It didn’t start off looking like a rout

While I was taking in Mizzou Hoops’ last home game on Saturday, Mizzou Softball faced off in Game 1 against Tulsa. After a Kara Daly homer (her second of the day) broke up a tie and gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead in the top of the 7th, Tulsa came back with a bases-loaded 2-run single to take the win, 6-5. Such a super disappointing finish. Which brings us to Sunday, when the Tigers sought to undo the wrongs of the day before. They needed to pitch better, have better baserunning, and limit the runners left on base.

Tiger pitcher Laurin Krings got off to an iffy start at the beginning of this one, allowing three consecutive singles in the first, but was able to keep any runs from crossing the plate, and would only allow three more hits (a single in the second, a double in the fifth, and a single in the sixth), and one run the rest of the game to go with 5 strikeouts and only one walk. I actually thought they’d let her finish out the game, but freshman LHP Taylor Pannell was brought in to close it out.

As for the Tigers, their offense came alive in the third inning when they plated 3 runs and broke the 0-0 tie on some savvy baserunning. Texas Tech transfer Payton Jackson led off with a double, and advanced to 3B on a sac bunt by Maddie Snider. Jenna Laird’s RBI single up the middle scored PJ, and then she stole 2B before a botched fielders choice left her and Julia Crenshaw at the corners. Julia swiped 2B, which set things up perfectly for Kara Daly, whose 2-run double made it 3-0.

In the fifth, the Tigers tacked on another run to make it 4-0. After Snider struck out, Laird singled back to Nash and then stole 2B. Crenshaw walked and the Tigers executed a gorgeous double steal to put runners on 2B and 3B for a Daly RBI groundout, which scored Laird. Chester walked to have two on for Chantice Phillips, but she flied out to end the threat.

Then came the 7th, which had so much action my live tweet thread was 6 tweets long. Let’s run through this quickly, shall we?

• Kelsee Mortimer, PH for Snider, singles. Snider takes over as a PR. Laird singles. Crenshaw lays down a perfect bunt to load the bases. Daly’s sac fly brings in Snider, and Laird advances to 3B. Crenshaw swipes 2B (her third steal of the day), and Chester’s 2-run double make it 7-1.

• McGivern takes over as a PR for Katie. ChannyP’s RBI single brings in McGivern and Riley Frizell walks (It’s 8-1). Frizzy is replaced by PR Kendal Cook, and Vanessa Hollingsworth walks, loading the bases. This takes the Tulsa pitcher, Nash, out of the game.
• SLU transfer Luneckas takes over in the circle and walks Jackson, bringing in another run. (It’s 9-1) bringing up Snider, who earlier in the inning was PH for and scored as a PR. She and Jenna walk, making it 11-1, before Julia is HBP, scoring PJ, and a Daly RBI sac-liner out to LF finally gets the second out of the inning and scores Snider, making it 13-1.
• McGivern is also HBP, re-loading the bases, before McGiven is out at 2B on a FC.

The Stats

• Jenna Laird: 4-4 | 3 R | 2 RBI | 1 BB | 3 SB
• Julia Crenshaw: 1-3 | 2 R | 1 RBI | 1 BB | 1 HBP | 3 SB
• Kara Daly: 1-3 | 5 RBI | 1 2B | 1 K
• Katie Chester: 2-3 | 2 RBI | 2 2B | 1 BB
• Vanessa Hollingsworth: 1-3 | 1 R | 1 BB | 1 K
• Payton Jackson: 1-3 | 2 R | 1 2B | 1 BB | 1 K
• Maddie Snider: 0-1 | 2 R | 1 RBI | 1 BB | 1 K
• Laurin Krings: 6 IP | 1 ER | 1 BB | 5 K | 1 2B | 111 PC
• Taylor Pannell: 1 IP | 1 K | 12 PC

OVERALL: 11 H | 13 RBI | 4 2B | 7 BB | 5 K | 2 HBP | 7 SB | 7 LOB | 1 E

On to the Links!

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This Weekend at Rock M

• Parker took a look at the all-important resume: Evaluating Missouri MBB’s tournament résumé at this juncture
• In his sidebar, Parker looked at the case for D’Moi Hodge as Defensive Player of the Year.
• Sam’s Study Hall was about getting that Double Bye!
• Matthew provided us with the Mizzou Wrestling: Big 12 Championship Day One Review
• I recapped Mizzou Gymnastics’ big win: Another One Bites the Dust: #14 Mizzou takes down #8 Alabama
• Brandon’s gamer: MBB pulls away late against Ole Miss, clinches double-bye
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Harris looked at the NET Results: Making sense of where Mizzou sits in the NCAA’s evaluation tool before the Ole Miss game | BK asked,Did Missouri add enough to fortify its offensive line?

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More Links:

Hoops

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Mizzou basketball savors one last home victory, pulls away from Ole Miss late (Dave Matter) | Mizzou basketball hangs on in the home finale, secures fourth seed in SEC tournament (Matter) | SEC basketball tournament 2023 bracket, schedule, game times, TV info (Erik Hall) | Tipsheet: Freshmen take a back seat as teams chase NCAA Tournament berths (Jeff Gordon) | How Mizzou Athletics became fan-focused, spurred Mizzou Arena’s basketball sellout spree (Calum McAndrew)
• Columbia Missourian: Tigers secure No. 4 seed, double bye in SEC Tournament with win over Ole Miss (Jack Knowlton)
• PowerMizzou: Stats that stood out against Ole Miss (Drew King) | Lucky or good? March matters because Mizzou came through in the clutch (Gabe DeArmond)
• Columbia Tribune: Missouri basketball reflects on regular season, looks forward to SEC tournament (Matt Stahl) | Why you will remember this Mizzou senior class forever (Chris Kwiecinski) | Mizzou Arena will get new video board for the 2023-24 basketball season (Stahl)
• Good to know, from Matt Harris (via Matt Norlander)

• I love Dennis Gates, don’t get me wrong, but I will forever be the president of the Cuonzo Martin fan club.

• Huge congrats to the youngest Linthacum, who will be joining the Tigers in the summer:

Tiger Style

• Way to go, Mizzou Wrestling and Brian Smith! WOWWWWWWWWW.

• CHAMPIONS.

• JARRETT JACQUES. 100 WINS. Also, this video is cool ASF.

• ROCKY! ROCKY! ROCKY!

Other Mizzou Sports

• Football: Q&A with defensive coordinator and safeties coach Blake Baker (Jarod Hamilton, PowerMizzou) | In-state 2024 prospects that Missouri could still offer (Sean Williams, PM)

• Baseball: Nine-Run Fourth Lifts Baseball to Series Sweep of Texas Southern (MUTigers.com) | Tigers finish off sweep of Texas Southern (Caleb Logue, PowerMizzou) | Missouri rallies in fourth inning to complete sweep of Texas Southern (Ethan Burke, Missourian)

• Hear from head coach Steve Bieser after the weekend series:

• Softball: No. 24/23 Softball Split Second Day of Oklahoma State/Tulsa Invitational | No. 24/23 Softball Split Opening Day of Oklahoma State/Tulsa Invitational (MUTigers.com) | Jenna Laird comes in on the no. 5 D1 Softball Softball Week 3 SS rankings (D1 Softball) | Krings pitches MU softball to 13-1 victory over Tulsa (Maddie Orr, Missourian)

• Hockey: MU club hockey to compete for national championship (Jonathan Jain, Missourian)
• Tennis: Tennis Closes Weekend With Loss At No. 6 Georgia (MUTigers.com) | MU Tennis swept by no. 6 Georgia (Missourian reports)
• Men’s Golf: MU men’s golf eyes return to regionals as spring season begins (Kortay Vincent, Missourian) | Men’s Golf Opens Spring Season in South Carolina (MUTigers.com)
• Congrats to former Tiger softballer Sami Fagan, who resigned with the professional USSSA Pride (also Chaumont’s team):

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