And we’re back! Mizzou has now played six games in the young season and holds a 4-2 record. We just saw our Tigers a few days ago, when they took on the higher-ranked UCF Knights in Orlando. It was a Battle of the Bats, as my recap proclaimed, with Mizzou coming away with the victory, 11-8. Here’s some highlights from the SlugFest.

Now the Tigers are set to conclude their extensive Florida excursion with a slew of games in South Beach. Sounds like fun to me!

The format of this weekend’s stretch of games at the Panther Invitational is a round robin-type of tournament. Each team will play each of the other 3 teams, and then depending upon how it goes will depend upon who they play again.

Per Eric Mueller, Mizzou’s softball SID:

The final seedings prior to bracket play will be determined by:

1) record 2) head-to-head results between the teams involved in a tie 3) if 3 or more teams are tied, the least number of runs allowed in the 3 games…if still tied then 4) least number of runs allowed vs. the teams involved in the tie. The second seed will face the third seed Saturday before the top seed squares off with the fourth seed.

Karen Steger Designs

2022 RECORD: 38-22, 12-11 (7th in SEC)

2023 RECORD: 4-2

PROJECTED CONFERENCE FINISH: 8th in SEC

LAST FIVE GAMES: #20 UCF (W 11-8) | Louisville (L 4-0) | Prairie View A&M (W 11-0 in 5in) | #8 Northwestern (W 6-1) | Fordham (W 13-3 in 6in)

RANKING: #23 (ESPN.com/USA Softball), #26/RV (NFCA), NR (D1 Softball), #25 (Softball America)

2022 PERFORMANCES:

2023 TOP OFFENSIVE PERFORMERS:

• Jenna Laird: .500 BA | 1.204 OPS | 22 AB | 9 R | 11 H | 2 2B | 1 3B | 4 RBI | .682 SLG% | .522 OB% | 6 SB
• Alex Honnold: .385 BA | 1.532 OPS | 13 AB | 8 R | 5 H | 1 2B | 2 HR | 10 RBI | .923 SLG% | 7 BB | .609 OB% | 6 SB
• Julia Crenshaw: .318 BA | 1.045 OPS | 22 AB | 4 R | 7 H | 3 2B | 2 HR | 7 RBI | .727 SLG% | .318 OB%
• Kara Daly: .313 BA | .791 OPS | 16 AB | 3 R | 5 H | 2 2B | 1 RBI | .438 SLG% | 1 BB | .353 OB%
• Katie Chester: .300 BA | .600 OPS | 10 AB | 1 R | 3 H | 2 RBI | .300 SLG% | .300 OB%

2023 PITCHING STATS:

• Cierra Harrison: 2.80 ERA | 0.90 WHIP | 2-0 record | 10.0 IP | 7 H | 4 R | 4 ER | 2 BB | 17 SO | 3 HR | 0.189 Opp BA
• Laurin Krings: 3.42 ERA | 1.53 WHIP | 14.1 IP | 1 CG | 18 H | 9 R | 7 ER | 4 BB | 7 SO | 3 HR | .310 Opp BA
• Jordan Weber: 8.84 ERA | 2.37 WHIP | 6.1 IP | 14 H | 9 R | 8 ER | 1 BB | 4 SO | 6 XBH | .438 Opp BA
• Megan Schumacher: 2.63 ERA | 1.88 WHIP | 5.1 IP | 8 H | 5 R | 2 ER | 2 BB | 2 SO | 1 HR | .333 Opp BA
• Taylor Pannell: 0.00 ERA | 2.0 IP | 2 SO | .000 Opp BA

ACCOLADES:

• D1 Softball Top 80 Freshmen Names to Know: Cierra Harrison, P
• Jenna Laird: 2023 USA Softball Collegiate POY Watchlist, 2023 Preseason All-SEC, no. 14 on D1 Softball SEC Power Rankings, No. 8 SS in D1 Softball Top 100; 2023 NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team

NOTES:

• Offense, offense, offense! The team is currently slashing at a rate of .308 BA /.871 OPS /.465 SLG/.406 OB%. They’ve already got 9 doubles on the season and 4 home runs. They are hitting well with runners on base. Against UCF, who is a good ball club, they hit .323 overall, and .333 with two outs. With runners on, they were even more successful, going 8-16 (.500). The Tigers seemingly got production from everyone in that game.
• Julia Crenshaw continued to impress, smashing her second homer of the year, while also adding 3 RBI and a double. Not to be outdone, Alex Honnold also smashed her second homer of the year — a three-run shot — and added a double, a walk, a stolen base, and 4 RBI. Jenna Laird was, of course, Jenna Laird, and was 2-4 with 2 runs scored, a double, a single, and 2 RBI. You really just love to see it.
• Pitching Woes? Not so fast. The Tigers’ pitching has shown some cracks early on, but Krings and Weber have traditionally been slower in terms of getting going. Remember, just last year, Krings and Weber shut out the very strong SEC Tournament field a season ago until the title game. And had Mizzou given any run support in the NCAA Regionals, they might have had a chance against Arizona (they lost 1-0 and 2-0).
• Per 6-4-3 Charts, last season Jo held right-handed hitters to a .162 BA and .604 OPS and held all hitters to a .202 BA with runners in scoring position, while Krings held right-handed hitters to a .203 BAA and .650 OPS according to 6-4-3. She also had a 27.5% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate, and with runners in scoring position, had a 28.8% strikeout rate.
• Krings wasn’t as good on Wednesday, but she was fantastic against Northwestern. She’ll get there. Per my father’s investigative work (that must be where I get it from), Jo is nursing some sort of thumb ailment that requires shots.
• Cierra Harrison is going to be a STAR and was able to take down UCF power hitters who had already jacked homers when the Tigers needed it most. Taylor Pannell has been a fantastic reliever thus far in limited duty. There’s a lot of depth on this staff.

Let’s check out the opponents, shall we?

Karen Steger Designs

WHEN: Friday, February 17 at 9am

WHERE: Felsburg Field at FIU Softball Stadium | Miami, FL

STATS: https://fiusports.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary

HISTORY: Mizzou and Butler have only faced each other once in their history, back in 2017. Mizzou won the home contest, 8-0.

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2022 RECORD: 31-17 / 16-6 Big East

2023 RECORD: 1-5

LAST 5 GAMES: Colgate (L 2-13) | Marshall (L 3-7) | Portland State (L 4-6) | Marshall (W 7-6 | WKU (L 0-10)

PROJECTED CONFERENCE FINISH: 4th in Big East

2022 PERFORMANCES:

2023 TOP PERFORMERS:

• Kaylee Gross: .417 BA | 12 AB | 2 R | 5 H | 2 RBI | .417 SLG% | 3 BB | 2 SO | .533 OB%
• Cate Lehner: .375 BA | 16 AB | 2 R | 6 H | 1 RBI | .375 SLG% | 1 BB | 2 SO | .412 OB%
• Ella White: .316 BA | 19 AB | 3 R | 6 H | 2 2B | 3 RBI | .421 SLG% | 1 BB | 2 SO | .350 OB%
• Loren Simpson: .286 BA | 14 AB | 1 R | 4 H | 1 2B | 1 RBI | .357 SLG% | 2 SO | .286 OB%
• Sydney Cammon: 5.60 ERA | 0-0 | 10 IP | 19 H | 10 R | 8 ER | 3 BB | 3 SO | 3 HR | .413 Opp BA

NOTES:

• LAST SEASON: The Bulldogs’ 16 conference wins last season were the best in the program’s Big East era and landed them in 2nd place in the regular season conference standings. Its 31 wins was the most in a single season since 2011. Their single biggest strength was their pitching, as they had a 2.53 team ERA (Mizzou’s was 2.80, for reference).
• DEPARTURES: Big East Pitcher of the Year Alyssa Graves (1.95 ERA, 14-4); All Big East honorees Lauren Fey and Bri Avery. With the extensive losses in both pitching and offensively, the Bulldogs have a lot of production to replace. Fey and Avery were Butler’s only players hitting above .300 (Hoosen was close with a .294 mark).
• PITCHING: Senior Mackenzie Griman is the lone returning veteran of the Bulldog staff, and in 2022, pitched only 49.1 innings. A two-way player, she’s also a decent hitter. Grad transfer Sydney Cammon (Eastern Illinois) will be tasked with filling a gaping hole in the Butler pitching staff, which lacks in experience.
• OFFENSE: Ellie Boyer plays a bit of a small ball and led the team last year with 7 sac bunts. She also is a certified bag swiper, amassing 16 steals last year (3rd on the team). Ella White could step up in the wake of offseason departures. She led the team in doubles, ranked second in the Big East in triples, and had five home runs. Monique Hoosen is Butler’s best returning hitter and was responsible for 10 of Butler’s 27 homers last season. Freshman Cate Lehner is off to a hot start, and brings some speed to a lineup which needs it. Butler’s offense isn’t like to scare anyone, so they’ve got to get runs any way they can.
• Kayle Gross was named to the Big East weekly awards honor roll after leading the Bulldogs with a .417 BA in 6 games.
• STAFF: Scott Hall is entering his 13th season at the helm of the Bulldogs and is the winningest coach in Butler Softball history. As of the end of the 2022 season, Hall’s record at Butler is 277-294-1. Prior to taking over at Butler, Hall was considered one of the most successful high school coaches in the state of Indiana, amassing a record of 285-87 (.793). In 2021, he was inducted into the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Assocation Hall of Fame.

Karen Steger Designs

WHEN: Friday, February 17 at 2p.m.

WHERE: Felsburg Field at FIU Softball Stadium | Miami, FL

STATS: https://fiusports.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary

HISTORY: Since 2001, Mizzou and Pitt have faced off 5 times. Mizzou holds a 3-2 series lead over the Panthers. The last time they faced was April 2019 during Larissa Anderson’s first year, when they played a 2-game series at home. Mizzou took the first game 9-2, while Pitt took the second one 4-5.

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2022 RECORD: 14-27 / 2-20 ACC

2023 RECORD: 3-1

LAST FIVE GAMES: Fordham (W 7-3) | #20 Kentucky (canceled) | #21 Auburn (W 8-7) | Prairie View A&M (W 5-0) | Indiana (L 5-17)

PROJECTED CONFERENCE FINISH: Last in ACC (8 points behind Boston College)

2022 PERFORMANCES:

2023 TOP PERFORMERS:

• Sarah Seamans: .500 BA | 1.350 OPS | 12 AB | 4 R | 6 H | 1 HR | 2 RBI | .750 SLG% | 3 BB | 3 SO | .600 OB%
• Rachael Fuerst: .500 BA | 1.100 OPS | 8 AB | 2 R | 4 H | 3 RBI | .500 SLG% | 2 BB | 1 SO | .600 OB%
• Bailey Drapola: .444 BA | 1.199 OPS | 9 AB | 3 R | 4 H | 1 2B | 3 RBI | .556 SLG% | 4 BB | 3 SO | .643 OB%
• EC Taylor: .429 BA | 1.000 OPS | 7 AB | 2 R | 3 H | 1 2B | .571 SLG% | 1 SO | .429 OB%
• Kayla Lane: .300 BA | .862 OPS | 10 AB | 4 R | 3 H | 1 2B | .400 SLG% | 2 BB | 1 SO | .462 OB%
• Abby Edwards: 3.52 ERA | 1.04 WHIP | 2-0 | 1 CG | 1 SV | 7.2 IP | 6 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 2 BB | 5 SO | .222 Opp BA
• Danie Drogemuller: 7.43 ERA | 1.73 WHIP | 1-1 | 1 CG | 1 SV | 13.1 IP | 16 H | 12 R | 11 ER | 7 BB | 18 SO | .291 Opp BA

ACCOLADES:

• Yvonne Whaley: All-SEC Third Team
• Kat Rodriguez: All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Second Team (2021)

NOTES:

• LAST SEASON: 2022 was not very kind to the Pitt Panthers, as they only won two games in the ACC, admittedly not the strongest softball conference out there, and were left out of the ACC Tourney. Some of those losses, however, were due to some bad luck. Pitt lost NINE one-run games a season ago. But also, they didn’t have especially good hitting (a .249 team BA) or pitching (4.54 team ERA). Weirdly enough, per FloSoftball, while the Panthers didn’t earn consecutive ACC wins all season, they DID beat Florida State in early March.
• IN 2023: Pitt is off to its best start since the 2018 season. In their win over no. 21 Auburn last weekend, they beat their first non-conference ranked opponent since 2017.
• PITCHING: Dani Drogemuller tossed over half of Pitt’s innings in 2022 and averaged over a strikeout an inning. Abby Edwards, who only pitched 11 IP last season, will likely pitch a lot more. Hermanek told D1 Softball that she had a “remarkable fall”, saying that her velocity is up, as is her pitch control. “With her competitive maturity, she is playing on a different level than in the past.”
• OFFENSE: Kat Rodriguez, who transferred from Quinnipiac last season but had to sit out a year, is going to be one to monitor. Her 2021 stats are fantastic (see above), so we’ll see if she regains that form. So far this season, in 12 AB, she’s batting .250/.900/.500 and while her BA isn’t showing her true potential, she’s already smacked 3 doubles and gotten 5 RBI so far this season. From D1 Softball’s fall report, “She is going to give us completely different poise, composure and leadership. The kid has great range and makes the ESPN plays all the time in practice and just has fun with it.”
• Fifth year senior Yvonne Whaley led the team in pretty much all major categories last season, but hasn’t played yet this season. Still looking for why. EC Taylor, who transferred from Florida in 2021, stole 27 bases last year. She’s hitting quite well so far this season, but she has yet to steal a base.
• WHO TO WATCH OUT FOR: Grad student Sarah Seamans only hit .257 last year and was left out of all the previews I looked at, but is off to a VERY good start this season with her .500BA and is leading the team in hits, home runs, total bases, and SLG%.
• STAFF: Jodi Hermanek, an NCAA Division I coach with 20+ years experience, arrived in 2018 from Ohio University, where she received the 2018 NFCA East Regional Coaching Staff of the Year award and guided the Bobcats to two consecutive 40-win seasons. In her time as a head coach, she’s amassed 449 career wins, and taken teams to 4 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Karen Steger Designs

WHEN: Saturday, February 18 at 11:30a.m.

WHERE: Felsburg Field at FIU Softball Stadium | Miami, FL

STREAMING: TBD, but should be streaming as all the FIU games are

STATS: https://fiusports.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary

HISTORY: In their history, FIU and Mizzou have faced off exactly three times, but only between 2008-2009, so it’s been a while. Mizzou won each of the three matchups.

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2022 RECORD: 19-31, 5-19

2023 RECORD: 4-2

LAST 5 GAMES: Stetson (W 6-3) | #10 Clemson (L 0-4) | UMKC (W 5-4 in 8inn & W 9-2) | Georgia St. (W 4-3)

PROJECTED CONFERENCE FINISH: Tied for 8th, C-USA

2022 PERFORMANCES:

2023 TOP PERFORMERS:

• Alexis Ross: .474 BA | 1.079 OPS | 19 AB | 6 R | 9 H | 2 2B | 1 RBI | .579 SLG% | 6 SO | .500 OB% | 4 SB
• Carmen Perez: .444 BA | 1.055 OPS | 18 AB | 2 R | 8 H | 3 2B | 6 RBI | .611 SLG% | 3 SO | .444 OB% | 2 SB
• Bailey Grossenbacher: .308 BA | .770 OPS | 13 AB | 4 H | 2 2B | .462 SLG% | 1 S0 | .308 OB%
• Frankie Izard: .556 BA | 1.192 OPS | 9 AB | 2 R | 5 H | 1 RBI | .556 SLG% | 1 SO | .636 OB% | 5 SB
• Brooke McCann: .500 BA | 1.000 OPS | 10 AB | 1 R | 5 H | 2 RBI | .500 SLG% | .500 OB%
• Ella Whitney: 3.50 ERA | 1.19 WHIP | 1-1 | 1 SV | 16 IP | 16 H | 9 R | 8 ER | 3 BB | 4 SO | 1 HR | .281 OppBA
• Brooke McNichols: 4.06 ERA | 1.84 WHIP | 3-0 | 10.1 IP | 17 H | 6 R | 6 ER | 2 BB | 3 SO | .370 OppBA
• Sydney Birling: 5.91 ERA | 1.88 WHIP | 10.2 IP | 12 H | 11 R | 9 ER | 8 BB | 5 SO | 3 HR | .300 OppBA

NOTES:

• TEAM SHAKE UP: There’s a lot of change as the Panthers team — yes, Mizzou will face two sets of Panthers in this tourney — features 11 newcomers, including 8 freshmen. While they return 11 letterwinners from the 2022 team, they also had 16 departures (that seems excessive, no?). This includes their top four players from last season, as well as ALL of their pitching.
• LAST TIME OUT: FIU picked up a win over Stetson earlier in the week on some savvy baserunning and timely hitting, to go along with a great pitching performance from freshman Ella Whitney, who allowed only 4 hits and 1 run over 7 innings.
• OFFENSE: They currently have 7 players batting .300 or better, and of them, junior Alexis Ross is off to the best start. The CF has gotten at least one hit in each of the first five games of the season (she was hitless against Stetson). Carmen Perez is also hitting above .400 and already has 3 doubles. Brooke McCann has recorded a hit in each of the four games she’s been in. The Panthers are also quite stealthy on the basepaths, and have already gotten 16 stolen bases. Sounds like it will be a test for whomever Mizzou has going behind the plate, be it Addie Lange or Megan Moll.
• In their 9-2 victory over Kansas City, they had 13 hits, their highest total in 64 games, per FIUSports.com. Frankie Izard and Carmen Perez each had three hits in the game, and the team swiped 6 bags. In their second meeting, they grabbed 4.
• PITCHING: Going into the season, FIU head coach Mike Larabee said it’d be a process to figure out who the no. 1 will be, and looking at the stats thus far, it appears this is still a work in progress. He stated, while the staff isn’t going to overpower anybody, they do do a good job of keeping hitters off balance and changing speeds. Sydney Birling, a LHP, throws the hardest of the group, while Ella Whitney has a great drop ball and change up and Brooke McNichols has the staff’s best change and can spin the ball really well.
• FUN FACT: Ashton Lansdell converted to softball after playing baseball her entire athletic career.
• STAFF: Mike Larabee is in his second season leading the FIU softball program and has over 20 years of college coaching experience. Prior to his arrival, Larabee was an assistant coach a Maryland, where he helped the Terps to their first winning season since joining the Big 10. Before that, he spent four seasons as head coach at the University of Central Washington, where he led his team to four consecutive GNAC titles from 2016-19. He also worked at Arkansas (boooooo), and had some other stops in his long career.

As always, stay up to date on all things Mizzou Softball this season by following me, @KarenSteger, and @RockMNation. I’ll likely have previews for each of Missouri’s series, as well as recaps when available. When I’m at the ballpark or able to watch at home, I’ll also be firing off some tweets from both accounts.