The Missouri Tigers won the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic championship over the weekend. (Photo: Primo Greenway)
Paige Dale
Staff Writer
Of the many possibilities the sports world has to bring, one thing is always true:
Win big games and you will be rewarded for it.
That’s what happened on Monday and Tuesday of this week, after the University of Missouri softball team began its season by winning the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic down in Clearwater, Fla.
Missouri went 5-0 over the weekend, including blowout wins over North Carolina State and Liberty, a thrilling comeback victory over South Alabama, and a pair of convincing wins over nationally-ranked Utah (then-No. 13) and Clemson (then-No. 5).
And for those big wins, the Tigers were rewarded.
First by the voters in the national Top 25 polls, who all had Mizzou in their top 15. None of the polls had Missouri even receiving votes in their preseason polls.
But after Week 1, everybody has the Tigers ranked among the best teams in the country.
ESPN.com/USA Softball has Mizzou at No. 15. USA Today/NFCA Coaches ranked the Tigers at No. 14. Softball America voted Missouri at No. 13. And D1Softball.com had Mizzou ranked the highest at No. 11.
That’s quite a jump from not being ranked at all. But that’s what happens when you play Week 1 and you smoke everybody you play, especially when all five teams you face are all considered top contenders in their respective conferences.
Individually, ace pitcher Laurin Krings went 3-0 for the Tigers, including wins in the games against Utah and Clemson. She finished the weekend with a 1.47 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 19.0 innings work.
Those performances earned her D1Softball.com’s Pitcher of the Week award.
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Head coach Larissa Anderson has been touting her ace since she was Mizzou’s No. 2 starter as a freshman.
“Laurin has been Laurin all season long,” Anderson said of Krings being national pitcher of the week. “All fall, all winter. I mean, she stayed here this summer. She trained with our strength coach. She put herself in a position that her body is a lot stronger than she has been.
“But what’s different with her right now is her level of focus and her intent in understanding how to truly pitch and how to get batters out and not trying to throw it by people. When you throw 68-72, sometimes you feel like you can just rely on speed and overpower hitters and she’s been really focusing on her control and her command and being able to move the ball and spin it a lot more and that’s the difference that I’ve seen in her.”
She continued.
“She made some unbelievable pitches against Clemson, some of the best I’ve ever seen her throw, and being as late in the game in the seventh inning and just willing yourself to be able to be competitive, really raised the level of play and inspired a lot of people on our team.”
Mizzou will be back in action this weekend at the Tracy Beard College Classic, hosted by North Texas in Denton, Texas. The Tigers will play Texas A&M-Commerce and South Dakota State on Friday.
Missouri will play South Dakota State again on Saturday, before finishing up with a pair of games against North Texas on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
Mizzou’s first home game will be when it begins SEC play on March 8 against Auburn.
