Mizzou Softball (29-20) wrapped up their midweek games on Tuesday, taking on Southern Illinois- Edwardsville with Cierra Harrison in the circle for Mizzou vs. Kelsey Ray (3.41 ERA, 116IP).

The Tiger offense started strong in this one, as Jenna Laird led off with a walk before an Alex Honnold moonshot made it 2-0 early on. Kara Daly and Katie Chester walks and a Maddie Gallagher HBP loaded the bases for Megan Moll, whose RBI single to CF brought in two more runs, making it 4-0. Payton Jackson and Jenna Laird (up for the second time this inning) worked HBPs, which brought in another run. After a pitching change for SIUE, Honnold returned to the plate for a bloop RBI single to CF, making it 7-0. Overall, 12 Tigers batted in the first. Not too shabby!

Harrison worked around a single and a walk in the first inning to go with two strikeouts and a single in the second to go with her third strikeout. In the third, her final inning of work, she allowed a leadoff walk and a single before another single up the middle brought in the Cougars’ only run. She largely minimized the damage, but CC was not at the top of her game in this one.

Per Coach Anderson in the post-game (shared by the Missourian’s Maddie Orr): “It’s really easy that when you put up seven runs in the first inning to lose your concentration and get complacent,” Anderson said.

In the bottom of the third, Mizzou got that run right back as Megan Mollllllled (see what I did there?) a pitch to LF for a solo shot, making it 8-1. This is especially satisfying to see, as her performance going back to the kU game has definitely earned her a continuous spot in the lineup. She deserves this, and I’m so happy to see her continue to produce in what has been a very limited role.

After Moll’s banger (see below, I also love that tweet), Laird finally broke out of her hitting slump (it was at least 0-25 at that point) with a very hard-hit standup double to CF, but a Honnold flyout at the warning track ended the inning.

In the fourth, Larissa Anderson turned to Megan Schumacher, who hadn’t pitched since the Ole Miss series debacle. She was great in this one, y’all. In her first inning of work, Schuey made all the plays herself, striking out her first batter on a sick drop ball, then made the second out herself on a ball hit right back out her, before striking out the last batter.

In the bottom of the inning, Crenshaw smacked a one-out double over the CF’s head and was followed by a Chantice Phillips walk. With that walk, every Tiger got on base the game. Unfortunately, neither came around to score. The same would be said of the remaining innings for the Tigers, as they stranded Payton Jackson (on with a hit to RF) and Honnold (walk), and went 1-2-3 in the 6th. But, as Anderson told the media postgame, they continued to battle in their at-bats, and credit goes to the SIUE outfielders, who made some dynamic plays.

Then came “The Kara Daly Inning” in the top of the 5th, as she made not one, but TWO great plays to stop the Cougars from getting anything going. This was the third out. DAMN.

In the sixth, Schuey ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts before finally allowing her first hit in the 7th on a bouncer up the middle that Laird, despite making a great grab, wasn’t able to get to 1B in time. Another hit went off Megan’s glove, and the same thing happened; Jenna made a great grab but couldn’t make the play. No errors, just weirdly placed hits. Luckily, the Cougars were shut down after that with a critical K, a foul out on a bunt (weird decision to bunt with two strikes, FWIW), and a groundout.

WINNER, WINNER. The Tigers finished up their midweek non-conference games as the only SEC team to not lose a midweek. Pretty wild.

SOME STATS:

• Jenna Laird: 1-2 | R | RBI | 2B | BB | HBP | SB
• Alex Honnold: 2-3 | R | 4 RBI | HR | BB | LOB
• Julia Crenshaw: 2-4 | 2B | CS
• Katie Chester: 1-2 | R | BB
• Megan Moll: 2-2 | R | 3 RBI | HR | SB
• Payton Jackson: 1-2 | R | HBP

Overall batting stats: 8 R | 8 H | 8 RBI | 2 2B | 2 HR | 5 BB | 2 K | 3 HBP | 7 LOB | 3 SB | 1 CS | .320 BA | .333 w/ 2 outs | .333 RISP | .333 Leadoff

• Cierra Harrison: 3 IP | 4 H | 1 ER | 2 BB | 3 K | 15 BF | 66 pitches
• Megan Schumacher: 4 IP | 2 H | 6 K | 14 BF | 52 pitches

Overall pitching stats: 6 H | 1 ER | 2 BB | 9 K (2 looking) | 29 BF | .222 OppBA | .286 Leadoff | .111 RISP

On to the Links! M-I-Z!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• A new Dive Cuts podcast/videocast was released: Watkins & Snelling reunite for a new pod episode, where they’re on the case of the mysterious transfer portal. Zoinks!

• Matt Harris helped us make sense of the Tigers missing out on Kadin Shedrick
• Nate’s preseason game previews continue with the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
• Mizzou WBB added a grad transfer commit in Angelique Angelique Ngalakulondi
• Pre-draft coverage also continues. Next up: Adeen’s got Isaiah McGuire.
• REMINDER: GO FOLLOW OUR INSTAGRAM! We’ve got stories. We’ve got highlights. We’ve got reels.

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More Links:

Hoops

• Columbia Missourian: Mizzou women’s basketball lands UMass transfer Ngalakulondi (Parker Gillam)
• ABC17: Robin Pingeton makes first portal pickup of the offseason (Chanel Porter)
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Mizzou, SLU, Illinois basketball squads must fill key needs from transfer portal (Jeff Gordon) | Reloaded Mizzou basketball backcourt set to add four-star playmaker Anthony Robinson II (Dave Matter) | Five Takeaways from Mizzou’s Come Home Tour caravan stop at Ballpark Village (Matter)
• PowerMizzou: Checking in on 2024 guard Travis Perry (Drew King) | Listen to the newest True Tiger Insider episode with Aidan Shaw (Gabe DeArmond)
• Columbia Tribune: Transfer forward Angelique Ngalakulondi commits to Mizzou women’s basketball (Chris Kwiecinski)
• I hope so, Isiaih.

Football

• PowerMizzou: Making the case for Mizzou-Oklahoma to be permanent rivals in 3-6 model (Jarod Hamilton) | Making the case for Mizzou-Arkansas to be permanent rivals in 3-6 model (Hamilton) | Recruiting Check-in: Wide Receiver (Sean Williams) | Recruiting Check-in: Running Back (Williams) | Three-star RB Ethan Middleton on Missouri’s radar (Williams)
• Columbia Tribune: Where could Isaiah McGuire land? Breaking down the Mizzou rusher’s 2023 NFL Draft resume (Chris Kwiecinski)
• Per Dave Matter:

• Another two-sport athlete? Given what happened with Sam Horn, perhaps not...

• Tuesday night was the St. Louis Come Home Tour, and it looked crowded! Great to see!

• Hmmm.... is this just Coachspeak? Or is this real?

More from the ROARs

• Congrats to Mizzou Soccer, who won the Tiger Cup at Monday’s ROARs. The Tiger Cup, per a 2022 MUTigers.com article I found, awards points based on six categories – academic achievement, community service, career services and workshops, athletic success, athletes supporting athletes, and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) events.

• Kobe Brown was awarded the prestigious Director of Athletics Leadership Award. Kendyll Bailey (softball) took it home last year. Do I know exactly what the award means? Nope. But hey, if you’re getting THE AD’s award, that has to be good, right?

• For the Love of the Game, which is, based on my best guess of who has won it on a yearly basis, awarded to those who best showcase Mizzou pride and a team attitude, despite less playing time: Ben Sternberg & Hannah McGivern
• The Letterwinners Club, which I’m guessing has something to do with academics: Kobe Brown & Megan Moll
• The Dr. Judy Wells Academic Achievement Award, which has, in the past — Tilly won a few years ago — gone to student-athletes who have made significant improvements in their academics or shown great continued effort at their studies: Rece Rowan (T&F) and Amaya Marshall (Gymnastics). Marshall is majoring in Sociology with minors in both Criminal Justice and Social Justice while Rowan is pursuing a Sports Management degree.
• The Heather Morris Courage Award, which is named for the former Mizzou Athletics’ director of enhanced learning who died from cancer in March 2018: Mizzou Baseball’s Luke Mann & Tre Morris (honorary)
• Highlight of the Year: Dree Gholston (for his buzzer beaters, of course) & Jocelyn Moore (for that perfect 10)

Other Mizzou Sports

• WRESTLING: Congrats to RS-So. Noah Surtin (Health Sciences), So. Keegan O’Toole (Personal Financial Planning), RS-Sr. Connor Brown (Multicultural Education), Sr. Jarrett Jacques (Communication), RS-Sr. Allan Hart (Master of Education), RS-Jr. Peyton Mocco (Industrial Engineering) and So. Rocky Elam (Agriculture). To see the qualifications, visit MUTigers.com.

This would be COOL.

• SOFTBALL: It’s Laurin Krings’ world and we’re all just living in it. After her 26 K, 2 CG weekend she was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week and Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week (per MUTigers.com) | Mizzou softball defeats SIUE in last midweek of regular season (Maddie Orr, Missourian)

• BASEBALL: Mizzou baseball hits the road for SIUE matchup (Ethan Burke, Missourian)

Good discussion here

Mizzou in the Pros

• New York Jets address major need by re-signing former Mizzou standout (Dennis Waszak, Columbia Tribune)
• Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. is relishing playoff role after challenging path (Nick Kosmider, The Athletic) | Watch: MPJ with the punch

• Michael Porter, Jr. and the Denver Nuggets won the first round of the west playoffs 4 games to 1 by a score of 112-109 on Tuesday night. Here’s his stats:

Game 4: 39 min | 8 pts on 3-10 FG (2-7 from 3PT) | 10 REB (9 def) | 2 STL | 3 PF | +9

Game 3: 41 min | 15pts on 6-12 FG (2-6 from 3PT) | 8 REB (5 def) | 2 AST | 2 BLK | 2 PF | -8

Game 2: 40 min | 25pts on 10-17 FG (4-8 from 3PT) | 9 REB (8 def) | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 3 PF | +9

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