Mizzou Softball Downs Maryland, 5-1

Sunday, March 1

Kissimmee, Fla.

9:00AM

University of Missouri

10-3

Maryland

11-7

Missouri

Maryland

3/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

March 1, 2015

Box Score

COLUMBIA, Mo. - After steady rain forced the cancellation of two games on Saturday (Feb. 28), Mizzou wrapped up play at the Citrus Classic with a 5-1 win over Maryland on Sunday morning. The Tigers went 2-1 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex and improved to 10-3 on the season.

Sophomore pitcher Tori Finucane (Germantown, M.D.) got the start in the circle and collected her third win of 2015. Finucane threw 4.0 complete innings, striking out six while allowing just two hits and no runs. She received plenty of help from fellow sophomore Cheyenne Baxter (Norborne, Mo.), who tossed three effective innings in relief.

Baxter fanned three batters and surrendered five hits in the circle. The sophomore transfer from Nebraska-Omaha was dominant at the Citrus Classic. Baxter threw 7.1 innings over the weekend and gave up only one total run.

Mizzou strung together patient at bats and used aggressive baserunning to down Maryland. The Tigers scattered eight hits and drew nine walks in the victory. Junior Sami Fagan (Dunnellon, Fla.) led the way, going 2-for-2 at the plate with two hits, two walks and three stolen bases.

Fagan pushed the game's first run across in the top of the third. The junior singled and stole second on the next pitch. She scampered home after advancing to third during a run down and a passed ball.

Mizzou added three runs with a patient approach in the fifth inning. Junior Emily Crane (Troy, Mo.) and senior Corrin Genovese (East Amherst, N.Y.) drilled back-to-back singles to start the frame. Following a walk, freshman Amanda Sanchez (West Covina, Calif.) picked up her fourth RBI of the Citrus Classic with a bases loaded ground out to the right side of the infield that plated a run.

The Tigers then drew two bases loaded walks to score two more runs and surge ahead 4-1. Mizzou tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Freshman Morgan Walters (Buford, Ga.) scored from second an infield single. Walters never hesitated coming around third and caught the Terrapins' defense off guard.

Mizzou heads to Columbia, S.C., next weekend to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Tigers' first Southeastern Conference games of the season. The three-game series is set for March 7-9. For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MizzouSoftball.