Senior Kimberly Wert drove in the game-winning run in Mizzou’s season-opening win over Penn State, Friday afternoon at the Northern Lights Invitational in Leesburg, Fla. (Photo: Nathan Assata)
PENN STATE 1 MIZZOU 2 — 8 INN.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PENN STATE (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| MISSOURI (1-0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
MIZZOU 2 CONNECTICUT 6
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MISSOURI (1-1) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| UCONN (1-0) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | X | 6 | 8 | 0 |
by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
The highly anticipated beginning of the 2022 spring season for University of Missouri women’s softball team began, Friday afternoon, with a doubleheader split at the Northern Lights/Southern Nights Invitational Tournament in Leesburg, Fla.
The Tigers, who came into the season ranked No. 12 in the country, played Penn State and Connecticut on Friday, and ended the day with mixed results.
In the first game, Missouri won 2-1 in eight innings over Penn State. The Tigers got an outstanding pitching performance from sophomore Jordan Weber, who took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and finished the day without giving up a run.
But Mizzou couldn’t get its offense going and found itself in a no-score tie after seven innings. And then, after Penn State took the lead in the top of the eighth, Mizzou found itself on the verge of possibly losing their much-anticipated season opener.
Fortunately though, the Tigers rallied. First, sophomore Megan Moll walked with the bases loaded to tie the score. Then senior Kimberly Wert finished the game off with a line-drive single down the left-field line that drove in Jenna Laird to give Mizzou the 2-1 win.
In game two, Missouri’s offense continued to struggle, as the Tigers stuck out six times and only managed six hits. Connecticut, on the other hand, had eight hits and drew four walks, on its way to a 6-2 victory.
The only bright spot for Mizzou in the second game of the day, was Laird blasted her first home run of the season — a deep shot over the right-centerfield wall — that gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately, Connecticut answered with five straight runs to build a lead Mizzou was unable to overcome.
Megan Schumacher got the win in Game 1, after coming in to relieve Weber, while Laurin Krings took the loss in Game 2.
Mizzou will be back in action on Saturday, with another doubleheader. This time, the Tigers will play Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m., and then No. 13-ranked Virginia Tech at 5 p.m.
The Tigers will then finish off the event on Sunday, with a game against No. 24-ranked Liberty.
| Missouri Tigers Women’s Softball Upcoming Schedule |
| Sat., February 12 — vs. Wisconsin — 2:30 pm* |
| Sat., February 12– vs. #13 Virginia Tech — 5 pm* |
| Sun., February 13 — vs. #24 Liberty — 12 am* |
| Wed., February 16 — at Florida Gulf Coast Omaha — 5 pm |
| Fri., February 18 — vs. South Alabama — 10 am^ |
| Fri., February 18 — vs. North Carolina — 12:30 pm^ |
| Sat., February 19 — vs. Bethune-Cookman — 10 am^ |
| Sat., February 19 — vs. Florida Atlantic — 3 pm^ |
| Sun., February 20 — vs. Maryland — 10:30 am^ |
| * – denotes games at Northern Lights/Southern Nights Invitational in Leesburg, FL |
| ^ – denotes games at The Spring Games Invitational in Leesburg, FL |