Well, that was fun!

On an absolutely beautiful Wednesday evening in CoMo, Mizzou took on the cross-state big cat Lindenwood Lions and nabbed a run rule-shortened 9-0 victory on some kick-ass offense and lights-out pitching by Lee’s Summit freshman Cierra Harrison.

CC was so so good in this one, you guys, mowing down batters left and right to the tune of six strikeouts and just one hit (a double that a diving Chantice Phillips couldn’t get a glove on). In the postgame, Coach Anderson was effusive with the praise for her young star.

“She looked like a veteran today, and that was really great to see, especially since she hasn’t thrown in a game in a while,” she said. “It’s been a while (since Auburn) and she looked so composed and in control. She only had 44 pitches going into that fifth inning, which is outstanding. She controlled the strike zone, not throwing a lot of balls.”

She continued. “The biggest thing with [Cierra] over the course of the season is she would get ahead with two strikes fast. And then would dabble around the strike zone and then it would be 1-2, and then it’d be 2-, and then all of a sudden it’s a full count and then the pressure is on to be able to throw a hittable pitch and she will get hit. So it’s really good to see that she would get ahead and finish batters.”

On the offensive side, the Tigers hit early and hit often. So often, taking a 5-0 after just one inning. My Twitter thread accurately explained how it went down.

In the second, Payton Jackson singled to right past a diving second baseman, and then was brought home on an RBI double by Julia Crenshaw to make it 6-0.

In the third, after a Riley Frizell walk, DP Megan Moll MAULED a pitch (see what I did there?) over the wall to right center to make it 8-0. And in their final at-bats, Honnold hit her second standup triple of the day (her third of the season), and then was brought home on a sac fly by Crenshaw.

CC closed it down in the fifth with two strikeouts to finish the game, and wow... it was beautiful. Harrison earned the first complete game of her young career and threw her first one-hitter.

Hot Stats

Jenna Laird: 2-3 | R | 2B | CS

Alex Honnold: 2-3 | 2 R | 1 RBI | 2 3B

Julia Crenshaw: 1-2 | 2 RBI | 2B | K | Sac

Maddie Gallagher: 1-2 | R | RBI | 2B

Riley Frizell: 1-1 | 2 R | 2 RBI | HR | BB

Megan Moll: 1-2 | R | 2 RBI | HR | K

Payton Jackson: 1-2 | R | SB

Offensive Totals: 9 R | 9 H | 9 RBI | 7 XBH | 2 HR | 1 BB | 2 K | 2 HBP | 2 SF | 2 LOB | 1 SB | 1 CS | .500 BA | .571 w/ 2 outs | .500 RISP | .750 lead off

Cierra Harrison: 5.0 IP | CG | SHO | H | 6 K | 2B | 16 BF | 62 pitches

Pitching Totals: 1 H | 6 K | 16 BF | 1 XBH | 62 Pitches | .063 OppBA | .167 w/ 2 outs

If you’re looking for more softball recaps, check out MUTigers.com.

UP NEXT: The Tigers will take on Ole Miss in a Saturday-Monday series. Saturday’s game is at 2pm, Sunday at 3pm, and Monday Night Softball (complete with a promo t-shirt) is at 6pm.

On to the Links! M-I-Z!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Sam’s transfer tracker has - once again - been updated
• Player reviews continued with Sam & Matt Harris’ recap of Ronnie DeGray III
• Adeen & Lauren wrote about the 2022-23 WBB season: A tale of missed opportunities & unfortunate setbacks
• REMINDER: GO FOLLOW OUR INSTAGRAM! We’ve got stories. We’ve got highlights. We’ve got a few reels. As Dan Keegan said, it’s getting fancy over there.

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More Links:

Hoops

• Columbia Missourian: Hodge declares for NBA Draft; Grill to visit MU this weekend (Jaden Lewis)
• Kansas City Star: Dennis Gates’ Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team signs 2 players for 2023-24 season (Max Baker)
• Columbia Tribune: 7 thoughts as Mizzou basketball jumps into the offseason (Chris Kwiecinski) | Three problems Missouri baseball must solve as SEC play continues after series loss (Matt Stahl) | Missouri basketball’s Kobe Brown is ‘Testing the waters’ of NBA Draft process (Stahl) | Where Mizzou’s Kobe Brown is being projected in NBA mock draft (Stahl)
• PowerMizzou: Player Reviews— Noah Carter (Drew King)
• KOBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

• Welcome, John!!! Read more at MUTigers.com!

• Welcome, Curt! Read more on the new Tiger at MUTigers.com!

• I guess he’s really gone, huh? (wipes tear)

Football

• PowerMizzou: Reactions to new Missouri OL coach Brandon Jones (Sean Williams)
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Will Missouri football’s quiet spring bloom into fall answers, or more question marks? (Ben Frederickson)
• Grab your popcorn. It’s Uncut Diamonds time!

• Next week, we’ll have the defense!

Other Mizzou Sports

• Gymnastics: Alisa Sheremeta will be live on beam tomorrow around 2pm!

• And incoming freshie Kaia made the AA finals at the European Championships!

• Baseball: MU baseball hits the road to face Texas A&M (Ethan Burke, Missourian) | Baseball Primed for Key SEC Road Series With Texas A&M (MUTigers.com)
• Men’s Golf: MU’s Crockett named co-SEC Golfer of the Week (Kortay Vincent & Zachary Bott, Missourian) | Charlie Crockett Named SEC Golfer of the Week (MUTigers.com)

In a field that included seven nationally-ranked golfers, Crockett placed second overall with an 18-under 198 during the three-round tournament. His 198 tally is the second-best score by an MU player – trailing only a 197 by current PGA pro Hayden Buckley in 2017. Crockett, who beat his previous-best 54-hole total by eight strokes, collected two eagles, 18 birdies and just four bogeys over the course of the tournament to lead the Tigers. Overall, he carded a 64-69-65 with his opening-round 64 marking his best single round at Mizzou.

• Women’s Golf: MU women’s golf within striking distance after Day 1 of SEC Championship (Kortay Vincent, Missourian)

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