May 29, 2009
Coming off of an opening round loss to ninth-ranked Arizona State, the No. 11 Missouri softball team looks to keep its title hopes alive with a win over No. 8 Georgia in the first game of the losers bracket in the Women's College World Series (WCWS). The Tigers and Bulldogs will go head-to-head beginning at 11 a.m. (CT) at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium with Pam Ward and Michele Smith calling the action live on ESPN. Field reporter Holly Rowe will anchor the three-person crew.
Missouri, now 50-11 on the season, is making its fourth appearance at the WCWS and last suffered an opening round loss only to rebound in game two in 1991. Eighteen years ago, the Tigers fell to Long Beach State, 1-0, and came back with a 2-0 shutout of Utah in game one of the losers bracket. UCLA ended Missouri's second run for a national title, 5-0.
The loser of the Saturday morning, May 30, competition will see its season come to an end with an early exit from the WCWS, while the winner will take on Michigan at 6 p.m. (CT).
The third meeting between Missouri and Georgia and first time the two squads have played one another since 2001, Missouri owns the 2-0 lead in the all-time series. A familiar opponent of current Missouri Head Coach Ehren Earleywine, the Tiger skipper and Georgia Head Coach Lu Harris Champer battled on several occasions while in-state opponents. Earleywine served as head coach at Georgia Tech for three seasons before taking the reigns at Missouri.
Georgia enters the morning game after dropping a hard fought 3-1 loss to Washington. Washington stayed alive with its 1-0 win over Arizona State and will not play again until Sunday, May 31 at 11 a.m. (CT). The Huskies will challenge the winner of the losers bracket.
Missouri used its day away from the WCWS to practice, regroup and rest up for its second game of the week-long tournament. The Tigers were unhappy with their uncharacteristic outing against Arizona State and are determined to come out strong against Georgia. Earleywine will determine the pitcher of game two just prior to the game, with freshman Chelsea Thomas, senior Stacy Delaney and freshman Kristin Nottelmann all available options. Missouri's pitching staff owns a 1.42 ERA on the year , a mark that was inflated after the 7-3 loss to the Sun Devils, May 28. Thomas was saddled with the loss and saw her ERA raise to 1.50. Delaney, who entered the game in relief now sits with a 1.34 mark and 16-3 record, while Nottelmann is 11-2 with a 1.25 ERA. Together the Tiger pitching crew has held its opponents to a .197 batting average, striking out338 batters in 400 innings.
Sophomore Rhea Taylor is eager to return to the diamond as Missouri's leadoff batter. The Tiger is averaging .570 as Missouri's No. 1 hitter and managed an RBI double in the third inning of Thursday's contest with the Sun Devils. Taylor scored one of Missouri's three runs in the game.
2009 All-Americans Lindsey Ubrun and Marla Schweisberger will likely return to the Tiger's lineup, with their positions in the field still to be determined.