Feb. 18, 2014
| Mary Nutter Classic | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Location | Day/Time (CT) | Media |
| Arizona | Cathedral City, Calif. | Thurs./8 p.m. | Live Stats | Twitter |
| Baylor | Cathedral City, Calif. | Thurs./10:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Twitter |
| Fordham | Cathedral City, Calif. | Fri./5:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Twitter |
| San Diego State | Cathedral City, Calif. | Fri./10:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Twitter |
| UCLA | Cathedral City, Calif. | Sat./4:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Twitter |
Game Notes: Mizzou  |
TIGER TALES - Mizzou Softball came out of the gates with a strong 4-1 performance out of five games at Baylor's Getterman Classic (Feb. 14-16) to begin the 2014 season, the eighth campaign under the guidance of head coach Ehren Earleywine. The Tigers ran off four-straight wins, including two run-rule victories, before dropping a close contest to the tournament host, No. 16 Baylor, 2-1. Mizzou shut out Lipscomb (8-0) and Drake (9-0) in five innings on Saturday, Feb. 15. Eight players on Mizzou's squad have starting experience from the program's sixth consecutive NCAA Super Regional appearance last season.
• The Tiger pitching staff was not giving away much to Mizzou's opponents during the first weekend of action. High school All-Americans Tori Finucane and Casey Stangel made their first collegiate appearances for Mizzou, with both allowing just one earned run in three appearances each while in Waco, Texas.
• Freshman pitcher Tori Finucane, junior 3B/C Angela Randazzo and redshirt sophomore SS Sami Fagan earned Getterman Classic All-Tournament Team recognition for their play during Mizzou's five-game stay in Waco. Fagan batted .333 with five RBI and showed off her glove at shortstop, while Randazzo showed off her bat to the tune of a .455 batting average and one home run (Mizzou's first of the 2014 season). Finucane pitched to a 2-1 record in her three starts, although she only allowed one earned run in 13.0 innings of work.
• Earleywine's crew was given preseason rankings of 14th and 17th by the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 polls, respectively, marking the fifth-consecutive season that the Tigers begin their season ranked in the Top 15.
• Continuing to provide quality depth in the pitching department besides Finucane and Stangel is senior transfer Alora Marble. The former SEMO hurler logged 366.0 innings with a 2.79 ERA from 2011-12. Rounding out the pitching group is freshman 1B/P Jordan Zolman.
• Two Tigers that figure to play prominent roles at the top of the order, sophomore 2B/OF Emily Crane and redshirt sophomore SS Sami Fagan, both excelled statistically during their previous seasons of competition. Crane put up a .376 avg./.459 OBP freshman campaign in 2013, while the Florida transfer Fagan hit .378/.440 OBP as a freshman at UF in 2012, making the All-SEC Freshman Team.
• Earleywine enters his eighth season leading Mizzou and 11th season as a head softball coach with a major milestone within reach. The former Georgia Tech head coach (2004-06) went 146-55 in Atlanta before returning to his home state to lead the Tigers, winning 330 games to run his career total to 476.
• The 2014 season will have a new feeling to many who closely follow the program, as ace pitcher Chelsea Thomas and always reliable batters Nicole Hudson and Jenna Marston no longer appear on Earleywine's lineup card. The graduates left lasting marks on Mizzou, with Thomas becoming the first three-time First Team All-American in program history. She claimed three conference pitcher of the year awards (two in the Big 12, one in the SEC). Thomas finished her Tiger career as the winningest pitcher in school history, with a career mark of 111-31, as well as No. 1 in strikeouts with 1,174.
• Hudson and Marston were dynamic at the plate throughout their careers and used strong final seasons at the plate to finish in Mizzou's all-time top 10 in career hits, doubles, at-bats, runs scored, RBI and walks. Hudson (143) and Marston (134) rank No. 1 and No. 2 atop the Tigers' all-time walks chart. Hudson finished one home run shy of matching Jen Bruck(2005-08) for the school's career long ball record of 47, while Marston finished second in both doubles (53) and runs scored (193).
THE OPPOSITION- The Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, one of the nation's top early-season softball tournaments, will feature Mizzou from Thursday, Feb. 20-Saturday, Feb. 22. The 16th-ranked Tigers will face No. 14 Arizona (8 p.m. CT) and No. 15 Baylor (10:30 p.m. CT) on Thursday, before facing Fordham (5:30 p.m. CT) and San Diego State (10:30 p.m.) on Friday. Mizzou closes the event on Saturday with No. 8 UCLA at 4:30 p.m. CT.
• Arizona has bolted out to a 9-0 record this season, including two wins over the SEC's Alabama by scores of 3-0 and 8-0 (5). The Wildcats have four players hitting at .500 or better thus far into the 2014 season.
• Mizzou is familiar with Baylor (8-2), having recently taken the Bears to the wire in a narrow 2-1 defeat in Waco. BU threw standout senior LHP Whitney Canion against Mizzou on Sunday, Feb. 16.
• Fordham (5-3) has a victory over the SEC's Ole Miss (4-3) and a five-inning loss to Kansas (10-1) on its season résumé. Catcher Gabby Luety leads the Rams with a .353 batting average.
• San Diego State (8-2) and Mizzou battled at the Mary Nutter Classic a season ago, with the Tigers taking a 2-1 victory. Pitcher Danielle O'Toole returns for SDSU. The Aztec surrendered four hits to Mizzou last time.
• Mizzou holds a three-game winning streak over UCLA (11-0), including a 7-5 win at the Mary Nutter Classic in 2012. Tiger fans certainly remember Missouri's dramatic NCAA Super Regional win at UCLA in 2009 to send the program to its fourth Women's College World Series and first appearance under Earleywine.