Missouri Softball Outlasts Kansas City in Pitcher's Duel
Although it took a little while, Missouri softball conquered in-state foe Kansas City 3-0 on Wednesday. With the win, the Tigers moved to 18-2 heading into SEC play.
Both pitchers were rolling early on. Cierra Harrison took the bump for Missouri and, like she had been for most of the season leading up to this point, dominated the opposition. Over her first three innings, only one ball left the infield, and that was a fly out to center field by Sydney Nichols.
On the other side, Camryn Stickel was a real stickler for Missouri's bats. Her command on the mound was slightly more surprising than Harrison's considering that Stickel's performance this season had been up-and-down heading into Wednesday. Her most recent start against Tulsa on Mar. 2 saw Stickel allow five earned runs on eight hits. She also struggled earlier in the season against BYU and Michigan State.
But Stickel also threw 14 strikeouts in 10 innings against Prairie View, and that version of Stickel was the one that showed up the most early on Friday. Through the first three innings, Missouri didn't record a hit.
The bases finally saw some dirtying up in the top of the fourth, as the Jenna Laird led off the inning with a double. The bases were soon loaded behind walks from Alex Honnold and Maddie Gallagher. However, the Tigers, who'd capitalized with runners in scoring position a lot last weekend, couldn't do so here. Kara Daly grounded into a fielder's choice with two outs, and the Roos exited the inning unscathed.
After Harrison kept Kansas City scoreless over the next couple of innings, Missouri finally gave the scoreboard something different than a zero. Honnold ripped a one-out triple, which was immediately followed by a Julia Crenshaw single that brought Honnold home.
Later in the inning, Maddie Gallagher put a nail in the coffin. While the two-run home run she hit only extended Missouri's lead to three, three runs felt like six.
Semi-surprisingly, Taylor Pannell didn't make an appearance to save the game, but Harrison was pitching well enough to warrant Pannell staying off the field. Harrison shut down the Roos in the bottom of the seventh, and Missouri picked up a 3-0 victory.
Harrison was the star of the game, pitching a complete game, two-hit, 10-strikeout shutout. The win moved the standout sophomore to 9-1 on the season.
The Tigers will return to Columbia for their first home series this Friday against Auburn. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. CST.
