Mizzou’s Maddie Gallagher rounds the bases after mashing a home run in the Tigers’ win over LSU, Friday evening in Alabama. (Photo courtesy: Mizzou Photo)
Paige Dale
Staff Writer
AUBURN, AL — After finishing in last place in the SEC standings in 2023, the University of Missouri softball team is one win away from winning the SEC championship in 2024.
The Tigers earned that chance by winning two games on Friday that will place the team in the SEC Tournament championship game on Saturday.
Missouri began the day by completing the quarterfinal game against Arkansas that began on Thursday, but was suspended due to lightning and rain. The game had to finished Friday morning and Mizzou held on for a tense 3-1 win.
Then later in the day, in a semifinal game against LSU, Missouri pulled out a 2-1 extra-inning, walkoff win that earned the Tigers their second trip to the SEC title game in the last three years.
SEC Quarterfinal Game — No. 5 Missouri 3, No. 4 Arkansas 1
| NCAA Softball | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #5 Missouri (42-14) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| #4 Arkansas (36-16) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
WP: Cierra Harrison – MIZ (14-3) LP: Morgan Leinstock – ARK (13-5) SV: Taylor Pannell – MIZ (14)
Senior shortstop Jenna Laird and sophomore pitcher Cierra Harrison were the key figures in helping Mizzou grab the lead early in the Thursday night part of the quarterfinal game.
Laird singled and scored on a double by Maddie Gallagher in the first inning. Then, after Arkansas tied the game on a home run in the fourth inning, Laird drilled a line-shot double off the top of the wall to score Kayley Lenger to give the Tigers back the lead in the top of the fifth.
Harrison was just as effective in the circle, only allowing the one Arkansas run on four hits, with no walks and two strikeouts.
After Laird’s double, Alex Honnold singled to put runners at first-and-third with nobody out. That’s when the lightning came and the game had to be postponed until Friday morning.
When things resumed, Laird and Honnold pulled off a successful double steal, with Laird scoring to put Missouri up 3-1.
Things felt comfortable until Arkansas loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth. Mizzou brought freshman Marissa McCann in to relieve Harrison in what had to be the most tense pitching situation of her young softball career.
But the Surprise, Ariz., native didn’t back down. McCann got a pop fly for the first out, then struck out the next two Arkansas batters to get out of the inning without allowing any runs. That remarkable performance brought the entire Mizzou team out of the dugout for hugs and high-fives.
Sophomore closer Taylor Pannell came in to pitch the final inning and got the final three outs with ease to secure her NCAA-leading 14th save of the season.
The win earned Mizzou a berth in the SEC Tourney semifinals against No. 8 seed LSU, which had upset top-seeded Tennessee in the first game and only game that was completed on Thursday.
SEC Semifinal Game — No. 5 Missouri 2, No. 8 LSU 1 in 8 innings
| NCAA Softball | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #8 LSU (40-15) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| #5 Missouri (43-14) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
WP: Taylor Pannell – MIZ (3-1) LP: Sydney Berzon – LSU (18-8)
Pitching, pitching, more pitching, and Maddie Gallagher were the words of the day in Friday’s SEC Tournament semifinal game between Missouri and LSU.
Both clubs got brilliant pitching efforts from their starting pitchers and the combined xxx relief pitchers they used.
Missouri had just one hit through five innings, but that one hit was a solo home run by Gallagher in the third inning that gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. LSU had four hits through five innings, but two of those were a pair of doubles that helped that set of Tigers tie the score at 1.
The game stayed that way, thanks to all the dynamite relief pitching — for Mizzou that was McCann and Pannell combining to shut LSU out the rest of the game.
The tide didn’t turn in either team’s way until Missouri got a pair of hits to leadoff the bottom of the eighth by Laird and Honnold. The duo advanced to second and third with nobody out on a wild pitch by LSU.
That set up Gallagher, who had been trying to bunt the runners over, but failed twice and had two strikes on her. But the junior maintained on poise and on a 3-2 pitch, launched a drive deep into center field. LSU’s outfielder made the catch, but the ball was plenty deep enough to allow Laird to score and win the game.
It was Mizzou’s first walkoff win of the season.
The Tigers, who are 43-14 on the season, will play No. 2 seed Florida, which defeated No. 3 seed Texas A&M in the night’s other semifinal game, in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday.
First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
MISSOURI TIGERS 2024 WOMEN’S SOFTBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 11, 2024 (Saturday) | 4 pm | SEC Tournament – Championship Game | #2 Florida | Auburn, Ala. | ESPN2 |
| May 17-19, 2024 | TBA | NCAA Tournament Regionals | TBA | TBA | ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU |