The robust crowd at Mizzou Softball Stadium had been primed to erupt for all seven innings of a pivotal contest between Mizzou and Georgia. When Emma Raabe stepped to the plate as the tying run in the bottom of the seventh and final frame, she was ready to send the fans into a frenzy. After a mound visit, Raabe jumped on a rare mistake from Bulldogs ace Madison Kerpics. The crowd rose to their feet and collectively held their breath. As the ball rocketed about 3 feet left of the left field foul pole, the groan could be heard from Jefferson City. Raabe would go on to strike out and the Bulldogs secured the victory 3-1 and took the series from the Tigers.
For the visiting Bulldogs, Kerpics was sensational in the circle and notched her 16th win of the year with a complete game. She allowed just six baserunners and struck out eight batters. Her only big mistake was a 6th inning homer off the bat of Brooke Wilmes. Offensively, Georgia didn’t have much traffic on the basepaths against Mizzou starter Jordan Weber, but two solo homers off the bat of Sara Mosley and one from Jaiden Fields was all they needed to secure the victory.
The Tigers got a strong six inning performance from their starter Jordan Weber, while Megan Schumacher did well to escape a jam in the 7th inning. However, the bats never really woke up. In the 3rd inning, Casidy Chaumont cranked a ball that, like Raabe’s, hooked just foul down the left field line. If those two balls stay fair this game is much different, but softball is a game of inches. The bottom line for the Tigers is that the offense needs to improve if they want to finish the season strong. Countless strikeouts, weak ground balls, and pop ups doomed the Tigers. They also had no hits with runners in scoring position and were a dismal 0-8 with runners on base.
Georgia improves to 35-9 and 9-6 in SEC play with the win. They will host USC Upstate on Wednesday then LSU next weekend. Mizzou falls to 25-17 and 5-9 in conference play. They will host Saint Louis on Wednesday before traveling to Lexington, KY next weekend to face the Kentucky Wildcats.