Mizzou’s Hatti Moore blasted three home runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the 8th, to lead the Tigers to a 7-5 win over Texas A&M, Friday night in Columbia. (Photo courtesy: Mizzou Athletics)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas A&M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Mizzou | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 0 |
W: Jordan Weber (12-5) L: Emiley Kennedy (9-8)
Torrance Terrell
Staff Writer
COLUMBIA, MO — University of Missouri women’s softball graduate student Hatti Moore had the game of her life, Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.
The fifth-year Tiger starting catcher blasted three home runs, including a two-run, walkoff shot in the bottom of the eighth inning, to carry Missouri to a 7-5 victory over visiting Texas A&M.
Moore, who tied for team lead with a career-high 17 homers last season and also had career highs in RBIs (50), batting average (.320), hits (56), and runs scored (45), came into Friday’s contest batting just .159, and had just three homers in nine RBIs this year.
But the LaGrange, Texas native, doubled her 2022 season home run total and drove in six of Mizzou’s seven runs in the win.
The first bomb was a solo shot in the bottom of the third, that gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Then after Jenna Laird added a solo homer of her own to give Mizzou two runs, and A&M’s Katie Dack hit one herself to make the score 2-1, Moore set the entire stadium ablaze with a deep three-run shot onto the left-field lawn, in the bottom of the fourth to put Missouri ahead 5-1.
Things seemed comfortable for the Tigers, who were rolling along with a nice lead in what was shaping up like an easy win. But then the Aggies scored four runs in the top of the sixth to tie the score at five.
Neither club could get anything going until the bottom of the eighth, when Mizzou’s Alex Honnold, who had four hits in the game, led off the inning with a base hit to third base, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Kara Daly.
Sophomore Riley Frizzell drilled a single through the right side on a play that looked like it might win the game as Honnold tried to score. But A&M’s defense executed a perfect relay play from right field to home, and was able to gun down Honnold at the plate to keep Mizzou from taking the lead.
The game stayed that way until the very next pitch, when Moore drilled her third home run of the game — this time over the right-centerfield wall — to win the game, and set off a wild home plate celebration for the Tigers.
Starting pitcher Jordan Weber (12-5) got the complete-gave victory for Mizzou, which lifted its overall season record to 30-17, while also lifting its Southeastern Conference mark to 9-9. A&M fell to 27-19 overall, and 5-14 in the conference.
The two teams will play Game 2 of the three-game weekend series, Saturday afternoon, at the Mizzou Softball Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m., and the game will be televised live on the SEC Network.