Mizzou pitcher Laurin Krings (24) is congratulated by her teammates, following Friday’s NCAA Softball Regional win over Missouri State. (Photo: Nathan Assata)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Mizzou | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 3 | 10 | 0 |
W: Laurin Krings (15-9) L: Steffany Dickerson (21-8)
by DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
COLUMBIA, MO — Pitcher Laurin Krings pitched a complete game with 12 strikeouts, and teammate Brooke Wilmes had three hits, a run batted in, and scored a run in the University of Missouri women’s softball team’s 3-1 victory over Missouri State, Friday afternoon, in the opening game of this weekend’s NCAA Softball Regionals at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Krings, who now has a 15-9 record on the season, gave up just six hits and allowed only one run, as she kept the Missouri State offense at bay all day. The visiting Bears scored their one run in the sixth inning, but had their best chance for a big inning in the third, when they loaded the bases. But Krings struck out Missouri State cleanup hitter Alex Boze, with a wicked change-up to get out of the inning.
The Tigers took advantage right after that, as Wilmes drilled a one-out double, then moved to third on a base hit by Kimberly Wert. The grad student senior then scored on a groundball out by teammate Kendyll Bailey to put the home team on the board.
Mizzou then got a key run on a fielding error by Missouri State, which allowed Maddie Snider — who had entered the game to pinch run for Wert — from second, on a play that should’ve been the last out of the inning.
The two-run edge proved to be more than enough for Krings, who got the Bears out 1-2-3 in the fourth and fifth innings, before surrending her lone run of the game in the sixth. Missouri State had a chance to tie, with a runner on second and two outs, but Krings forced an easy pop out to get the last out and escape any further damage.
The Tigers got that run back in the bottom half of the sixth, when Hatti Moore led off the inning with a single, then moved around the bases, before finally scoring on a smash infield single by Wilmes — her third hit of the day.
With Mizzou up 3-1 in the seventh, Missouri State got its leadoff runner on, but couldn’t move her past second, as Krings got the final three outs on a pop out to third, an attempted bunt, and three-pitch strikeout to end the game.
The top-seeded Tigers are now 37-20 on the season, and will play No. 3 seed Arizona in the regional second round game on Saturday. The Wildcats defeated second-seeded Illinois, 8-3, late Friday night to advance.
The Mizzou-Arizona game is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to Sunday’s championship round. The loser would play the winner of Saturday’s Missouri State-Illinois elimination game, to see who advances to Sunday as well.