Friday, February 8
Tempe, Ariz.
2:30 p.m.
University of Missouri
vs
Utah
@MizzouSoftball Starts Season at Kajikawa Classic
2/5/2019 8:52:00 AM | Softball
The Larissa Anderson Era Will Officially Get Underway This Weekend in Tempe, Ariz.
| Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 8-Feb. 10) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | VIDEO | STATS |
| Utah | Tempe, Ariz. | Friday | 2:30 p.m. | FloSoftball | Stats |
| (12) Arizona State | Tempe, Ariz. | Friday | 8 p.m. | Pac-12 Plus | Stats |
| (25) Oregon | Tempe, Ariz. | Saturday | 10 a.m. | FloSoftball | Stats |
| Oregon State | Tempe, Ariz. | Saturday | 3:30 p.m. | FloSoftball | Stats |
| Kansas | Tempe, Ariz. | Sunday | 11 a.m. | FloSoftball | Stats |
Storylines
- The Larissa Anderson era kicks off for the Tigers this week, as the Lake George, N.Y. native will be making her coaching debut for Mizzou at the Kajikawa Classic.
- Anderson arrives at Missouri following a legendary stint at Hofstra, including 130 wins and one regional appearance during her four seasons as head coach.
- Before taking over as head coach from Hall of Famer Bill Edwards, Anderson spent 13 seasons on the Hofstra staff as an assistant, including the last 10 as the associate head coach, helping the program to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and 10 CAA titles.
- Mizzou Softball kept its remarkable postseason streak intact last season, as the Tigers made it to their 12th consecutive NCAA Regional. The Tigers went 2-2 in the Norman Regional before being bounced out of the tournament by then-No. 4 Oklahoma.
Returners in the Rotation
- Following a 30-29 season, the Tigers return only 18 members from last year's squad. Of those 18, though, senior Kolby Romaine, a second-team All-SEC selection, junior Cayla Kessinger, also a second-team All-SEC selection and sophomore Brooke Wilmes, an SEC All-Freshman team selection, return.
- Romaine, one of just four seniors on the squad, broke out during her junior season, resetting single-season career-highs in hits (43), home runs (6), RBI (25) and slugging percentage (.496).
- Kessinger also had a breakout 2018 campaign, as the Saugus High School product became just one of 13 Tigers all-time to receive First-Team NFCA Southeast All-Region honors. She attained that distinction courtesy of her single-season career-highs in average (.312), hits (49), runs scored (29), doubles (10), home runs (10), RBI (20), stolen bases (7), on-base percentage (.390) and slugging percentage (.580).
- Kessinger also registered an impressive 24-game safely reached base streak and a 14-game hitting streak. Those are the seventh and eighth longest streaks in program history, respectively.
- Wilmes didn't waste any time jumping onto the scene, making her presence felt as a freshman both offensively and defensively.
- She racked up 142 assists last season, the sixth most in the SEC. Wilmes also added 46 hits, 11 doubles, five home runs and 27 RBI at the plate.
- For her efforts, Wilmes became Mizzou's fifth straight representative on the SEC's All-Freshman team.
- The Tigers also return several other key pieces, including every-day outfielders Regan Nash and Callie Martin, starting catcher Hatti Moore and pitchers Madi Norman, Nalani Scates and Eli Daniel.
- Mizzou is also expecting Kendyll Bailey, a redshirt freshman, back after she missed most of 2018 following an injury. She was rated #11 overall in FloSoftball's final Class of 2017 "Hot 100" players.
New Year, New Faces
- The Tigers will get an infusion of both young talent and several veteran transfers.In total, the Tigers have 11 new pieces.
- The class of '18 for the Tigers includes the MVP of the PGF High School All-American game, Jazmyn Rollin, who should provide Anderson another strong offensive option.
- Headlining the transfer group is sophomore infielder Kimberly Wert, who followed Anderson from Hofstra to Columbia, Mo.
Players Mentioned
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