The Mizzou offense went through the first three innings without any hits, making the sparse fans on a cold, cloudy Columbia day quite nervous (including the editor of this site). But the Tigers heated up quickly, scoring seven runs in two innings en route to a 7-0 shutout win.
Saniya Hill had a particularly impressive performance at the plate, starting with her first career homer in the fourth. She added a 2-RBI single in the fifth, ending the day 2-of-2 with a walk. Abby Hay was the other Tiger with multiple
hits, leading off the scoring with a solo shot of her own. She finished the game 2-of-3 by adding a single in the fifth, coming around to score on Hill’s base knock.
“I think we were a little too aggressive in the beginning of the game, since she was thrown a little slower than what we’re used to,” Hay said. “Just toning it back and really finding something we could drive. And I think after my hit, everyone started to find the pitch they can drive.”
Marissa McCann took the circle again after recording a perfect game in last week’s midweek showdown against SIUE. She had another elite performance, pitching four innings while allowing no runs and striking out seven batters.
“She was throwing high velocity, real good control on both sides of the plate,” coach Larissa Anderson said. “What we threw a little bit more of today was her curve ball, and so she had some chases off the plate on that curve ball, and that was really good to see.”
Abby Carr slammed the door in relief, pitching the final three innings and allowed no runs, one hit and two strikeouts.
The first 3 1/2 innings were quite slow, as Mizzou failed to register a hit. Kansas City recorded a couple hits/walks to put runners in scoring position on several occasions, but McCann worked her way out of the early jams. After a pair of leadoff runners started the third inning, McCann bounced back with three straight strikeouts to leave the runners stranded.
Hay registered Mizzou’s first hit/run after a solo homer launched out to left field in the fourth. Saniya Hill launched one of her own a little closer to the foul pole that juuust stayed fair for her first career home run.
“The whole time I was just thinking of my dad,” Hill said. “He is my biggest motivator.”
Madison Uptegrove singled and Sophie Smith walked, setting up two baserunners for pinch-hitter Gracie Britton to bring them both home with a double. While the inning came to a close, the Mizzou offense completely blasted open the game.
Abby Carr entered the game in the circle in place of McCann, but made an early error after a pop up errantly fell off her glove. But the Tigers weren’t rattled, stringing together three-straight outs to avoid giving up any runs. Mizzou loaded the bases for Hill who capitalized with a two-RBI single to stretch the lead to six. They scored another on a sacrifice fly to right field by Uptegrove to score pinch runner Claire Cahalan at third. But the Tigers couldn’t complete the mercy rule as a pop out into foul territory ended the inning.
The Roos grabbed a two-out baserunner with a single but found no other offense in the top of the sixth. Mizzou failed to add any runs after three consecutive outs in the home half, and Carr slammed the door with a 1-2-3 inning as the Tigers improved to 27-26 on the year.
Since SEC Tournament games count towards the Tigers’ overall record, Mizzou needs two more wins before the end of said tournament to reach the .500 threshold necessary to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. With an RPI currently in the top 40, it looks like the Tigers are a shoe-in for the Big Dance if they can find the wins.
That journey continues with a home three-game weekend series against Tennessee to close the regular season. The first game against the Lady Vols takes place at 6 p.m. Thursday and will be available to watch on SEC Network+.
