@MizzouSoftball Concludes Michele Smith Invitational Sunday with Two Victories

Sunday, February 18

Clearwater, Fla.

10:15 am

University of Missouri

5-5

FAU

5-5

Missouri

Florida Atlantic

@MizzouSoftball Concludes Michele Smith Invitational Sunday with Two Victories

2/18/2018 7:55:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Tigers wrap-up solid 4-2 trip this weekend in Clearwater

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Mizzou Softball (6-5) bounced back Sunday with a pair of wins to conclude its weekend at the Michele Smith Invitational. The Tigers produced a 7-2 victory in game one against FAU and followed with a thrilling 4-3 walk-off win in extra innings against USF in game two.

Mizzou finished its three-day run at the Eddie C. Moore Complex with a solid 4-2 record and moved back above .500 overall for the season.

#ShowMe Top Performers vs. FAU

Amanda Sanchez: 3-for-3, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
Rylee Pierce: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI
Brooke Wilmes: 2-for-3, R, HR, RBI
Madi Norman: (W) 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 K

#ShowMe Top Performers vs. USF

Nalani Scates: (W) 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Callie Martin: 1-for-3, walk-off RBI
Wilmes: 2-for-4, R, HR, RBI

Coach Fogue's Corner

On the Tigers' Michele Smith finale…

"I was real proud of our fight today. We came out swinging early and often against FAU in game one. We only had one real bad inning against USF, but our group was fantastic in coming back twice. Nalani (Scates) was excellent in relief in the circle and shut down the Bulls' offense. It allowed for our eventual walk-off in the eighth and Callie (Martin) really stepped up with a big hit."

#MIZ Takeaways

Cayla Kessinger extended her safely reached base streak to 21 games. The Tiger right fielder was 2-for-3 in game one, while going 1-for-4 in game two to keep her impressive streak alive. Her current safely reached base streak now ranks T-12th all-time in Mizzou history.
Braxton Burnside, Pierce and Sanchez all extended their team-leading hitting streaks to six games after solid performances at the plate Sunday. Kessinger and Martin aren't far behind, as they'll enter next week's Mary Nutter Classic with a five-game and four-game hitting streak, respectively.
Collectively, the Tigers upped their game in both hitting and pitching this weekend in Clearwater. At the plate, Mizzou hit .333 with 34 runs, 11 doubles, one triple, nine home runs and 28 RBI. In the circle, the Tigers' pitching staff went 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA over 42.0 IP. In comparison, last weekend at the Kajikawa Classic, Mizzou's pitchers only managed a 2-3 record with a 4.81 ERA over 32.0 IP.
Pierce (.600), Sanchez (.579) and Burnside (.533) all hit the cover off the balls in Clearwater. Pierce launched a team-best three home runs, while Sanchez and Wilmes posted two home runs apiece. Sanchez led the Tigers with five extra-base hits, as she tallied three doubles and her aforementioned two long balls.
Spanning across Mizzou's 11 games played this season, 32 of the team's 101 total hits have gone for extra bases. Four players possess two-plus home runs, while eight total Tigers have visited #BombCity at least once.

Up Next

Coach Fogue and the Tigers' final non-conference tournament is scheduled for next week (Feb. 22-25) at the Mary Nutter Classic. Mizzou will play six games over four days, including a pair of Top-25 matchups against No. 11 Arizona and No. 4 UCLA.

Visit MUTigers.com for the latest information on all things Mizzou Softball. You can also find the Tigers on social media by liking us on Facebook (University of Missouri Softball Team) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@MizzouSoftball).