No. 16 Missouri softball swept its second straight Southeastern Conference series, winning all three games this weekend against Mississippi State. The sweep brought Missouri to a 37–12 season record and a 12–9 SEC record and will most likely move the Tigers up in rankings.
The Tigers won Friday night 8–5, followed by a Saturday evening 3–1 win. The team ended the series Sunday afternoon with a 9–2 victory.
Here are three takeaways from the series:
**The Tigers are on a roll**
The third game of this series marked Missouri’s eighth consecutive victory, the team’s second-longest winning streak of the season. The Tigers united after the embarrassing three-game sweep at the hands of Georgia in April. The team is back on track at exactly the right time. With one more SEC series before the conference tournament in two weeks, the Tigers are doing everything right, both offensively and defensively.
The way Missouri is playing right now is cohesive enough that if something goes wrong, every player can do what the team needs to fix it. Missouri is truly one team right now, and it shows in the field and at the plate. Going into the SEC Tournament, Mizzou will have to face some of the best teams in the nation. The good news is, the Tigers are right up there with those teams.
**Speed is essential**
Missouri made history Sunday when it set the new single-season school record for most team stolen bases. Senior Taylor Gadbois and freshman Rylee Pierce stole one each, improving the number of team stolen bases to 143. This surpassed the 1988 team, who recorded 142 total stolen bases.
When the Tigers can hit the ball like they did this series, they can win big because of the quickness on the bases. Speed has become an essential part of the offensive play, and if Missouri keeps doing what it is doing on the bases, the offense can be unstoppable.
**Solid pitching helps win**
Obviously, if the defense can shut down the opposing team’s offense, it will be put in a good position to win. The Tigers did just that this weekend, and it all started in the pitching circle. Sophomore Paige Lowary tossed a complete game Friday night, earning her 19th win of the season. Freshman Danielle Baumgartner picked up her 14th win of the season and her second solid start against an SEC team. Lowary also was the relief pitcher for Sunday’s game, and after allowing two runs scored, she shut Mississippi State out during the second half of the game.
The pitching staff is consistent when the defense finds itself in a jam. During the second game in the bottom of the sixth inning, MSU had two runners on and no outs, but Lowary entered the game to throw two strikeouts and led the defense out of the inning. If the pitching staff can control its tendency to throw some wild pitches here and there, it can shut out tough SEC offenses.
_Edited by Peter Baugh | pbaugh@themaneater.com_
