March 3, 2002
Plant City, Fla.- The University of Missouri softball team dropped its final two games of the Strawberry Cup on Sunday. Mizzou held leads in both games, but came up short first to Michigan State, 8-6, and then to Ohio, 5-3. Head coach Jay Miller said the Tiger's struggles are due more to momentary lapses in concentration than to anything they are doing physically.
"We are a talented team and have the tools to win close ball games," Miller said. "Our concentration level needs to be higher though and we need to execute in clutch situations and we are struggling with that right now. It will be good to get home to the friendly confines next weekend."
Missouri would come out on fire in the opening game of the day against Michigan State taking a 6-0 lead through the fifth inning on the strength of two home runs by sophomore Rachael McGinnis and a solo shot by senior Lindsey Jacoby. The proverbial wheels would fall off from that point on, however, as Mizzou would allow the Spartans to plate five unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth and three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 8-6 lead which they would not relinquish holding Mizzou scoreless in the final four innings. The Tigers struggled in the field committing four errors, which led to all eight Michigan State runs.
In Game 2 of the day, the Tigers would fall behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning against Ohio, but would tie the game with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Both teams would post zeros on the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth when senior right fielder Heather Allister smashed a double down the right field line that scored junior Sara Vassmer giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead. However, the Bobcats would respond with three runs of their own in the top of the sixth taking a 5-3 lead. Mizzou had no answer to the Bobcat outburst despite having the tying run at the plate in each of the next two innings. The Tigers fell prey to the error bug again recording four miscues in the contest.
One of the major bright spots on the day and the weekend was the offensive production of sophomore Rachael McGinnis. McGinns went 4-for-6 with six RBI, two home runs and a double in the two games on Sunday. She also had great success on the weekend hitting .500 (8-for-16) with a 1.000 slugging percentage, nine RBI and four walks in the Tigers six contests
The Tigers finish the Cup with a 1-5 mark and now sport a 7-13 overall record. Mizzou has now lost eight of its last 11 contests as they prepare to host the Missouri Classic this weekend in Columbia. Game One of the tournament for the Tigers will be on Friday at 4 pm against Columbia University at University Field in Columbia. For more information on Missouri softball, log on to www.mutigers.com.