Mizzou pitcher Cierra Harrison tossed five shutout innings in the Tigers’ 7-2 win over Missouri State on Wednesday. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
NCAA Softball
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Missouri State (10-23)
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Mizzou (20-18)
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WP: Cierra Harrison – MIZ (9-5) LP: Mackenzie Chacon – MO ST. (2-7)
Paige Dale Staff Writer
COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri women’s softball team earned its second straight win and 20th of the season on Wednesday, when it defeated in-state rival Missouri State, 7-2, in a game at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.
The Tigers got home runs from Stefania Abruscato, Taylor Ebbs, and Mya Dodge to power the offense, while pitcher Cierra Harrison (9-5) tossed five shutout innings to get the win in the circle.
With the win, Mizzou improves to 20-18 this season, marking the eighth consecutive season with 20 or more wins — excluding the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.
Stefania Abruscato hit her third homer of the season in Mizzou’s win over Missouri State on Wednesday. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
Abruscato’s homer — her third of the season — gave Missouri a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The Tigers’ next two batters also reached base, setting up Kayley Lenger for a two-run double to made the score 3-0. Lenger went 3-for-3 in the game.
Missouri State changed pitchers after that and on the second pitch she faced, Dodge launched a shot for her first homer of the season. That put the Tigers up 5-0.
But Mizzou wasn’t done. Julia Crenshaw walked and stole second, which brought up Ebbs, who blasted her seventh homer to make the score 7-0.
From there, Harrison controlled the action by dominating Missouri State’s batters. The junior from Lee’s Summit, allowed just one hit and struck out eight to keep the Lady Bears off the board.
Junior Courtney Donahue came in to relieve Harrison, but gave up a two-run homer that made the score 7-2. Sophomore Nathalie Touchet pitched a clean seventh inning to finish off the game.
The Missouri Tigers will host No. 1 Texas in a three-game set this weekend in Columbia. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
The Tigers will get Thursday off before beginning a huge weekend, when the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Texas, comes to town for a three-game set at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.
The Tigers and Longhorns will play single games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Friday’s game will be at 6 p.m., Saturday’s matchup will begin at 5 p.m., and Sunday’s finale will be at noon.
The Friday game will be streamed live on SEC Network+, while the Saturday and Sunday games will be on tv. Saturday’s game will be on the SEC Network and Sunday’s game will be on ESPN2.
