’s hitting can hit rough spells, ranking in the bottom half of the conference with 382 hits during the season.

“When you’re a young team you like to swing at pitches,” Sousa said. “Maybe some balls that you shouldn’t.”

From a pitching perspective, the Huskies struggled with walks, ranking No. 7 in the Pac-12 with an average of 2.86 walks allowed per game.

Players to watch

Graduate student Brooke Nelson impacted the game both as a batter and a pitcher. Nelson led the team with a .345 batting average and a .714 slugging percentage. In addition she finished top three on the team with 12 home runs and 34 RBI. On the mound Nelson finished with a record of 5-1 and a 1.93 ERA with 32.2 innings pitched.

“Every Washington fan is going to know Brooke Nelson,” Sousa said. “Five years she’s just been a superstar.”

The second player to note is junior infielder Rylee Holtorf. In her junior year Holtorf batted .340 along with 11 home runs and 25 RBI while starting every game.

The four teams will face off at the Mizzou Softball Stadium in the double elimination tournament starting Friday, May 17.

Edited by Hannah Taylor 

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com