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Larissa talks the 4 P’s: Postseason, Preparation, Precision, and Pitching

Mizzou Links for Wednesday, May 17

By Karen Steger
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Mizzou Softball is just a few days away from their first round matchup in the Norman Regional. First up, a matchup with California. Win that, and face the winner of Oklahoma v. Hofstra... so likely Oklahoma. Lose that and likely face Hofstra (let’s be real). It’s double elimination, so Mizzou is guaranteed to play at least 2 games.

To get fans ready for the postseason, head coach Larissa Anderson went on the KTGR Big Show to chat with Andy Humphrey.

Here’s some highlights (thank you Otter.ai for your help transcribing my recording)

On ending the season strong:

“That MS State win was huge, and we definitely needed a win at the tournament. What was most impressive about the MSU win is we scored our three runs with two outs and that’s huge. That’s a lot of belief I think that carried over from the Arkansas series (took 2 of three from), winning the game in walk-off fashion and scoring with two outs...”

On the offense:

“We’re getting production at any point in the lineup, so we’re not really hoping that the lineup turns and get someone up in the right spot... They are really staying disciplined in the strike zone. I’m not seeing them chase a lot of balls. They’re understanding what pitcher they’re looking to hit and what pitches they’re looking to take wher ewe’re drawing a lot of key walks. We’re getting that leadoff batter on base, and now we just have to have better situational hitting to be able to get some runners in scoring position to capitalize.”

On getting into the tournament (it’s the 17th straight year):

“We were 36th in RPI when we finished in the SEC tournament, and then as teams continued to play, we dropped down to 40. So that made me a little nervous. I’ve seen teams have an RPI of 37 and not get in. The two of three wins over Arkansas bumped up our RPI a lot.”

On Laurin Krings elevating her game:

“She did an unbelievable job against Arkansas in Game 2 and her level of focus and attention to detail is something I haven’t seen in her entire career and she’s really becoming a pitcher and not just a thrower. She’s trying to manipulate the ball. She’s psinning it a lot better than she has. She’s not trying to overpower teams. She works extremely hard throughout the course of ABs to be effective with her changeup because she knows it’s gonna set up everything else.”

On Cierra Harrison:

“I think the other key to the pitching staff is how CC Harrison has really developed throughout the course of the year. She threw early on and then she dabbled a little bit in SEC play and we relied on her a lot more. And even against Alabama, I mean, she came in and she was unaffected. And that’s the experience she needs to have and we just scrimmaged today (Tuesday) and she was getting really good stuff. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw her throughout this regional.”

On NCAA preparations in general and against Oklahoma (51-1):

“All season long, we really measured ourselves against ourselves. And there isn’t anything any teams gonna do that we haven’t prepared for.”

“We have alot of respect for Oklahoma and their tradiions and what they’ve done for the game. But we’re not going to do anything different. We just have to play sharp softball and teams like Oklahoma, they take advantage of mistakes. So we have to minimize our mistakes, because if we make mistakes, then we’re just beating ourselves. They have a very potent lineup. They have a lot of depth. So we really have to focus on playing perfect, taking advantage of opportunities. That if they throw the ball at the heart of the plate, we can’t miss it. We can’t expect that we’re going to get multiple opportunities within an AB.”

On Cal, their Friday opponent:

“Chelsea Spencer is their head coach. She’s a Cal alum. She’s coached at Oregon. She’s coached at Texas. She is a fireball of a coach and I know that Cal is going to have a ton of energy becuase of that. They haven’t been (to the tournament) in a while, so I know they’r egoing to be really excited for this opportunity. They’re scrappy. They fight like crazy. We have to match that energy and match that competitiveness, if not bringing more.”

“They make a lot of changes in their pitching staff, so that’s going to be a key for us to be able to make those adjustments when we go from pitcher to pitcher because we’re probably going to see multiple throughout the course of the game.”

On to the Links! M-I-Z!

Yesterday at Rock M

More Links:

Hoops

Football

  • Come to Camp Cody!

Draft Time

  • Well, clearly Kobe (and D’Moi when he meets with teams) will ace this. Though apparently, Kobe didn’t do the scrimmage (?), I am 10000000000% sure he killed it no. 1, 3, and 5. Per another tweet below, he’s also got good numbers at 4. And I have no clue about his prowess at 6.
  • Kobe is currently at the NBA Combine, and here are some of his measurables:
  • Hope she’s right (Deseret News Jazz writer)
  • Hoping D’Moi gets a shot! He wasn’t one of the 8 called up from the G League Elite Camp, but that’s okay!
  • Both Kobe and D’Moi mentioned here in regards to what the Sacramento Kings look for in the draft

Other Mizzou Sports

  • WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT FROM THEM, STUPID PROJECTIONISTS?!?
  • Also, this is awesome. No, this is nowhere near the crowds that the baseball bluebloods get, but this is still great. Build a good team and they will come, I think the saying is.

ALEXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX “Should’ve been First Team” HONNNNNNNNNNNNNNOLDDDDDD

  • Congrats to Mizzou commit Sophie Smith!

Former Tigers

  • I’m here for excellent MPJ Time. It was Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, and the Nuggets took a 1-0 lead over the Lakers 132-126. Mike had a good game, guys.
  • Game 2 is set for Thursday at 7:30pm on ESPN. Game 3 is Saturday at 7:30pm on ABC.

35 minutes | 15 points on 6-12 FG (3-6 3PT) | 10 REB (7 def) | 2 AST | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PF | +20

  • Congrats to Shane Ray, who signed with the Buffalo Bills over the weekend!

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