We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Trophy Case...

Awards season is here, and the Missouri Tigers have plenty to be thankful for. The Southeastern Conference announced their All-SEC teams on Tuesday, and it should come as no surprise that a bunch of Tigers found themselves honorees.

Mizzou Athletics

Brooke Wilmes and Casidy (one s, I think I’ve been spelling her name incorrectly all season, oops) Chaumont were both named Second Team All-SEC. From the MUTigers.com press release, Brooke leads Mizzou with 16 doubles and ranks in the SEC’s Top 15 in in hits, runs, RBI, doubles, total bases AND stolen bases. Casidy has five multi-hit games in SEC play and recorded nine extra-base hits and 12 RBI over that time.

All-world freshman Jenna Laird was named Freshman of the Year, First Team All-SEC, and to the All-Freshman team. In case you need a reminder of Jenna’s bad-assery, the press release is here to help you out.

Laird leads all SEC freshmen with a .410 batting average in conference play while also smashing 12 doubles, two triples, and seven home runs with 37 RBI. She has also stolen 11 bases on 11 attempts to begin her career.

A couple of pitchers also received honors, as Emma Nichols and Jordan Weber each earned All-Newcomer honors, which featured 2020 freshmen as well due to last year’s Covid-shortened season. Emma is tied for first in the NCAA (!!) with seven saves, while Jordan leads the Tigers’ pitching staff with a .210 OBA while having the most innings pitched.

And finally, in case this wasn’t enough for you, a few Tigers were ALSO honored for their defensive prowess. Casidy Chaumont and Emma Nichols were also named to the All-Defensive team. Casidy, who you probably saw making SportsCenter’s Top Ten on multiple occasions, left audiences awestruck with her diving catches and her ability to throw out runners, while Emma recorded 24 assists.

Winning the conference tournament is the next step for this talented and determined Tiger squad. The Tigers will play Thursday and face No. 16 LSU, Auburn or South Carolina.

Scores/Upcoming Schedule (#’s are tourney seeds, not national rankings):

No. 13 South Carolina 3, No. 12 Auburn 1

No. 8 Ole Miss vs. No. 9 Mississippi State, 12pm ET

No. 5 LSU vs. No. 13 South Carolina, 35min after Game 2

No. 7 Tennessee vs. No. 10 Texas A&M, 35min after Game 3

No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 11 Georgia, 35min after Game 4

After that — Sunday, to be specific— the Tigers will find out if they are one out of the list of 20 to host a regional.

On to the Links!

Let’s go, Tigers! #Ownit

-Love, Your Number 1 Softball Fan Site, Rock M Nation

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Yesterday at Rock M

• It’s game preview time already, and Nate the Great is back, previewing the first opponent of the 2021 season, the Central Michigan Chippewas.
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Sam wrote about how Ronnie DeGray III’s addition answers specific questions about Mizzou Hoop’s future.
• COMING UP: As he continues his replacement series, BK looks at who might replace Larry Three-Sticks.

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More Links:

Football/Hoops

• Robin Pingeton is calling the offseason workouts, which wrapped up April 30, one of the best Aprils they’ve had since she’s been here. She elaborated in this new piece from Eric Blum saying, “I think it was a little bit of everything — the grittiness, kind of getting back to the roots of our culture, the blue-collar mentality, the toughness. We focused quite a bit on our defense and obviously implemented some offensive things, too. Our kids just really knocked it out of the park consistently all month.” It’s a good read.
• Mizzou Hoops to the Sunshine State for a tourney? I bet my parents are excited.

• Coach Casey Woods played a fun game of This or That for football’s social media.

Other Mizzou Sports

• ESPN’s Amanda Scarborough called Mizzou a ‘dark horse’ in the Women’s College World Series, according to this new article by Eric Blum of the Columbia Tribune. From the piece, where he had a chance to talk with her:

“I think that they have one of the best lineups and offenses in the country. It’s underrated. It’s not talked about as much as it should be. They have leadership, they have left-handed power, right-handed power... I still think that they’re a dark horse because they aren’t getting that national recognition... I think they’re not in the conversation, every conversation, when it comes to, ‘Hey, who do you think is going to be at the Women’s College World Series?’”

• Congrats to Mizzou Tennis, who named Chris Wooten as their head coach on Tuesday and removed the interim tag. He led Mizzou to a 15-16 record in 2020-21 while improving the team’s national ranking from No. 178 to as high as No. 36 on March 3. Mizzou’s 15 wins rank as the fifth-most in a single season, their highest win total in almost two decades, according to the MUTigers.com press release.
• After Jessica Yuen’s performance in Round 1 of the NCAA Louisville Regional, she gave herself little chance of qualifying for the national championship. But after Round 2, all hope is lost after tying her highest score of the season according to the Missourian’s Calum McAndrew.

Mizzou in the Pros

• Jordan Clarkson had what only can be described as a wacky game on Monday in the Jazz’s 119-116 loss to the Warriors. While hoisting 33 (!!) shots from off the bench and had a horrendous three quarters where he missed all seven of his 3-point attempts in the first half and was 0-8 until there were 45 seconds left in the third, JC singlehandedly willed himself to keep the Jazz in the game with his 24 fourth quarter points. His final stat line? 41 points on 16-33 shooting (5-16 from behind the arc), 7 defensive rebounds, 0 assists, and one steal in 35 minutes of play, with a +/- of -17.

With how valuable he is to that Utah team, he seems to have a firm hold on NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, some inefficiencies aside.

In a great article wrapping up the game in the Salt Lake Tribune, Andy Larsen looked at the great, the good, and the bad of Jordan Clarkson. While he had the worst +/- of the game, and he did do a lot of damage for much of the game, the article details how many of the possessions he had were late in the clock, many of them were half-court, and many of them came with no spacing on the floor because of Trent Forrest.

• Jontay Porter, who had been a DNP since April 29, finally got a chance to play in Tuesday’s 133-104 win over the Mavs. In his 5 minutes of play, he was 2-2 from the field with one rebound. Way to go, Jontay!
• Michael Porter Jr continues to just be ridiculously efficient — something that we all wish JC would be — and scored 30 points in the Nuggets’ 117-112 win over the Hornets. In his 35 minutes of playing time, he was 12-18 from the field and 6-10 from behind the arc. Add in the six rebounds, one assist, and two steals, and he found himself with a +23 +/- on the night.

Further looking into Mike’s stats, here’s his last five games below, courtesy of ESPN. In the entire month of April — that’s 16 games — he only had TWO games where he didn’t score 20+ points.

Furthermore, on last week’s Nuggets Ink podcast (from the Denver Post) the hosts discussed how, if there was a month of the regular season left, some NBA insiders really think he’d find himself on the All-NBA team as a Third Teamer. And he’s only going to get better, y’all. The fact that the Nuggets got him where they did in the draft has got to leave a bunch of teams scratching their heads thinking about what they missed out on.

• Sophie Cunningham played 18 minutes in the Mercury’s final preseason game on Monday, shooting 3-6 from the field and 1-2 from behind the arc with one rebound and one assist. Next up for Soph and the Mercury is their season opener, Friday against the Minnesota Lynx at 6pm on CBS Sports.

In honor of the W’s 25th season, ESPN did a really cool list of 25 most defining milestones in the league. As a huge proponent and fan of women’s sports, I really hope ESPN keeps coming up with content like this to promote the very talented athletes out there killin it.

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