Mizzou Softball Falls to No. 24 Georgia on Senior Day

On Friday, it rained, but didn't pour in Columbia.

That was exactly how Friday's contest went for Mizzou softball against No. 24 Georgia; the Tigers put up a good fight, but their efforts weren't enough in a 3-2 defeat.

On Senior Day for MU, it was a freshman who tried to pick up the slack offensively. In the bottom of the second, she hit a solo home run that just barely cleared the wall in right field. The blast was Uptegrove's fourth of the season and first since April 15. Additionally, it was her first home run against a power conference opponent this season; her others came against Princeton, Kansas City and SIUE. Two innings later, she scored the only other run of the game for the Tigers on a passed ball.

Taylor Pannell, making just her seventh start of the season, had an up-and-down outing. In six innings of work, she allowed eight hits, but only gave up three earned runs. She was able to weasel her way out of a jam early on; in the bottom of the third, she induced a popout to right field that left the bases loaded. In total, Georgia left 10 runners on base.

However, just like so many times before, MU's opposition did just enough to eek out a victory. The Bulldogs started the scoring early, plating a run in the top of the first courtesy of a wicked bounce. A ground ball by Sarah Gordon careened off of Pannell and past Abbie Wilhelm into right field. The deflection helped Tyler Ellison, who scored from second.

The big half-inning came in the top of the fourth, when the Bulldogs scored a pair of runs to take a 3-1 lead. Dallis Goodnight hit a frozen rope into right field that dropped for an RBI single; her white-hot streak at the plate continued, as she's recorded a hit in eight of her last nine games. Moments later, Ellison hit a line shot up the middle to score Goodnight from second. Ellison, who went 0-of-3 in game one of the series, certainly made up for her struggles on Thursday.

With the loss, Mizzou drops to 24-30 overall; in order to make the NCAA Tournament (which requires teams to have a winning percentage of at least 50), MU's only path to the tourney is to not only beat Georgia tomorrow, but win the SEC Tournament. The improbable, yet not impossible road to such begins tomorrow in the series finale. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT.