Mizzou Tigers softball completed the comeback to win the series opener, 6-3 against the No. 9 Florida Gators Friday night. The win came despite the Tigers being held hitless until the sixth inning.
This series opener with Florida had Tiger fans nervous after losing their previous series versus Arkansas and ultimately falling to a 5-7 SEC record last week. With the possibility of hosting a regional up in the air, the stakes have never been higher in the stacked power five conference.
Meanwhile, the Florida Gators enter Columbia, Missouri, not having lost a conference series all year. Even with suffering a strange loss versus USF on Wednesday, the Florida Gators have been dominant throughout the season amassing a 34-6 record coming into Friday’s matchup.
The Florida Gators wasted no time getting on the board, scoring in each of the first three innings. Shortstop Skylar Wallace was driven home by a Korbe Otis single in the first.
The night’s lone home run came in the second inning off the bat of first baseman Ava Brown, her ninth home run of the year. The same home run is the 11th given up by Laurin Krings this year.
Mizzou scored twice in the second inning despite not registering a hit. However, the Florida Gators would temporarily regain the lead in the third after Otis scored on a Reagan Walsh single.
The game broke open for Mizzou in the sixth inning; their first hit came from the freshman Stefania Abruscato. The single moved pinch-runner Claire Callahan to third with only one out for Mizzou. Fans largely taken out of the game through six innings began to make some noise.
Two batters later, Kayley Lenger would connect with Rothrock’s pitch for a single, find her way to second base, and collect the RBI as Callahan scored. The fans that were silent just minutes earlier rose to their feet and begin cheering and stomping their feet.
The sudden crowd noise, Missouri’s Danielle Blackstone on third, and Lenger’s game-tying run meant a tremendous amount of pressure for Florida’s Rothrock; the pressure would show as she walked Laird before hitting center fielder Alex Honnold to bring Blackstone home for the go-ahead run.
Rothrock’s sixth-inning woes would come to an end after a Maddie Gallagher single brought in two more runners to make the score 6-3. Mizzou would score all their runs in the sixth inning with two outs.
Chaotic is one way to describe Keagan Rothrock’s performance as her night included five walks, five hit batters, and six earned runs while still striking out five and only allowing three hits.
Kayley Lenger would move into first in the SEC in most hit by pitches, with 15 on the season.
“It’s Lenger’s mentality, she’s not afraid to get hit because she knows she has to get on base.” Head Coach Larissa Anderson said after the game.
“That’s my box, so I am going to stand on my box and on my line; it’s just my mentality.” said Lenger.
Lenger has continued her hot streak from Arkansas where she batted in three runs and was hit by four pitches.
Marissa McCann became the unsung hero for Mizzou when she allowed just one hit on three strikeouts to hold the Florida Gators scoreless in the final two innings.
“McCann threw great; her composure in this atmosphere, against Florida, first time being in that situation. Her composure was outstanding and I’m really, really proud of her.” Anderson said in her postgame press conference.
“I’m running McCann back out there because they hadn’t had a hit. The conversation with our coaching staff was no, McCann needs the experience of closing it out.”
Wins against Florida have been hard to come by; the Tigers are just 7-17 all-time in this matchup.
The action continues on Saturday at 12:30 pm and Sunday at 2:30 pm, with both games broadcasted live on KCOU. Tune in to https://kcou.fm/ to catch all the exhilarating moments as the Mizzou Tigers battle the Florida Gators for supremacy on the diamond.