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From left to right: Madison Walker, Kara Daly, Sophie Smith, Taylor Pannell and Abby Hay high five before an inning
Kyle McAreavy - MizzouToday
The Missouri Tigers claimed their second win against a No. 1 team Friday when they beat No. 1 Texas A&M 9-1 in five innings.
But the Tigers dropped two heartbreakers during a Thursday doubleheader, meaning the Tigers will have to go 5-1 in their final six games to go into the SEC Tournament above .500.
“We played the No. 1 team in the country, and A&M, they’re phenomenal,” Missouri coach Larissa Anderson said.
Here’s a recap of all three games.
Thursday, Game 1
The Tigers fell behind early, but charged back to take a late lead going into the seventh. But Missouri couldn’t hold on and lost 7-5.
Texas A&M took the initial lead with three runs in the top of the first before the Tigers responded with a run in the bottom of the second.
In the fifth, the Aggies added an insurance run, then Madison Walker put the Tigers in front with a sixth-inning grand slam to go up 5-4.
Texas A&M then added three runs in the top of the seventh to claim the win.
The Tigers scored in the second when Stefania Abruscato singled to score Taylor Ebbs.
Walker's grand slam scored Abruscato, Abby Hay and Julia Crenshaw.
“Not every game is going to go your way,” Anderson said. “And a lot, obviously, hasn’t gone our way. But I’m just proud of the fact they don’t give in. That shows resiliency.”
Missouri had four total hits, the home run from Walker, a double from Crenshaw, the RBI single from Abruscato and a single from Kayley Lenger.
Cierra Harrison started in the circle for Missouri, allowing three runs on four hits, a walk and a hit batter in 1.2 innings. She struck out one batter.
“Results don’t dictate if you’re a confident player or not,” Anderson said. “Athletes put so much pressure on themselves, and a lot of times, especially females, like a female has to look good to play good and that comes into results. It’s not appearance, it’s results and I don’t want her to not be a confident player because she’s not getting the results that she wants.”
Marissa McCann came on in relief, pitching the next 4.2 innings and allowing four runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out four.
Courtney Donahue pitched the final .2 innings, allowing one hit.
For the first time in almost two weeks, the Tigers had both of their senior leaders, Kara Daly and Crenshaw, in the lineup.
Anderson couldn’t hold back tears while discussing the impact of having them back.
“In talking with our trainer and our doctors, when they give us the OK that it’s going to be a head coach’s decision if they’re able to play, I want seniors on the field,” Anderson said, needing to pause to catch her breath. “... You don’t know how long they’re going to be in that uniform. So if the doctors say that they can play, I want them to play. I want them out there and they want to be out there and I’m not going to stop them.”
“I think the coolest thing is the crowd, like even when Crenshaw ran out to be a pinch runner in our mid-week game, the crowd celebrating with her,” Anderson added. “Then the same thing when she’s announced in the starting lineup with Kara. It’s the impact that they’ve made on this program and I’m just extremely proud of - it’s not even senior day yet and I’m crying. You never want someone’s career to end because of an injury. These kids, they have a hard time getting out of bed, like, that’s how much their body hurts and they’re willing to sacrifice it for their teammates and for this program and to go out there and do what they do every single day.”
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Taylor Pannell begins her windup on a warmup pitch
Kyle McAreavy - MizzouToday
Thursday, Game 2
The Tigers then fell behind once again, allowing the Aggies to score one run in the first, another in the third and an extra one in the sixth. But the Tigers scored once in the bottom of the sixth and Walker brought home two with a single in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game and send it to extras.
But once again, the Tigers were unable to finish off the comeback as the Aggies scored a run in the top of the ninth to win 4-3.
In the sixth, the Tigers scored when Hay doubled to bring home Adi Koller, then Walker’s single scored Crenshaw and Lenger.
Missouri had five total hits, led by Hay with a 2-for-3 performance with a walk, and an RBI. Walker had the two RBI single, Abruscato added a double, as did Lenger.
“Madison Walker had a day,” Anderson said. “In the first game, obviously, with the grand slam and then her two-RBI base hit up the middle to be able to tie it.”
With both usual starters pitching in the first game, Taylor Pannell took the circle to start the night cap, and she led the Tigers with a 8.1-inning performance, allowing four runs on eight hits and five walks, while striking out three.
“Taylor Pannell threw unbelievable in that second game,” Anderson said. “I’m extremely proud of, you know, someone that was a closer to go as far as she did, just competed her butt off the entire game.”
McCann came on for the final .2 and struck out one of the two batters she faced.
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Truman parties on the Rock M in center field
Kyle McAreavy - MizzouToday
Friday
The Tigers got the offense going quickly with four runs in the first, then added two in the third and three in the fifth to claim a 9-1 win.
In the first, Crenshaw and Daly both homered, with Daly’s scoring Hay and Abruscato.
In the third, Walker hit her 17th home run of the season and Daly doubled to score Danielle Blackstun.
Then in the fifth, Lenger homered to left to score Sophie Smith before Abruscato singled to score Neveah Watkins and end the game early.
The Tigers put together 11 hits, led by a 3-for-3 day with a walk, a run scored and an RBI for Crenshaw. Abruscato had a double in a 2-for-4 day with a run scored and an RBI, while Daly went 2-for-3 with four RBI and a run scored. Watkins went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.
Harrison returned to the circle and pitched 3.0 strong innings, allowing one run on six hits, a walk and two hit batters, while striking out one. McCann pitched the final two innings, allowing one hit and one hit batter, while striking out one.
Up next
The Tigers will have to have their best single-series performance if they’re going to end with a .500 record or better as they face No. 17 Alabama on the road next weekend and host No. 23 Georgia to finish the regular season.
The matchups against Alabama will start with a 6 p.m. game Friday, then the teams will play at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
“We’re right there,” Anderson said. And sometimes we need a little bit of luck, you know. And sometimes we just need the softball gods, you know, to give us maybe a jam shot here and there and a call to go our way. But sometimes it doesn’t happen and if it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be.”
Hear directly from Anderson after Thursday's doubleheader
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