Feb. 23, 2002
Columbus, Ga.- The University of Missouri softball team continued its stay in Columbus, Ga., on Saturday playing Day 2 of the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Tigers would have a tough go of it though dropping games to No. 14 Cal St. Fullerton, 6-0 and to Southern Mississippi, 2-1. Mizzou drops to 1-3 on the weekend and 4-8 overall. Head coach Jay Miller said the Tigers continue to compete well, but need to work on closing out contests.
"Our kids played hard and continue to work to get better," Miller said. "We need to learn to play a complete game and also need to improve offensively."
In Game 1, freshman Erin Kalka was solid through five innings holding Cal State Fullerton to only two hits and no runs. CSFU's Gina Oaks was equally as good shutting out Mizzou through the fifth. However, with two outs in the top of the sixth, the Titans would score six unearned runs (four of which came on a bases loaded grand slam by Amanda Hockett) and batting through the order. Oaks would maintain the shutout and take the win for CSFU. Mizzou fell victim to three errors in the game.
With the loss, Mizzou fell to 1-2 in the tournament and would receive the No. 1 seed in the Bronze division of bracket play and would face Southern Mississippi, who was receiving votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll. Missouri got off to a great start once again as junior Ingrid Werner pitched three perfect innings and sophomore Rachael McGinnis would homer in the bottom of the second as Mizzou took a 1-0 lead after the third inning. Werner would continue to dominate the Golden Eagles holding them to only two hits through the fifth inning with Mizzou continuing to cling to a 1-0 lead.
However, Mizzou would once again fall victim to two-out heroics in the top of the sixth. With a runner on third, left fielder Amanda Brown homered to left field giving USM a 2-1 lead. The Tigers would threaten in the bottom of the seventh with the winning run at the plate four times but could not capitalize falling to the Eagles, 2-1.
Mizzou continues to struggle at the plate in the tournament. That fact is made evident in that they have scored three runs in four games and .122 batting average during the Classic. However, Mizzou has a shot to even their record on the weekend playing UCONN at 8 am EST. If the Tigers can pick up a win, they will play again at Noon EST for third place in the Bronze bracket. For more information on Missouri Softball, log on to www.mutigers.com.