Mizzou Softball heads to College Station to wrap up SEC road play

Mizzou Links & Softball Weekend Preview for Friday, April 28

By Karen Steger@karensteger Apr 28, 2023, 5:00am CDT

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Welcome! Part softball preview, part links. Let’s dive in.

WHEN: Friday, April 28 @ 4pm | Saturday, April 29 @ 5pm | Sunday, April 30 @ 5pm

WHERE: Davis Diamond | College Station, Texas

TV/STREAMING: SEC+ (Friday | Saturday); SEC Network (Sunday)

STATS: Friday— Statbroadcast | Saturday— Statbroadcast | Sunday— Statbroadcast

WEATHER FORECAST: No precipitation in the forecast! Friday: 80 at game time, sunny | Saturday: 64 at game time, cloudy & windy | Sunday: 80 at game time, sunny

HISTORY: Per MUTigers.com’s history page, the Tigers and Aggies have faced 53 times since 1999. Missouri holds a 31 -22 game lead, but is only 4-16 on the road (ew).

Mizzou swept A&M at home last year, but scores of 11-6, 7-2, and 7-5 (in extras). Both Weber & Krings went the distance in complete game efforts, and Schumacher got the W in the other win, with a trio of Weber/Krings/Schumacher combining. Jenna Laird and Kara Daly both hit homers in the series, and Jenna also had a hit in each games, so let’s do that again, shall we?

Prior to my data (1999-present), Mizzou and Texas A&M apparently faced a bunch more times, as Mizzou Softball SID Eric Mueller reports that the Aggies actually lead the all-time series, 40-24. Larissa Anderson is 6-0 in her career against the Aggies. Might as well keep that streak intact, right?

Let’s check in with our hometown Tigers!

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

2023 RECORD: 30-20, 4-14 (12th in SEC, ahead of MS State)

PROJECTED CONFERENCE FINISH: 8th in SEC

LAST 8 GAMES: SIUE (W 8-1) | North Texas (W 5-0, W 1-0, W 2-1) | kansas (W 4-3) | Ole Miss (L 5-7, L 6-7, W 8-3)

RANKINGS: no. 43 in RPI; no. 35 SOS; RV (1)- ESPN/USA Today

2023 TOP OFFENSIVE PERFORMERS:

2023 PITCHING STATS:

NOTES:

Our Tigers are currently on a 5-game win streak! You can read my extensive recaps here: Game 1- North Texas, featuring Krings’ 17 K | Game 2-3 recap | SIUE midweeker
The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 25 was announced this week, and representing the SEC are Montana Fouts (P, ALA), Maddie Penta (P, AUB), Skylar Wallace (INF, UF), Erin Coffel (INF, UK), Kayla Kowalik (C, UK), Alex Honnold (Missouri), Kiki Milloy (OF, Tenn) and Ashley Rogers (P, Tenn).
More on Honnold, who also has 17 multi-hit games and is tied for the team lead in RBI:

Hey Honnold!

✔️ .434 BA (4th in SEC)
✔️ .573 OB% (3rd in SEC, 8th in NCAA)
✔️ .861 SLG% (5th in SEC, 12th in NCAA)
✔️ 53 Hits (7th in SEC)
✔️ 18 Stolen Bases (5th in SEC)
✔️ 12 Home Runs (8th in SEC)
✔️ 1.000 FLD%#OwnIt #MIZ | @alex_honnold22 pic.twitter.com/74AaPdf5fK
— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) April 27, 2023

Pitcher Laurin Krings was honored for her weekend performance with SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors AND Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week. Per MUTigers, Specs pitched 15 consecutive scoreless innings, 2 complete game shutouts, and 28 strikeouts (26 in the North Texas series). In Game 1 of the UNT series, she registered her third no-hitter.
Maddie Gallagher is currently on a 13-game reached base streak, and batted .667 in the North Texas series. Julia Crenshaw hit .364 with three RBI, 2 doubles and a home run in the past week, while Kara Daly hit .444 in the UNT series and .417 for the week.
Jenna Laird has 18 multi-game hits and is currently 2nd in the SEC with 29 stolen bases.
Per MUTigers, Mizzou ranks first in field percentage (.981, 8th in the NCAA) and second in both triples per game (0.30) and stolen bases (95, 1.90 per game). She currently sits 9th all-time with 430 strikeouts.
New Missouri assistant Jeff Cottrill will have a reunion with his daughter, who transferred to Texas A&M when he left to take over the Tigers’ offense.
Per ExtraInnings, Missouri is back in the convo for postseason play. In the latest bracket, they’re a 3-seed in the Norman Regional.

And now... the opponent:

2022 RECORD: 31-28, 6-18 (11th in SEC)

2023 RECORD: 30-17, 10-11 (7th)

LAST 8 GAMES: Prairie View A&M (W 12-0, 5 inn) | at Ole Miss (L 5-8, W 6-3, W 13-8) | Texas State (W 8-0, 6 inn) | at South Carolina (L 0-8 in 6 inn, L 0-1, L 2-6)

RANKINGS: 23 (ESPN/USA Today), 25 (NFCA), 22 (D1 Softball, Softball America) | 24 in RPI | 12 SOS

2023 TOP OFFENSIVE PERFORMERS:

Julia Cottrill: .370 BA | 1.046 OPS | 30 R | 47 H | 19 XBH | 33 RBI | .622 SLG% | 14 BB | 15 K |. .424 OB%
Trinity Cannon: .336 BA | 1.059 OPS | 37 R | 40 H | 13 XBH | 29 RBI | .571 SLG% | 28 BB | 13 K | .488 OB%
Amari Harper: .317 BA | .799 OPS | 20 R | 32 H | 5 XBH | 17 RBI | .376 SLG% | 10 BB | 17 K | .423 OB%
Koko Wooley: . 306 BA | .816 OPS | 33 R | 45 H | 12 XBH | 23 RBI | .449 SLG% | 14 BB | 12 K | .367 OB% | 18 SB
Rylen Wiggins: .294 BA | .814 OPS | 16 R | 32 H | 9 XBH | 14 RBI | .431 SLG% | 14 BB | 24 k | .383 OB%
Keely Williams: .307 BA | .951 OPS | 22 R | 27 H | 10 XBH | 20 RBI | .511 SLG% | 18 BB | 19 K | .440 OB%

2023 PITCHING STATS:

Shaylee Ackerman: 2.39 ERA | 1.07 WHIP | 6-6 | 70.1 IP | 54 H | 24 ER | 21 BB | 65 K | 22 XBH | .203 OppBA
Emiley Kennedy: 2.71 ERA | 1.26 WHIP | 9-4 | 3 CG | 90.1 IP | 72 H | 35 ER | 42 BB | 91 K | 22 XBH | .214 OppBA
Emily Leavitt: 3.18 ERA | 1.22 WHIP | 10-6 | 1 CG | 88 IP | 79 H | 40 ER | 28 BB | 93 K | 36 XBH | .237 OppBA
Madison Preston: 1.86 ERA | 1.43 WHIP | 4-1 | 1 CG | 37.2 IP | 31 H | 10 ER | 23 BB | 52 K | 7 XBH | .211 OppBA
Grace Uribe: 3.50 ERA | 1.25 WHIP | 1-0 | 12 IP | 12 H | 6 ER | 3 BB | 3 K | 5 XBH | .261 OppBA

NOTES/ACCOLADES:

Pitching: Emily Leavitt (Minnesota) and Madison Preston (AZ State & Alabama) | Kennedy touches 70 with her fastball. Ackermann used to also hit as well, but with her history of injuries, is only focusing on pitching going forward.
Trisha Ford, former Arizona State coach, is in her first year at the helm of the Aggies. She was named the PAC-12 Coach of the Year in 2022 with ASU, and her team was Pac-12 champs. Her overall coaching record is 397-226-1, spread across St Mary’s (CA), Fresno State and Arizona State (212-89 record with them). Her assistant coach, Jeff Harger, left ASU with her for College Station. Like Missouri’s Cottrill, Harger is widely regarded as one of the country’s best hitting coaches.
Amari Harper and Keely Williams, who are making big strides for the Aggies this season are only freshmen. Julia Cottrill — yes, Jeff’s daughter — arrived from OK State in the offseason and is killing it (see stats above).
Junior Rylen Wiggins has been a star in SEC play, leading the team in BA (.370), SLG% (.519), and OB% (.477). She’s batting 6-for-14 with two outs and .450 with runners in scoring position.
Per 12thman.com, Trinity Cannon has reached base safely in 42-46 games this season, including the past 11 straight. She’s batting .375 in the last 10 games with a .568 OB%. Teammate Koko Wooley is hitting .394 in the last 10 games, and also has 13 hits in that span with just TWO strikeouts.

How they Match up:

On to the Links! M-I-Z!

Yesterday at Rock M

The Women’s Hoops roster churn continues, and Adeen’s got the latest
Sam updated the transfer tracker novel— See you in SEC play, Jamarion Sharp!
Dan shared how the west did in their spring games
MUST READ: Matthew wrote a SUPER cool piece on former Tiger Lucas Vincent, who is the new head coach of Oak Park’s wrestling team. This is a really fun interview.