University of Missouri
Indiana
No. 7 Softball Advances to Regional Final After Sweeping Saturday
5/19/2024 12:36:00 AM | Softball
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 7 seed University of Missouri softball team (45-16) earned a pair of wins on Saturday to advance to Sunday's 2024 NCAA Columbia Regional Final at Mizzou Softball Stadium. The Tigers opened the day with a 5-1 victory over Indiana before finishing off the night with a 4-1 win against No. 13/15 Washington.
With the victories, Mizzou has advanced to Sunday's Regional Finals. The Tigers will take on Omaha for the second time this weekend starting with a 1 p.m., CT Sunday matchup. Game two will follow 35 minutes later as the schools set to battle for a Super Regional bid.
Senior Laurin Krings earned the victory in the circle in both contests – combining for 11.0 innings pitched (163 pitches) with just two earned runs allowed and six strikeouts. With the pair of victories, Krings, a 2024 NFCA All-Region Selection, improved to 15-8 during her senior campaign.
Offensively, senior Jenna Laird and freshman Abby Hay led the Tigers by each going 4-for-7 on the day. The duo each connected on a home run in the nightcap with Hay tallying four RBI on the day – two in each contest – and Laird scoring four runs.
GAME ONE RECAP
#7 Mizzou 5, Indiana 1
The Tigers tallied two runs in the top of the first and never gave their lead back en route to a 5-1 win over the Hoosiers (40-20).
After the first three Tigers of the day reached base, a pair of grounders from Maddie Gallagher and Abby Hay plated two for the 2-0 lead.
The two runs were all the scoring Krings would need during the game.
However, Mizzou would add three insurance runs – Hay scoring on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth before a groundout and a Hay single added two more in the seventh.
Laurin Krings pitched 6.1 innings of one-run ball – allowing only four hits to the Hoosiers – to advance to Saturday's nightcap against the nationally-ranked Huskies.
GAME TWO RECAP
#7 Mizzou 4, #13 Washington 1
Home runs from Abby Hay in the second and Jenna Laird in the third carried the Tigers in their second victory of the day, 4-1, over No. 13/15 Washington (32-15).
The duo's early blasts gave the home team a two-run advantage it would hold until the fifth inning. After back-to-back two-out hits scored Washington's only run of the day, freshman Marissa McCann needed just one pitch to get out of the jam, preserving the MU advantage (2-1).
Mizzou then added two runs in the bottom half of the fifth for the 4-1 advantage. Four-straight singles gave the Tigers more than enough scoring with Maddie Gallagher and Hay plating Laird and Alex Honnold.
McCann finished off the victory from there. The rookie needed just 12 pitches to get all seven batters she faced out, securing her third save of the season in the victory.
NOTES
- Offensively, senior Jenna Laird and freshman Abby Hay led the Tigers by each going 4-for-7 on the day. The duo each connected on a home run in the nightcap with Hay tallying four RBI on the day – two in each contest – and Laird scoring four runs.
- Senior Laurin Krings earned the victory in the circle in both contests – combining for 11.0 innings pitched (163 pitches) with just two earned runs allowed and six strikeouts. With the pair of victories, Krings, a 2024 NFCA All-Region Selection, improved to 15-8 during her senior campaign.
- Three Tigers (Abby Hay, Jenna Laird, Alex Honnold) all posted a pair of hits in the Saturday opener with Indiana. Laird and Hay then added two-hit games against Washington.
- Alex Honnold and Abby Hay have each posted a hit in each of the three 2024 NCAA Columbia Regional games while Stefania Abruscato (three-game reached base streak) and Jenna Laird hit safely in both games Saturday.
- Abby Hay is currently on a career-best 10 game reached base streak. Maddie Gallagher (eight games) and Jenna Laird (seven games) are also on reached base streaks.
- Marissa McCann needed just 12 pitches to get all seven batters she faced out in the night cap against Washington, securing her third save of the season in the victory.
- Jenna Laird paces Mizzou with 23 multi-hit games in 2024 followed by Alex Honnold (18) and Abby Hay (8).
- Abby Hay now has six multi-RBI games this season.
- Jenna Laird made her program-record 241st consecutive start in the black and gold. She is now two runs away from 200 in her career.
- Jenna Laird blasted her first homer of the season Saturday and first since April 29, 2022.
- Abby Hay tallied her fourth homer of the campaign Saturday.
- Mizzou is now one win away from 1,500 in program history. The Tigers will become the 15th program in NCAA history to reach 1,500 wins. Missouri will also become the second SEC school to reach 1,500 wins after Texas A&M (1,890 wins).
- Mizzou welcomed a Regional-best 3,445 fans to Mizzou Softball Stadium, improving upon the record from Friday. The Tigers previously set the single-game attendance record with 3,607 April 13 against Florida. Missouri ranked fourth in the NCAA in 2024 with an average attendance of 2,520.
- Missouri is competing in its 17th-straight NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have made it to Regionals 27 times in their history, now holding a 56-33 overall record in Regionals.
- The Tigers are hosting their third NCAA Regional in four seasons. This campaign marks the 13th-ever Regional in Columbia.
- In her sixth season at Mizzou, head coach Larissa Anderson is making her fifth Regional appearance (2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic) and is hosting for the third time (2021, 2022). So far, she's obtained an 11-7 record in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with the Tigers.
UP NEXT
The Tigers next face Omaha in a rematch of Friday's opener in the Regional Final Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., CT at Mizzou Softball Stadium and if Mizzou claims the opener, game two will follow 35 minutes later as the schools set to battle for a Super Regional bid.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouSoftball (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
