This isn’t the first time sophomore first baseman Kelsea Roth has ended the first game of a Southeastern Conference series with a home run. She did it on March 8, when she hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Texas A&M.
This time lacked the dramatics. Roth’s lined shot in the fifth inning pushed Missouri over the mercy rule, giving her team a 9-0 win over Arkansas at University Field Friday night. But the home run wasn’t just an exclamation point.
“I was just trying to save our pitching,” Roth said.
Senior pitcher Chelsea Thomas left after the fourth innings, throwing 59 pitches. Roth’s home run let senior Nicole Hudson, who has struggled during SEC play, finish with just one inning pitched, and prevented any need for Thomas to re-enter.
Roth also tallied a single in the first and an RBI double in the fourth. She leads the team with 11 home runs, placing her just one home run ahead of Hudson.
“When we recruited her, we thought, ‘Man, this kid’s going to hit 20 home runs freshman year,’” Earleywine said. “She struggled. We were thinking, ‘Did we make a mistake?’ And, this year, she and the rest of the sophomores have proven that we’re not dumb.”
Roth has bumped her average up over 100 points, hitting .377 this season compared to .260 with seven home runs her freshman year. Earleywine attributes the jump in performance to Roth’s comfort and laying off inside pitches.
“In that last at-bat, she took those first two that were inside for balls, and then got a good one and hit it out of the park,” Earleywine said. “That’s the difference. Last year, she swung at anything inside, to the point, anybody that was here remembers this, she swung at a pitch that was so inside, that it came back and hit her in the face.”
Missouri chipped away at Arkansas, scoring at least two runs in four of the five innings. The Tigers recorded 14 hits, their highest hit total in SEC play.
In the first inning, both of Missouri’s RBIs stemmed from lined drives hitting Razorback gloves. For the first one, Roth hit the ball off of pitcher Chelsea Cohen’s glove, scoring Hudson. The next batter, Mackenzie Sykes, singled off of the first baseman Devon Wallace’s glove to drive in sophomore third baseman Angela Randazzo.
Sykes, the second batter of the third inning, hit a solo shot over the left field bleachers. Senior Rachel Hay pinch hit for sophomore center fielder Kayla Kingsley, driving in two runs on triple to third. Freshman second baseman Emily Crane added an RBI double to give Missouri a five-run lead. A double from Roth and a single from freshman right fielder Carlie Rose each drove in runs, pushing the lead to seven runs.
Although she got some much-needed rest, Thomas picked up the win, giving her 101 in her career, which moved her into a tie with Teresa Wilson for the school record for wins at MU. Thomas get’s her first crack at breaking the 30-year record when she starts on Saturday.
“It means a lot to just be able to have the chance to do that,” Thomas said.
