To Columbia (L)East they go, where the Tigers need some road dubs to cement their postseason hosting status
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Mizzou, up two games to one at home against a ranked opponent — in this case, no. 18 Mississippi State, couldn’t get it done in Game 3. The Tigers were SO CLOSE to sweeping and riding high on another fabulous weekend performance from Laurin Krings, and then just… puttered out in the seventh. The offense, with just three hits against the very same pitcher who they got seven off of in Game 1. It’s honestly exhausting at this point, trying to come up with reasons for why this keeps happening. But what we all know is this— in order for the Tigers to truly have a chance in the postseason, they MUST get this under control.
And while I wasn’t on reporter duty Monday night — I actually sat in the stands as a FAN with one of my bestest friends and some booze (a Bud Light mango seltzer, for inquiring minds— hey, my options were very limited) — watching another finale slip away was devastating.
Of the Game 3 struggles, Anderson said post-game, “Oh, it sucks. I mean, can’t say it any differently. I mean, we had it. But again, like we only had three hits, and we gotta grind and every loss really looks the same and it’s been happening in Game Three… But we just have to have better at-bats. We have to be more competitive we have to make different adjustments and not keep getting the same result.”
She continued, when asked about some possible complacency.
“I don’t want to say complacency because we’re a very motivated, driven competitive team. But I don’t know if we take couple things for granted. You know, we have won (games) one and two and we just go out there and we have that grit and that fire you wanted to and I just don’t see that same determination in game three, that we think we can keep doing the same thing and we’re gonna get the same result. And that’s the definition of repetitive idiocy. So, you know, we’ve got to do something different. We’ve got to play harder. We’ve got to make better adjustments. We’ve got to play like our backs up against the wall because when we play that way, we’re really exceptional team. And we just got to have to that that determination.”
The regular season home finale result ultimately overshadowed what was a truly wonderful celebratory weekend for Mizzou’s seniors, and allowed the Tigers to grab yet another series win. This senior class — Alex Honnold, Jenna Laird, Laurin Krings, Maddie Gallagher and Chantice Phillips — have just been great ambassadors of the program, and even though Gallagher hasn’t been here the whole time, she’s so ingrained in the culture that it seems like she’s been with them forever.
“I’m so unbelievably proud of our senior class,” Anderson said post-game. “They are tremendous ambassadors of the program, and they’ve left a legacy. They’ve done tremendous things for us and the freshmen and really left their mark, it’s going to last forever. I mean the impact that they’ve had on the freshmen, the freshmen are gonna remember that their entire career and that’s really what their legacy is going to be.”
Sent our Seniors off In Style #OwnIt #MIZ pic.twitter.com/2sm9SvrjIC
— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) May 2, 2024
What awaits it a battle in The Other Columbia. When you really take a look at the two teams side-by-side, they’re very similar, so this should be a great matchup. On the line, a better seed in the upcoming SEC Tourney, which begins next week. Oh, and a road series win, something that has alluded the Tigers this season.
BATTER UP.
How to Watch:
WHEN: Friday, May 3 @ 5pm | Saturday, May 4 @ 5pm | Sunday, May 5 @ 2pm
WHERE: Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field | Columbia, SC
TV/STREAMING: SEC Network + (Friday/Sunday) | SEC Network (Saturday)
STATS: Live on StatBroadcast— Friday | Saturday | Sunday
HISTORY: Missouri leads the all-time series, 14-9, though they haven’t faced off since 2022 when the Tigers swept the Gamecocks at home. The last time they visited the Other Columbia was in 2021, and Mizzou swept that one, too! What I’m gathering from this is… Mizzou in Columbia East = Good Vibes.
WEATHER: Friday looks to be precipitation-free, with it being around 86 degrees at game time. Saturday and Sunday look a little more wet. Saturday’s game time is predicted to be around 74 degrees with a 52% chance of rain that looks to extend throughout the night. Sunday’s day game isn’t looking much better, at 80 degrees and 40% chance of rain extending through the evening hours.
Final regular-season series threads #OwnIt #MIZ pic.twitter.com/Rg42lJsqI7
— Mizzou Softball (@MizzouSoftball) May 3, 2024
2023 RECORD: 35-26 (7-17 SEC)
2024 RECORD: 37-14 (10-11 SEC)
RANKING: #15 (ESPN.com/USA Softball), #13 (USA Today/NFCA), #15 (D1 Softball), #10 (Softball America), #9 (current RPI)
VS RANKED FOES: #13/16 Utah (W 4-3) | #5/7 Clemson (W 4-1) | #22 Baylor (L 5-4) | #25 Auburn (W 5-2, W 5-0, L 4-0) | @ E8/9 Tennessee (L 9-0 in 5in, L 8-2, L 4-0) | #2/3 LSU (W 10-9, W 3-2, L 4-3) | @ #19 Arkansas (L 5-2, W 12-3 in 5in, L 4-1) | #9 Florida (W 6-3, W 5-2, L 3-1) | @ #9 Georgia (W 4-2, L 4-2, L 4-2) | #18 MS State (W 4-0, W 4-1, L 2-3)
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
SEC-Only Offensive Stats (data gathered from D1 Softball)
SEC-Only Pitching Stats (data gathered from D1 Softball)
PITCHING NOTES:
- Krings had another really good weekend— she’s SO BACK, ladies and gents! In her last four games — two v. MS State and two at UGA (one in relief of M&M) — and 23 innings pitched, she’s allowed just 13 hits, 5 runs, 4 earned runs, 4 walks and struck out 19.
“She (Krings) has done a tremendous job in controlling the batter. She deserved the win today,” Anderson said on Monday. “She threw her butt off and competed, threw an unbelievable game and deserved the win … She’s really attacking hitters and going after them early. (She’s) getting easy outs and having key strikeouts. That’s what we need out of a senior pitcher.”
- Monday night was closer Taylor Pannell’s first blown save of the season, her first L on an unblemished record thus far. TP, in case you need reminding, leads the country in saves with 11 and sits just four shy of the NCAA record, as well as leading the SEC. What happened?
“When you focus on the result and if you focus on winning, or you focus on ‘I have to get a hit’ or ‘I want to lead the country in saves,’ you’re only looking at the results. You’re not looking at the process. And when you become process driven, you’re looking to hit every single pitch, you’re looking to get on time, you’re looking to attack. And I think in that Game Three, we get a little more results on ‘Let’s sweep!’ rather than ‘let’s win every single pitch.’
- Most importantly, Mizzou’s pitching staff is rested and healthy and not feeling the negative effects of being overworked. “What I’m really happy with our pitchers is how healthy they are,” Anderson said. “They’re so fresh. They’re not overthrown. I don’t even know if Harrison has 100 innings yet. They can is probably hovering around 60 or so. So in cranes is just over 100 so extremely fresh and healthy, which is why they’re peaking right now. Like they feel really good. Their bodies feel really good and we just have to maintain that because they haven’t been overthrown all year long and that’s what helps have been a really deep bullpen.
BATTING NOTES
- On the hitting woes: “I think we evaluate too much, like when we hit well, we move to hit every single pitch, and we have a lot of intent and we’re extremely aggressive. (Conversely), when I see that we have outings like this (Game 3), we take a lot of hittable pitches, we get behind in the count. We’re defensive and we’re reacting to the pitch rather than being the hunter and attacking every single pitch. So that’s a mentality thing. So that’s where we just have to maybe put them into some more live situations or practice with a game on the line. So they feel that their back is up against the wall to have more intent in trying to swing more free.”
- From Brandon’s Monday Night recapper:
If one were to take out Southeastern Conference series finales, the Tigers would be 10-4 in conference play. Instead, they are now 10-11, including a worrying 0-7 in series finales during league play. A main reason behind that tally is the fact that the offense has scored just nine total runs across those seven contests, four of which have come at home.
- Kara Daly continues to have a tough season, both in the field and at the plate. Per my better softball half, Brandon Haynes, the Jeff City junior is just 7-for-55 since March 22, including an 0-for-24 mark at home. She hit .271 with 10 home runs and 46 RBI last season, but has just 6 HR and 27 RBI this season, while also striking out a whopping 38 times this season, (2nd most in the SEC).
“She’s one of those (hitters) that’s just evaluating,” Anderson said. “She looks completely different in practice than she does in games. She’s proven it in practice and she’s worked extremely hard and she puts in a lot of extra time and, you know, no one’s more frustrated than she is. And we feel for her which is why we keep throwing her out there and move her down a lineup to take that pressure off of and, you know, I know she’s going to come through. I hope it’s at just the right time, but we have complete confidence and trust in her… When she starts to draw walks I’ll know she’s seeing the ball a little bit better.”
GENERAL NOTES
- The Tigers’ 37-14 record is the best record since the 2013 season that started 23-3 and ultimately ended with a 38-14 finish. The Tigers have now surpassed both their win total from last season and their seven conference wins from 2023.
- This weekend is reunion time for senior Maddie Gallagher, who began her career at South Carolina before leaving for (Better) Columbia in December 2022. Per MUTigers.com, Gallagher hit .292 as their starting 2B in 2022.
- Defensively, the Tigers have a .970 fielding percentage overall, but .963 in SEC play. Jenna Laird, a former Gold Glover, and Kara Daly each have 8 errors in SEC play (and 13 overall), which is second most in the conference. Laird’s tally shot up when she had two errors on Monday night.
- More on the Game Three misses: “I think just knowing that we can beat every single team on Sunday (or Game 3), no matter who we’re playing, we can be who we want to be. So I think just knowing that we have this series, which is amazing, we can’t take it lightly that we’re going to beat them again. We got to make because we know no one wants to lose. So we just got to go from there. It’d be like they’re not going to want to lose so we got to keep our keep it strong act like it’s Game One.”
- Mizzou is tied with Mississippi State in the SEC standings at seventh (MU holds the tiebreaker) and sits just a 1⁄2 game behind sixth-place LSU and one full game behind fifth-place Georgia. The Tigers are mathematically unable to rise to fourth due to their series loss against Arkansas, and they have a chance at falling all the way down to the No. 11 seed in a worst-case scenario should they lose out against South Carolina.
Let’s take a look at Mizzou’s opponent, shall we?
2023 RECORD: 40-22 (9-15 SEC) | Lost to #3 Florida State in Regional elimination game
2024 RECORD: 33-18 (8-13, SEC) | 19-11 at home
COMMON OPPONENTS: v. #13 Utah (W 9-1 in 6) | Wichita State (L 5-6) | South Alabama (L 2-5) | @ UCF (W 4-2) | NC State (L 0-4) | @ #11 Clemson (W 6-4 in 12) | #7 Tennessee (L 1-2, L 0-7, L 0-8 in 6) | #16 MS State (L 0-6, L -04, W 3-1) | #19 Clemson (L 0-7) | #17 Arkansas (L 3-4, W 2-1, L 0-3) | @ #10 Florida (L 6-11, W 6-2, L 6-7)
VS. RANKED FOES: v. #13 Utah (W 9-1 in 6) | @ #17 Texas A&M (L 0-3, L 1-2 in 10, L 1-2) | #21 Kentucky (W 5-2, L 1-3, W 3-0) | @ #11 Clemson (W 6-4 in 12) | #7 Tennessee (L 1-2, L 0-7, L 0-8 in 6) | #16 MS State (L 0-6, L -04, W 3-1) | #19 Clemson (L 0-7) | #17 Arkansas (L 3-4, W 2-1, L 0-3) | @ #10 Florida (L 6-11, W 6-2, L 6-7)
RANKINGS: #24 (D1 Softball) | RV (USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll) | RV (ESPN/USA Softball)
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
SEC-Only Offense
SEC-Only Pitching
NOTES:
- The Gamecocks were last ranked #23 in mid-April but haven’t re-entered the polls since the series loss at home to Arkansas. They got as high as #17 in late-February. Currently, they are receiving votes in the two major polls, but haven’t re-cracked the T25.
- Cocky is coming off a 5-0 shutout of USC Upstate for their final mid-weeker, and over the weekend took a series at #21 Kentucky, taking two of three. In the case of UK, that was their first in the series since 2015.
- Watch out for Riley Blampied, who leads the Gamecocks in many offensive categories, including runs (36), hits (50), doubles (10-tied), home runs (6) and RBI (33), slugging% (.488).
- The Gamecock pitching staff, made up of 4 sub-2.00 ERA hurlers, is pretty impressive. The innings-eater, Alana Vawter,
- This is senior weekend for the Gamecocks, and they are set to honor eight members of their team, including Kansas City native Alana Vawter, who grad transferred from Stanford this season. She’s second in D-1 in complete games (82), second in wins (92), third in appearances (162), fourth in shutouts (29), 18th in ERA (1.79) and 20th in strikeouts (615).
- South Carolina isn’t a team known for hitting the long ball, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do it. In an April 20 6-2 upset win over then-no. 10 Florida, four different Gamecocks smacked a homer, including Denver Bryant (first of season), Zoe Laneaux, Aniyah Black and Jen Commings. They also hit three homers (solo) in the series win over Kentucky. This time is was Riley Blampied to go with Laneaux and Bryant (second of the season).
- The Gamecocks are a great defensive team, and in Wednesday’s victory turned their 29th double play of the season, which is tied for second-most all-time. Funn-er fact: They turned a TRIPLE play against Charleston Southern. It’s just the fourth TP this season in Division-1. They also lead the conference by a wide margin in assists
- South Carolina is 170-394-1 (.302) against top 25 NFCA ranked opponents since 1995, including 82-138 (.373) at home. In 2023, USC went 12-16 vs. ranked opponents.
- So, they’ve got a triple play this season… what else weird stuff has happened to the Gamecocks? How about a perfect game?! Jori Heard threw a 4-0 perfect game against Bethune-Cookman on March 2nd. It was the first 7-inning perfect game in D-1 this season.
- Sage Mardjetko is the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week. The Illinois native threw the first complete game shutout of her collegiate career in Sunday’s victory at UK. She struck out seven while allowing five hits and two walks. She also pitched the final inning of Saturday’s game, allowing a walk before registering the final out. Here she is below talking about the shutout.
Overall Team Comparisons:
IN SEC PLAY
When Mizzou & South Carolina are Hitting
- vs. Lefties: MIZ— .274 | USC —.233
- vs. Righties: MIZ— .217 | USC— .224
- Bases empty: MIZ— .223 | USC— .222
- Runners on: MIZ— .235 | USC— .233
- Bases loaded: MIZ— .167 (3-18) | USC— .000 (0-14)
- Leadoff: MIZ— .341 | USC— .310
- Fly : Ground ratio: MIZ— 153 : 124 (1.2) | USC— 177 : 124 (1.4)
When Mizzou & South Carolina are Pitching
- vs. Lefties: MIZ— .238 | USC— .202
- vs. Righties: MIZ— .241 | USC— .267
- Runners on: MIZ— .249 | USC— .213
- Bases empty: MIZ— .234 | USC .285
- vs. Leadoff: MIZ— .324 | USC— .463
- w/ 2 outs: MIZ— .219 | USC— .198
- Flyout to Groundout: MIZ— 187 : 118 | USC— 148 : 169
As Brandon laid out in Monday night’s recap, Mizzou is now tied with Mississippi State in the SEC rankings at 7th, though the Tigers do hold the tiebreaker. They are also just a 1⁄2 game behind LSU (whose conference slate is complete), and a full game behind Georgia. Should things break the right way, the Tigers could end up as high as 5th. If things go wrong [knock on wood], they could slide all the way down to 11th. The important thing this weekend is to take the series, and better yet, MAKE IT A SWEEP!
In my quick survey of Rock M colleagues, Dylan, Cal, Quentin & Matthew, they were unanimous… Mizzou takes two from South Carolina, which puts them at 39-15 to end the season. I’m still going with a sweep, good for 40-14. Forty wins just sounds so… GOOD.