Mizzou, the underdog once again, prepares for pitcher’s battle against Blue Devils

The parallels are similar.

The year was 2021. In front of a record setting sell-out crowd of 2,696 (7,997 for the weekend), the magical season of the Missouri Tigers (42-17, their best record since 2016) continued as they faced off against the James Madison Dukes, led by bionic woman Odicci Alexander and her beloved catcher Lauren Bernett (rest easy, Lauren). Despite the Tigers’ best efforts, however, they saw their season end just one win shy of making the Women’s College World Series and had to watch another team make their first. In hindsight, given what happened afterwards (see link), I’ve come to terms with the result and am okay with them having their moment.

I wrote that year, during my (very unofficial) rookie season — just as it was for now-seniors Alex Honnold, Jenna Laird and Laurin Krings— that I shouldn’t call that season magical, as that implies it was some sort of make-believe that couldn’t be replicated in the future. “What she has built here, and continues to build here, is special,” I wrote.

Turns out I was right. It can be replicated.

That was a special team, full of heart, exuberance and grit. Fans probably remember that team— the power of Kim Wert and Brooke Wilmes, the gravity-defying defense of Cayla Kessinger and Casidy Chaumont. The pitching of Jordan Weber and a freshman named Laurin Krings, the latter of whom threw a near no-hitter in the regional. I loved watching them play so much that I started covering them from the actual press box the following season.

This is also a special team, and one that will be remembered. They remind me distinctly of each other. The personalities, the talent, the overabundance of joy they play with, how much they truly seem to love each other. Larissa Anderson described that 2021 team as “doing everything that you ask them to do.” Which, if you’ve been paying attention, is how this team has been described as well.

On Sunday night, after completing a feat that only 11 teams who’d lost the first game had accomplished before them, Anderson said — just as she’s said so many times this season — “They’ve done everything right...When you have a group of young women that do everything right all of the time and everything they possibly can to be successful, you really want to see them reap the benefits and reward all their hard work.”

Which brings us to the present. Super Regionals. Where the stakes couldn’t be higher. Lose two games and your season is over. Win two and Mizzou, 47-16 on the season with its most wins since joining the SEC (and tied for their fourth most in program history), returns to the Women’s College World series for the first time since 2011 and seventh time in program history.

Easy enough, right?

In its path, another team with “Duke” in their name. The Duke Blue Devils (50-6), who tore through the Durham Regional, outscoring its opponents (Morgan State, 2x South Carolina) 24-2. They’re on an 11-game win streak and looking to make their first World Series appearance after making it to Supers the last three years. (The program is only in its seventh season.) Oh, and they appear to be on a revenge tour after not being selected as a Super Regional host.

The Blue Devils are one of six teams remaining who rank in the top-20 nationally in runs per game, slugging and on-base percentage (i.e. the offensive categories) while also ranking in the top-20 in pitching. They will very much be both literally and figuratively, a VERY tough out.

“Duke has extremely impressive numbers,” Anderson said during Thursday’s media availability. “They have a lot of power at the top of the lineup. I think Claire Davidson is one of the best hitters in the country. So she’s one of those that don’t let her by you. So we’re gonna have to be extremely careful with her and keep her off balance. And that’s going to be really important.”

Duke Athletics

As Anderson alluded to, ACC Player of the Year Claire Davidson (OF) leads the Blue Devil offense and had a remarkable season in which she hit .428 and had more doubles (18), home runs (17) and RBI (61) than in her first three seasons combined. Per Softball America, this is the first season in her career where she’s had more walks than strikeouts, and has had the most success against rise balls (Harrison & McCann’s primary pitch), dropballs and curveballs (Krings’ primary pitch). She was one of five Duke players earning NFCAA All-Region accolades (first team) and was selected in the recent Athletes Unlimited draft.

Ahead of her formidable bat is leadoff hitter and fellow outfielder D’Auna Jennings, who hit at a .402 clip this season to go with 14 stolen bases, and you’d be unwise to forget about All-Region first team honoree and ACC Defensive Player of the Year Aminah Vega (2B) who is batting .396 with 19 multi-hit games while also hitting 12 home runs, 17 doubles and racking up 51 RBI, and if not for her teammate Claire, probably would have won ACC POY. And then there’s Gisele Tapia, who earned her second All-Region honors (third team) after batting .294 this season with 45 hits, 33 RBI and just six strikeouts in 145 plate appearances. And for good measure, don’t forget about Kelly Torres, who was awarded third team All-Region honors after batting a career-high .368 with 57 hits and 34 RBI.

However, if there’s an upside to what looks like a whole lotta offensive firepower for Mizzou, it’s this. Most of Duke’s runs come from the fourth inning or later in the postseason. In fact, in their six appearances thus far, they’ve scored exactly one run in the first three innings of each game. Considering that they scored 24 runs in three games across Regionals, only scoring THREE total in the across the first nine innings is pretty absurd, and something to watch for.

Confused? Allow Larissa to explain.

“I think one thing that really stands out with Duke is they score a lot of the runs late and I think that works well for our pitching staff because — other than this weekend — we don’t really rely on one arm to go the complete game. We have multiple arms that we can be able to use, and we’ve been doing that all year long. So just bringing that to everyone’s attention that we’re not afraid to make changes because they do score so many runs.”

So should Krings need help, Mizzou has a tremendous staff to come in at a moment’s notice, just like they were prepared to do on Sunday against Omaha. “I have complete faith in our pitching staff,” Anderson said. “We faced potent lineups before. I mean, that’s pretty much our conference.”

D1 Softball calls the combo of Marissa McCann (1.85 ERA) and Taylor Pannell (0.88 ERA) the “Midwestern softball incantation of Mariano Rivera and John Wetteland.” And don’t forget, Pannell’s next save will tie the D1 single-season record of 15 (she actually earned a W last weekend instead of a save).

Mizzou, as you are well aware, is not exactly an offensive juggernaut. and per D1 Softball, enter this weekend ranked no. 87 nationally in scoring. But that doesn’t mean they can’t find or won’t find success. They did, after all, play in the toughest conference in America against other All-American pitchers literally every weekend. The Tigers’ very tough schedule, likely one of the main reasons they got the hosting gig in the first place, prepared them for this. They’ve gotten to Rockrock; they’ve hit Penta. They hit Vawter; they hit Berzon (multiple times). They can do this. They have some “clutch” genes in there, as Josh Matejka wrote on Monday.

“When you look at our stats, nothing stands out,” Anderson said. “Like nothing’s flashy, other than we have 47 wins. Like, that’s all that really matters is you’re winning, and it doesn’t matter how you do it. We don’t need superstars and we don’t need kids that only think about themselves. We need players, and we need 10, but we have 22 that think about the team and they put the team ahead of themselves all the time. And that’s why one of our mottos is ‘Team First’ because whatever is going to be best for the team and to be successful... They know the impact that they have regardless of what their stats are.”

This is one of my favorite things about this team. They’re decidedly not flashy, but on any given day anyone in this lineup can be counted on for a game-changing play. It could be another hit-by-pitch by Kayley Lenger that gets a pivotal runner aboard for leadoff batter Jenna Laird. It could be freshman Abby Hay, who came on strong mid-season and led the SEC in OPS (1.055) by a wide margin. It could be slap-hitter Claire Cahalan who pokes a hit through a hole or little used pinch hitter-turned Regionals hero Madison Walker just as easily as it could be an Alex Honnold homer or a Maddie Gallagher extra-base hit. What the Tigers lack in star power they make up for in grit, determination, and an overwhelming desire to help their team by any means necessary. As watching The Boys in the Boat taught them in early January, moving together in the same direction in unison will get you far.

“The biggest thing,” Anderson said, “is how we’re going to be able to score runs because they have two really strong pitchers that are tough, and we have to be able to swing at good pitches... If we start expanding and chasing balls out of the zone, we’re not going to be very successful, so that’s going to be the real key is controlling our offense and being able to manufacture some runs and having quality at bats early on.”

The pitchers that Anderson is undoubtedly referring to is the two-headed monster of Jala Wright and Cassidy Curd, who one publication said is second only to the even more treacherous duo of Tennessee’s Karlyn Pickens/Payton Gottshall [breaks out in cold sweat]. Over the weekend, the Blue Devils duo combined for 26 strikeouts, 12 hits, three walks, no hit-by-pitches, and two runs.

Duke Athletics

ACC Pitcher of the Year Jala Wright (RHP) is ranked third nationally in ERA (1.09) and has amassed 183 strikeouts in 148.1 appearances. Her primary pitch is a what has been describing as a “devastating” and “renowned” dropball (45%) — a pitch which Mizzou has hit at a .249 clip this season — as well as a “world-class” changeup (29%) and a fastball (15%). Opponents are hitting just .170 against her and only .093 against that change, and she’s allowed just 17 extra-base hits. When she does force contact, she’s what you would call an “extreme ground ball pitcher.”

Lefty Cassidy Curd is also very good and has a 1.37 ERA in 27 appearances (20 starts). She’s primarily a fastball pitcher (43%), but she also mixes in a curve (33%) and a rise ball (16%). Mizzou hits well off of left-handers, batting .281 with 25 extra-base hits, but she’s no normal lefty, so they must wait for their pitch and get on time. Curd strikes out a lot of batters (140 K in 102 IP), and is especially potent on the road. Oh, and should either of them falter, there’s always lefty Lillie Walker, who throws a wicked changeup as her third pitch.

“We’ve got to compete and we’ve got to fight, and at the end of the day whoever’s gonna have more opportunities and who’s going to win more pitches are going to be the more successful team,” Anderson said.

Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation

At some point during what I hope is a long and fruitful weekend, the Tigers will likely face some adversity and have their backs up against the wall. Will they be able to do replicate the regionals moxie again? We’ll soon find out. But we do know they will have the crowd on their side. Mizzou announced that tickets — 3,700 each for Friday and Saturday — are all sold out.

“We need to feel their energy,” Anderson said of the crowd. “They can make such a big impact on the opposing team, like when they get loud and they call timeouts on the field defensively, and they start the MIZ chant, it is really, really tough to hear on that field. We need to get them to keep that energy up.”

You heard her, Mizzou fans!

Softball America analysts predict this to be the closest Super Regional, and while they ultimately like the Blue Devils to advance (I mean, are we even surprised?), it should be an exciting one.

“Regardless of what happens at the end of this weekend,” Anderson told us before signing off on Thursday, “I’m proud of them. No one picked us to be here. Where were we picked in the preseason SEC (poll)? Like 10th or 11th? No one figured out that we would be able to be this successful other than ourselves, and that’s all that really matters... We’ve been the underdog all year long.”

Why not us? Batter up.