No. 18/19 Mizzou Softball Takes Two from Mississippi State

Saturday, April 17

Columbia, Mo.

1 p.m. CT

University of Missouri

30-10, 8-5

Mississippi State

22-17, 0-10

Mississippi State

Missouri

No. 18/19 Mizzou Softball Takes Two from Mississippi State

4/17/2021 9:48:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

COLUMBIA, MO. – No. 18/19 Mizzou Softball (31-10, 9-5 SEC) utilized some power and some dominant pitching to sweep the doubleheader against the visiting Mississippi State Bulldogs with wins of 5-2 and 4-3.

GAME ONE

Mizzou did not waste any time with getting the offense started this afternoon against the MSU Bulldogs. Brooke WIlmes hit a chopper up the middle for a single to get the Tiger offense rolling. Wilmes would come in to score on a Jenna Laird long ball to right for her fourth home run on the year.

In the third inning, Mizzou would put up another pair of runs to put them up 4-0. Jenna Laird continued her outstanding game with a solo shot to center for her fifth of the year and second bomb on the day. Two batters later, Casidy Chaumont launched a solo homer of her own over the wall for her third round-tripper this season.

Mississippi State put their pair of runs on the scoreboard in the fifth on an RBI double that cut the Tiger lead down to two. Mizzou's fifth and final run came in the sixth inning on a Kendyll Bailey solo homer for her fourth dinger this season and the Tigers' final home run in the game.

Mizzou starter Jordan Weber had a fantastic outing today, taking a perfect game into the fifth. Mississippi State was able to get a pair of baserunners on a walk and a single to deep left field. Weber struck out three in the game and only allowed three hits enroute to her eighth win on the year.

TURNING POINT

In the top of the sixth with Mizzou up 4-2, the Tigers were able to put the game away. A double to the wall got the Mississippi State inning started. However, the very next batter, ripped a grounder to short, and Jenna Laird had an amazing diving stop to not only keep the runner from scoring, but catch her in a rundown.

After two more Bulldog runners got on, Laird had another amazing play to save another run by making a diving catch on a line drive that would have made it into the left-center gap. Mizzou would get out of the inning unscathed, thanks to two outstanding defensive plays by the Tiger shortstop.

Kendyll Bailey added a solo shot in the bottom half of the sixth to put the game away.

TOP TIGERS

Jenna Laird notched her first career multi-homer game and drove in three of the Tigers' five runs in the contest

Casidy Chaumont launched her third homer of the season over the left field wall for a solo shot in the bottom of the third inning.

Kendyll Bailey joined in on the dinger party with a homer of her own, her fourth of the season.

NOTES

Mizzou has scored five or more runs in 31 of their 40 games on the season, with a 29-2 record in such games

Jenna Laird is the fifth Tiger to record a multi-home run game on the season.

Seven of the Tigers' starting nine collected a hit in the contest

Mizzou now has 32 30-plus win seasons in program history.

GAME TWO

No. 18/19 Mizzou Softball (31-10, 9-5 SEC) finished off the day collecting their second victory on Saturday with a hard fought 4-3 game.

In the bottom of the first, Jenna Laird continued her outstanding offensive play on the day by roping an RBI double to the wall to drive in Brooke Wilmes for the second time on the day. Laird was driven home two batters later on an RBI single by Casidy Chaumont, giving the Tigers an early 2-0 lead.

The Tiger bats became quiet after the first until, in the bottom of the sixth, Kimberly Wert launched an 0-1 pitch to dead center field for her 13th home run of the season. Wert's homer would bring in Jenna Laird, who led off the inning with her second double in the game.

Megan Schumacher was able to keep the Bulldog bats quiet for nearly the entire game. Similarly to her teammate Jordan Weber in the first game, Schumacher carried a perfect game into the fifth. The lone blemish for Schumacher in the game was a three-run homer that she gave up with one out left in the game which cut the Tiger lead to 4-3.

Mizzou would keep that lead thanks to Emma Nichols coming in to collect her second save on the day by striking out the final batter on three straight pitches.

TURNING POINT

Senior Kimberly Wert came in clutch with her round-tripper in the sixth to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead. Without that clutch batting display, Mizzou would have found themselves down a run after the Bulldogs' three run seventh and would have faced a difficult challenge to score runs in the final frame.

TOP TIGERS

Megan Schumacher was dominant in the circle, carrying a perfect game into the seventh and collecting four strikeouts along the way.

Casidy Chaumont continued her great day by driving in Laird in the first for her 16th RBI this season.

Kimberly Wert's clutch home run in the sixth was just enough for Mizzou to come out with the victory.

Jenna Laird once again had a pair of extra-base hits with two doubles.

NOTES

Jenna Laird leads the Tigers with 16 multi-hit games on the season.

Mizzou has recorded three or more extra-base hits in 26 games on the year.

UP NEXT

The Tigers will look to get the sweep against Mississippi State on Sunday at 3 pm CT on SEC Network. Mizzou will recognize the senior class during this game.