Mizzou Softball Set for Annual Black & Gold Game
2/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 6, 2014
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Softball will host its annual Black & Gold Exhibition Game on Saturday, Feb. 8, inside the Dan Devine Pavilion. Action gets underway at 3 p.m. for what will be Mizzou fans' first chance to see head coach Ehren Earleywine's 2014 team in action. The Tigers begin the season ranked 14th in the country, according to the USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Top 25 poll.
Fans attending the Black & Gold Game are asked to park across Providence Road in Memorial Stadium's west parking lots, then use the "Tiger Walk Bridge" to cross over to Devine Pavilion. Please enter through the doors located off the road between Devine and the Mizzou Athletics Training Complex.
Earleywine welcomes back eight Tigers with starting experience from a season ago, including several proven offensive contributors for his eighth season leading the program. Sophomore 2B/OF Emily Crane (Troy, Mo.) returns after leading the 2013 squad with a .376 batting average, as well as spending this past summer playing with USA Softball's Junior Women's National Team. Junior 3B/C Angela Randazzo (Poway, Calif.) and junior 1B Kelsea Roth (Yorba Linda, Calif.) return after posting team-bests in RBI (47) and home runs (16), respectively.
Fresh faces are lined up in the Mizzou pitching department, with freshmen Tori Finucane (Germantown, Md.) and Casey Stangel (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho), along with senior newcomer Alora Marble (Jefferson City, Mo.) set to throw. Additional tosses can come from freshman P/1B Jordan Zolman (Arbyrd, Mo.).
Finucane, Marble, Stangel and Zolman come from a group of eight newcomers in total. Redshirt sophomore SS Sami Fagan (Dunnellon, Fla.), freshman 3B/2B Natalie Fleming (Silex, Mo.), freshman C Kirsten Mack (Riverside, Calif.) and freshman IF/OF Kelli Schkade (Albany, Texas) round out the group of new Tigers.
Mizzou compiled a 38-14 overall record and 15-8 mark in Southeastern Conference play last season en route to the program's sixth-straight NCAA Super Regional appearance. The Tigers finished the season ranked No. 11 by both the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll and the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll.
Mizzou officially begins its 2014 schedule at the Jacksonville Tournament, hosted by Jacksonville (Fla.) University, from Feb. 14-16. The Tigers' first home contests of the 2014 season will be against SEC foe Kentucky from March 14-16 at University Field.
Season ticket renewals are currently ongoing, along with additional season ticket requests being taken. More information can be found here. Contact the Mizzou Ticket Office by phone at 1-800-CAT-PAWS (573-884-7297 in Mid-Missouri).
