Mizzou gets swept by the no. 1 Longhorns
1. Steerike
Mizzou was tortured by Texas pitchers all weekend, swinging and missing like MU’s Sophie Smith here. UT pitcher Teagan Kavan no-hit Mizzou in the first game of the series and struck out 11 of the 17 batters she faced.
2. “At least CC…”
Cierra Harrison, last year’s No. 2 starter to Laurin Krings, is still second starter to Marissa McCann. The junior from Lee’s Summit gave up four runs in the first inning of the first game, then pitched straight zeroes— but MU only put up three runs.
3. “Give that chair a contract!”
This homer at the end of Game 1 by Kara Daly was perfectly caught by this guy’s chair. The old Orioles announcer used to say, “Give that fan a contract!” when a fan made a good catch, but that guy dodged the ball and let his chair do it. Contract for the chair!
4. Framing
For years I’ve tried to frame my diamond sports subjects perfectly with the letters painted on the outfield walls, like the “Smoke & Fire” baseball sign. Here, I was able to get Kara Daly’s home run trot lined up just right with the MIZ letters! Maybe next I’ll do the Rock M.
5. Where’d that come from?
Ballplayers all around the world are known for their dugout hijinks to pass time, from standoffs to firey shoelaces.. But this is a new one— someone has a bubble machine to celebrate home runs? More of this, please.
6. White’s Fight
Fun fact: Texas coach Mike White is from New Zealand, which is a hotspot for men’s fast-pitch softball. Now, he’s UT’s coach, and has been to the Women’s College World Series seven times with Oregon and Texas. Here, he barks orders to a batter.
7. Dee-fense!
The best defense is a good offense, but actual defense is important, too. Here, Madison Walker mishandles a bad throw, allowing UT’s Ashton Maloney to find herself safely on first base.
8. Crenshaw Confused
This was the reaction to a truly weird play which went down in the last few innings of the second game, wherein Crenshaw attempted to advance from first to second on an error, but found herself face-to-face with the Texas first baseman, and Crenshaw made a tackle and advanced. Umpires ruled Crenshaw out on the play, as well as Claire Cahalan, who caused the initial call with an absurd interference call at second.
9. Return of the Bag
One of the funniest storylines of last season was MU coach Larissa Anderson’s bag of Sour Patch Kids, which she dispensed to players who reached third base or scored. Now, the bag is back, and L.A. offered some to late-inning home run hitter Kara Daly.
10. Safe or out?
Dirt was thrown around as UT’s Reese Atwood slid in under the glove of MU third baseman Kara Daly. Remember, build your stadiums with real dirt and grass, so we can all have cool photos like this.