Missouri Softball Notches Two More Dominating Wins, Moves to 9-0
On Day 2 at the Tracy Beard College Classic in Denton, Texas, Mizzou softball performed much the same as it has all season, winning two more games on Saturday.
The Tigers first conquered South Dakota State 7-1, with six of those runs coming in the third inning. Lilly Whitten, who made her first career start on Friday and pitched a shutout, picked up the win.
Like Friday, Mizzou displayed an ability to score runs without actually recording hits. Against Texas A&M-Commerce, the Tigers were no-hit, but they were still able to emerge victorious because of a sacrifice fly by Julia Crenshaw that scored Jenna Laird, who'd reached base on a walk.
Saturday was like the Texas A&M-Commerce game, only multiplied by a lot. A large chunk of Mizzou's offensive output came as a result of Jackrabbit errors.
Shannon Lasey, SDSU's starting pitcher, was all over the place. In just two and two-thirds of an inning, she pitched eight walks and was tagged for five wild pitches. While not all of Lasey's walks were the result porous pitching — for example, Julia Crenshaw led off the bottom of the third with a nine-pitch walk — four of Lasey's walks happened in five pitches or less. Also, four of her wild pitches allowed at least one baserunner to advance.
The Jackrabbits also recorded three fielding errors, two of which led to runs for Mizzou.
The scoring didn't start until the bottom of the second. Mizzou had an opportunity to strike early on, as they loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first. However, Madison Walker and Mya Dodge struck out swinging, leaving the Tigers empty-handed.
The next half-inning, a pair of New Yorkers tag-teamed for the first run of the game, as Jenna Laird brought home Maddie Gallagher on a fielder's choice.
It was the third inning, however, where the wheels really came off for SDSU. The inning featured four walks, two wild pitches and two errors, both of which scored runs for Mizzou. With the bases loaded and two outs on the scoreboard, Alex Honnold hit a ground ball back to Lasey who, using the limited description of StatBroadcast, misfired on the throw to first base, allowing all three baserunners to score. Williams was pulled right after, and relief pitcher Alexa Williams got the last out to stop the bleeding.
The Jackrabbit bats finally woke up in the top of the fifth, as they recorded three hits and a run. They had a chance to do even more damage, as they loaded the bases with one out. However, Whitten tightened up, as she struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam.
The run Whitten let up would end up being the last one of the game on either side. Jayci Kruse was let loose to close the deal in the bottom of the seventh, and she did just that.
While the Jackrabbits struggled on the mound and in the field, the Tigers were the complete opposite. Whitten quieted the opposition for most of the afternoon; in six innings of work, she gave up just one earned run on six hits, with three of those coming in the fifth inning. She also struck out eight batters. When the ball was put in play, Mizzou never gaffed, as it didn't commit a single fielding error.
Once again, Mizzou's offensive box score was very unique. It scored seven runs despite tallying just five hits.
The second game, against North Texas, also saw Mizzou's opponent gift wrap runs early. Mackenzie Childers took the bump for North Texas and gave up double the amount of walks (four) than outs recorded (two) before being pulled from the game. Three of those walks came in five pitches or less.
In that time, Gallagher recorded an RBI-single, and Stefania Abruscato took a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk to score another run. After Skylar Savage entered the game in relief for Childers, she immediately gave up a run on a four-pitch walk.
Crenshaw would be responsible for the next two runs, both on outs — a groundout in the second and a lineout in the fourth.
As the Mean Green's bats remained silent, the Tigers poured it on in the top of the seventh with a five-spot. Taylor Pannell then closed out UNT in the bottom half of the inning to clinch a 10-0 win.
Once again, Cierra Harrison was dominant. In six innings pitched, Harrison didn't allow a run and gave up just two hits. Harrison's also thrown 21 straight scoreless innings. Finally, North Texas didn't have an inning where it sent more than four batters to the plate until the bottom of the seventh, when it sent five.
The Tigers will end their trip to Texas with one last game on Sunday against North Texas at 11 a.m. CST.
