The Missouri Tigers celebrate after winning their season-opening weekend tournament. (Photo courtesy: Mizzou Athletics)
| NCAA Softball | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clemson (4-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Missouri (5-0) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 9 | 1 |
W: Laurin Krings (3-0) L: Brooke McCubbin (2-1)
Paige Dale
Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, FL — The University of Missouri softball team finished off a dynamic season-opening weekend by capturing the 2024 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic championship, Sunday morning, by defeating No. 5-ranked Clemson, 4-1 in a game at the Eddie C. Moore Complex.
With the victory, Missouri secured the Classic title with a perfect 5-0 mark. The Tigers last started the season 5-0 in 2020, when they commenced the campaign 9-0 after last winning the Classic title.
Missouri also captured its first win over a top-5 team since overcoming #5 Alabama, 3-0, in the second round of the 2022 SEC Tournament on May 12, 2022.
Laurin Krings tallied a complete-game win, allowing just six hits Sunday for All-Tournament honors. She also notched six strikeouts in the victory.
Krings finished the weekend with three complete-game wins (3-0) to go with 20 strikeouts over 19.0 innings with a 1.89 ERA.
The Tigers got on the board early Sunday, posting three runs in the bottom of the first. Jenna Laird led off with a triple before coming home on an RBI single from Alex Honnold.
Honnold then advanced to third before coming around to score on a single from Julia Crenshaw.
Katie Chester added an RBI single to push the Tigers edge to 3-0.
After allowing a leadoff walk, Krings settled in, retiring the next three Clemson batters including a third-out strikeout.
Honnold then increased the Mizzou lead to 4-0 with an RBI groundout in the second.
Krings then pitched around a jam in the third, striking out back-to-back Clemson Tigers with runners on the corners to conclude the frame.
Clemson finally broke through in the top of the fifth, scoring on a Mizzou error.
Krings then closed out the top of the sixth with a 6-4-3 double play before pitching around a leadoff base hit to close out the contest in the seventh.
The Tigers next travel to Denton, Texas, for the 2024 Tracy Beard College Classic at North Texas, February 16-18. Mizzou will face Texas A&M-Commerce, South Dakota State, and North Texas over the two-day tournament.
Mizzou sports information contributed to this story.
#5 CLEMSON 1
| Position | Player | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CF | McKenzie Clark | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SS | Alex Brown | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1B/P | Valerie Cagle | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DH/1B | Julia Knowler | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3B | Alia Logoleo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2B | Maddie Moore | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| RF | Lindsey Garcia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| C | Aby Vieira | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LF | Arielle Oda | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| P | Brooke McCubbin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P | Millie Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P | Regan Spencer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 27 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
BASERUNNING
SB: Maddie Moore (1)
HBP: McKenzie Clark (1)
MISSOURI 4
| Position | Player | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS | Jenna Laird | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| CF | Alex Honnold | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1B | Madison Walker | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3B | Kara Daly | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| C | Julia Crenshaw | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DH | Katie Chester | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| RF | Mya Dodge | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| LF | Chantice Phillips | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| PH | Stefania Abruscato | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2B | Maddie Gallagher | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| P | Laurin Krings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 27 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
BATTING
2B: Kara Daly (1)
3B: Jenna Laird (1)
BASERUNNING
SB: Jenna Laird (1); Julia Crenshaw (1); Maddie Gallagher (1)
HBP: Jenna Laird (1)
FIELDING
E: Kara Daly (1)
DP: 1
