Softball Schedule Preview, Part 1

The 2025 season offers the new-look Tigers many opportunities to show that last year was no fluke

Since the new season is right around the corner — IT STARTS THIS WEEK! — let’s take a brief look at each of the opponents on the Tigers’ 2025 schedule. We’ll break this up into two parts for length’s sake, so this edition will include all games prior to the home opener, and then part 2 will cover the rest of it.

Before we get into it, let’s reminisce about the awesomeness that was last season. The Tigers, picked to finish at the back of the pack in the SEC with nary a preseason top-25 vote in sight, roared its way to a no. 11 USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll final ranking, a 13-11 record in the SEC, which was good enough for fifth place, and a trip to the SEC conference championship game for the second time in three years. Missouri went from winning one SEC series the year prior to winning five in 2023-24, including a sweep at South Carolina (while only being swept once themselves).

Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation

The 48-win Tigers, while playing the nation’s fifth-toughest strength of schedule, amassed 25 quad 1 wins and were selected as a seven-seed and in front of multiple record-setting crowds at Mizzou Softball Stadium were thisclose to returning to the Women’s College World Series before ultimately falling at the hands of Duke in the Supers. This was the most wins and best season by a Mizzou softball team in 13 years.

With the loss of ace Laurin Krings and top offensive talent Alex Honnold, Jenna Laird and Maddie Gallagher to graduation, the Tigers return six starters, including All-SEC defensive right fielder Kayley Lenger, NFCA All-Region Abby Hay and pitchers Cierra Harrison and Marissa McCann and NCAA saves leader Taylor Pannell. They also welcomed in a great freshmen class and several transfers, including Kentucky’s Taylor Ebbs and Oklahoma State’s Haidyn Sokoloski. My colleague Dylan will have more on the specific players in another standalone piece.

“We’re healthy, we’re strong, we have unbelievable depth. We’re going to have a lot of players are going to get a lot of opportunities,” Mizzou head coach Larissa Anderson said in Monday’s media availability.

Of the new players, she said, “The commitment they have to the program and their craft, like they don’t want to be the one that are holding the team back and they take it upon themselves. They have a lot of pride and overall self-discipline to be contributors to the team, if not starters.”

Alright, time to get down to business. Next to each opponent, I’ve broken down their 2023-24 record and highlighted the highs and lows of their season. As a reminder, Quad 1 are top 50 teams, Q2 is 51-100, Q3 is 101-150, and Q4 is 151+.

Before we reveal the schedule, some math… Of the Tigers’ 37 total opponents on the 2025 schedule:

• Only seven had a losing record
• Only four had winning records but under 30 wins
• Ten of the 37 opponents had between 30-35 wins
• Five had 35-39 victories
• Six had 40-49 victories
• Three had 50+ victories.
• A dozen made it to the first round of the NCAA Tourney
• Three made it to Supers
• Six made it to the Women’s College World Series
• One was crowned National Champion (again)
• 16 of the 37 enter the preseason ranked in one poll or another (USA-S/ESPN, D1 Softball, Softball America). Upon further look, 14 are ranked in all three polls, two are in two polls, one is in one poll, and an additional seven received votes in at least one poll while not entering the Top 25.

When asked about the team’s scheduling, which has been done this way for at least the past couple of years, LA said, “Playing against teams of similar level to us, and at the speed that we have to play at going into our conference series, they’re going to expose how fast we have to make decisions, how the level of pitching, how quality it is that we’re going to have to carry into postseason.”

Missouri softball celebrate one of many runs scored against Central Methodist in the team’s fall-ball finale on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, at the Mizzou Softball Stadium. (CAL TOBIAS/ROCK M NATION)

---

The Tigers kick off their 2025 campaign with a long business trip in the Sunshine State, playing five games in three days before heading to Orlando for a one-off game and then coming back to Clearwater to play five more games in three days. Let’s check out their opponents.

“We’re ready to hit the road,” Anderson said. “There’s really not much more to say than we’re just grateful to have this opportunity to be able to head down south and play 11 games in 10 days against other competition. We’ve been intrasquading for three weeks, and so we’re just excited to get outside, play on dirt and play against another opponent.

NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic | February 7-9

**UPDATE: On January 23, they put out a new graphic that removed Penn State from the schedule and adds Iowa.

Marshall (25-28, 10-14 Sun Belt)

February 7 at 12pm (Gamechanger app)

Marshall finished last season ranked 115 in RPI and was 0-12 in Q1, where they faced SEC opponents Arkansas & Kentucky, 2-11 in Q2 with wins over no. 77 Coastal Carolina and no. 90 Purdue, 10-3 in Q3 with a two-game sweep of no. 106 Michigan State, and 13-2 in Q4.

Northwestern (35-13, 19-3 Big 10)

February 7 at 3pm (Gamechanger app)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #20 USA-S/ESPN | #19 D1 Softball | #18 Softball America

The Wildcats, no. 25 in RPI, ended their season with two losses in the Austin Regional to no. 1 seed Texas (don’t worry, it happens to everyone). They were 7-7 in Quad 1, losing a high-scoring affair to LSU, 12-13, while sweeping no. 33 Michigan & no. 48 Indiana at home and taking down no. 28 South Carolina, one of two SEC opponents, on the road. NW was 13-6 in Quad 2, sweeping no. 51 Nebraska and taking 2/3 from no. 56 Ohio State while splitting a two-game set with common Tiger opponent North Texas, who had an off year and finished at a surprising no. 81. The Cats were a perfect 15-0 in Quad 3/4 games, with all of the Quad 3 games coming from a weakened Big 10.

Duke (52-9, 20-4 ACC)

February 8 at 12pm (MLB Network)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #8 USA-S/ESPN | #7 D1 Softball | #8 Softball America

Aaah, our nemesis, we meet again. The Tigers met an under-seeded Duke Blue Devils team in the 2024 super regionals which were hosted in front of record-shattering crowds at Mizzou Softball Stadium. Mizzou came back from a 6-3 loss in Game 1 to win the second game 3-1 and force a deciding Game 3 that went into extras before Team 50 fell, 4-3, sending Duke to its first Women’s College World Series berth.

Fortunately for us, the Blue Devils moved on just to swiftly lose to Oklahoma and Alabama in the WCWS. Duke had a really great season overall, finishing no. 3 in RPI, went 18-7 in Q1 with NO losses outside the top 25(!), 20-2 in Q2 with a loss to no. 59 Louisville (they beat them the other two times) and no. 94 Campbell, and were a combined 14-0 in Q3/4.

Notre Dame (27-23, 9-15 ACC)

February 8 at 5pm (Gamechanger app)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #RV USA-S/ESPN

The Fighting Irish finished last season ranked 63 in RPI and beat four Quad 1 opponents in avoiding sweeps to no. 22 Clemson and no. 23 Virginia. They also beat no. 36 Liberty and no. 43 Utah, who they split a series with. Notre Dame’s lone SEC opponent? No. 26 Mississippi State, who they lost 4-7 to in late February. The Irish were 10-5 in Quad 2, topped off with a sweep of NC State (no. 55) and a series win over no. 58 Georgia Tech. For good measure, they were also 3-0 in Q3 and 10-1 in Q4 with a bad 3-12 loss to no. 157 Ball State.

Iowa (18-28, 6-17 Big 10)

February 9 at 9am (Gamechanger app)

The Hawkeyes, no. 153 in RPI, struggled mightily last year with losing records at home and on the road. They were 1-8 in Quad 1, with a win over no. 36 Liberty 4-2 in mid-February, 2-12 in Quad 2, picking up shutout wins over no. 55 NC State and no. 85 WKU, 8-7 in Quad 3 (the Big 10 was b-a-d, y’all) and 7-1 in Quad 4 with a loss to no. 205 UC Davis. Missouri was originally scheduled to play Penn State, who was ranked in 2/3 major preseason polls and would have been better for the ol’ SOS, but alas, they get a bit of an easier opponent.

---

UCF (31-25, 12-15 Big 12) | February 11 at 5pm

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #RV USA-S/ESPN

Between the tournaments, the Tigers have again matched up with Central Florida, where they’ll head to Mickey Mouse Town to take on the Knights for a one-off game. Last year, the #12 Tigers knocked off the Knights 5-1 after accumulating the winning runs in the first two innings.

The Knights, who finished the season at no. 41 in RPI, fell apart down the stretch, going 3-7 in their last 10 games, though that can be attributed to playing in the Big 12 (i.e. Oklahoma) and the Tallahassee Regional (i.e. Baylor, Florida State, Auburn). They were 10-22 in Quad 1 action, and during the regular season, they knocked off no. 36 Liberty (a common opponent of everyone Missouri plays, it seems?), took two of three at no. 37 Texas Tech and at home vs. no. 49 kU, and swept no. 46 BYU. UCF was 9-3 in Quad 2, and perfect (3-0, 9-0) in Quads 3 & 4, respectively. UCF also faced SEC schools South Carolina (L 2-4), Mississippi State (L 1-2). and the aforementioned Auburn, who they met in the NCAA Tournament and split two games (W 11-6, L 2-1 in 12).

Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational | February 13-16

Florida State (46-16, 19-5 ACC)

February 13 at 9am (ESPN 2)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #12 USA-S/ESPN | #8 D1 Softball | #10 Softball America

Florida State, who finished last season no. 13 in RPI, continues to be a great softball program, and their 2023-24 season was an offensive goldmine. Looking through their schedule results was a wild experience, losing to #20 UCLA (L 10-14), #9 Florida (L 13-15) and #4 Georgia (L 10-20), while putting up an ungodly 40 (!) runs in a three-game series vs. Pitt on the road (13-4, 10-0, 17-7), 15 on Purdue, 10 on Boston College and Notre Dame, 13 on FGCU (to go with a mind-boggling 1-3 loss in the same series), 11 on SD State, 24 runs in two games against UNC (13-3 and 11-3) and 8 each game in a three-game set to NC State. It was insanity. And that wasn’t even all of them! But then they also had some weird losses, like to Quad 4 and no. 151 ranked Jacksonville, who they lost 5-6 to at home and at no. 61 FGCU (L 1-3) after taking them to the cleaners the game before. Other losses came to ranked teams like #15 Alabama, #4 Duke (L 2/3) and #2 Texas. Overall, they finished the season 9-11 in Quad 1, 23-4 in Quad 2, 8-0 in Quad 3, and 6-1 in Quad 4.

The Seminoles made it all the way to Supers after sweeping through Chattanooga, UCF and Auburn on their home turf at JoAnne Graf Field before running into the buzzsaw that is Oklahoma and ending their season after an 11-3 loss in 5 innings and a 4-2 loss.

Clemson (35-19, 15-9 ACC)

February 13 at noon (ESPN 2)

The Tigers of CoMo and Clemson faced off a year ago at this same event, with Mizzou taking the W 4-1 over the preseason darlings, who were ranked (too high) no. 5 coming in. They beat #20 Oregon, lost four games to #8 Duke (including one in the ACC semis), lost to SEC competitors Auburn, #9 Tennessee, #13 Georgia & #22 MS State, split two games with South Carolina, and beat Ole Miss twice. (Side Note: With all this SEC comp, are we sure Clemson isn’t SEC?!)

Ranked no. 22 in RPI with the 24th toughest strength of schedule (makes sense with all these aforementioned SEC opponents and a pretty strong ACC), the purple & orange Tigers finished with an overall losing record in Quad 1 (10-11) splitting two games apiece with no. 23 Virginia, and also were 17-7 in Quad 2, sweeping no. 70 North Carolina at home and taking two of three from no. 55 NC State and no. 63 Notre Dame. The worst loss? To Quad 4 and no. 206 Furman, who beat them 4-3 in early April.

Clemson, now in their sixth season of existence, did make it through three games of the Tuscaloosa Regional before ultimately being gobbled up by Southeastern Louisiana for the second time (both by a score of 2-6, weirdly enough).

Ohio State (33-20, 12-11 Big 10)

February 14 at 5:30 (ESPN+)

The Buckeyes, who ended the season no. 56 in RPI, were shut out in both games against no. 7 Tennessee (5-0, 11-0) and split a two-game set at no. 31 Kentucky (4-9 L, 12-6 W). Overall, tOSU was 6-7 in Quad 1 with just one win (6-0 W against NW) in the RPI top 25. Outside of that, they did take 2/3 from no. 33 Michigan and swept no. 39 Penn State. The Buckeyes were 4-8 in Quad 2, which included a sweep by no. 82 Minnesota, 14-5 in Q3 where they lost 3/4 to no. 107 Wisconsin, and 7-0 in Q4. They did not make the NCAA Tournament.

Liberty University (38-25, 16-6 C-USA)

February 15 at 9:30am (SEC Network)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #RV USA-S/ESPN | #24 D1 Softball | #20 Softball America

A year ago, Mizzou and Liberty faced off at the same event, and Mizzou was victorious, winning 10-1 in 5 innings in what ended up being a five-game losing streak for the Flames. Other ranked (USA-S rank) and/or SEC opponents of Liberty, who finished 36th in RPI, were #1 Oklahoma (L 0-8, L 3-15), #4 Duke (L 1-4), #21 Charlotte (W 6-5), two to #13/16 VA Tech (L 5-6, L 1-4), #24 Virginia (1-0). Notable losses were to FIU 2-10 in 5, Sam Houston (5-8 in 9), Virginia (1-3), UNC (1-2), NM State (2-6), and #10 LSU (L 0-4, L 4-9, W 3-1), The Flames were 7-15 in Quad 1, 11-3 in Quad 2, 12-5 in Quad 3, and 8-2 Quad 4.

After winning the Conference USA title and getting an auto bid after beating 2-seed WKU in the finals, the Flames headed to the Athens regional, and after beating #25 Charlotte and #11 Georgia 6-3 and 7-3, respectively, they were doused in back-to-back losses to the Dawgs 5-14 and 2-3 to end their season.

San Diego State (31-20, 15-7 Mountain West)

February 15 at 12:30pm (ESPN+)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #RV USA-S/ESPN

Mizzou faced the Aztecs at Mary Nutter a season ago and lost 2-3 on a three-run shot by Mac Barbara in the third and solid pitching by Allie Light and Dee Dee Hernandez, so this will be a revenge match of sorts. SDSU finished no. 38 in RPI and were 4-12 in Quad 1, 14-7 in Quad 2, 2-0 in Quad 3, and 11-1 in Quad 4 with a loss to RPI no. 164 Utah State in mid-March (they took the other games). The Aztecs had just two ranked wins (over MU and #25/RV Kentucky) and losses to #3 Stanford, a pair to #25 Texas A&M, #17 Oregon, #1 OU, and a pair to #4 LSU (one by run-rule).

San Diego State won the Mountain West title to earn their slot in the NCAA Tourney with a 6-3 victory over Boise State. In the LA Regional, they lost in the first round to #15/17 and 2-seed Virginia Tech and then ended their season after a lost to 4-seed Grand Canyon 7-9.

---

After the Florida trip, the Tigers head cross-country to Cali for five games in three days.

Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic | February 20-23

Rutgers (33-22, 14-9 Big 10)

February 20 at 2:30pm (FloSoftball $$)

Rutgers finished the season ranked no. 86 in RPI but with a 6-4 record in their last 10 games. They picked up two Quad 1 wins with a series win over no. 39 Penn State (9-5, 5-3). They faced no SEC opponents. The Scarlet Knights were an even 9-9 in Q2 with their best victories to avoid the sweep against no. 51 Nebraska, and took two of three from no. 56 Ohio State, 8-5 in Q3 with losses to Michigan State, Wisconsin and FIU x2, and 14-1 in Q4 with a loss to no. 189 San Diego (they won the other two in the series; thank god). Despite winning 33 games and having a nice conference record, losing five games in Quad 3 is unsightly for NCAA purposes.

UCLA (43-12, 17-4 PAC-12)

February 20 at 7pm (FloSoftball $$)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #6 USA-S/ESPN | #4 D1 Softball | #5 Softball America

In the now-defunct Pac-12 (RIP to its legacy), the Bruins, who ended up no. 4 in RPI, pretty much ran the table, only registering four losses in conference play before taking the PAC-12 tourney title in three games with wins over Arizona State, Arizona and Utah. The Bruins registered losses to teams like #2 Texas (2 of them), #7 OK State and #16 Baylor (L 3-5), while sweeping #4 Stanford and #15 Arizona. The Bruins also faced several SEC opponents, including #13 Georgia (L 2-7), #3 Florida (L 0-1) and #9 Tennessee (W 6-2). Overall, UCLA was 22-11 overall in Quad 1, 13-1 in Quad 2, and a combined 8-0 in Quads 3-4.

In the LA Regional, the Bruins knocked off a 50-win Grand Canyon team twice in 5 innings each and #18 VA Tech, before double eliminating Georgia in two games, and then advancing to the WCWS where they beat #6 Bama before losing to OU & Stanford to close out the season.

Baylor (36-23, 14-13 Big 12)

February 21 at noon (FloSoftball $$)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #19 USA-S/ESPN | #21 D1 Softball | #16 Softball America

Baylor seems to be a yearly opponent of the Tigers, destined to meet at Mary Nutter. Last year, they beat MU 5-4 last year on five unanswered runs against Mizzou ace Laurin Krings on the game’s final four inning to secure the comeback. The Bears finished the season ranked no. 18 in RPI and fourth in SOS, going an even 21-21 in Quad 1 with an unreal 25 games against RPI Top 25 opponents, including SEC opponents no. 5 Florida (W 1/3), no. 7 Tennessee (L 2), no. 1 Texas (L 4) and no. 2 Oklahoma (L 3). Baylor was also 6-1 in Quad 2 with a loss to Iowa State (won the other 2), 2-0 in Quad 3 and 7-1 in Quad 4 with a loss to no. 183 UTA in a midweeker mid-April game.

In the postseason the Bears took the first game against Ole Miss in the Lafayette Regional and beat host team Louisiana to move to the elimination game, and then they lost, forcing a deciding Game 7 which they won 4-3 to advance to the Gainesville Supers, losing two of three.

Minnesota (28-25, 13-10 Big 10)

February 21 at 2:30pm (FloSoftball $$)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #RV USA-S/ESPN

When the Tigers face the Golden Gophers this season, they’ll see a familiar face, as former ace Laurin Krings is now serving in a player development role at Minny. The Golden Gophers are coming off an odd season where they were shut out numerous times, including versus #3 Stanford (0-3), Stephen F. Austin (0-1), South Dakota St (0-7), Rutgers (0-3), Wisconsin (0-3); #23 S. Carolina (0-4) and #16 Kentucky (0-8).

Minnesota, who finished no. 82 in RPI, was swept by Indiana, scored big on Fordham (W 10-2 in 5, W 10-4), Ohio State (W 9-1 in 5, W 14-6 in 6, W 12-11), Illinois (W 16-1 in 5, W 13-0 in 5, W 6-4), and Charlotte (W 11-8, W 14-4 in 5) while the Maryland series took a wild turn (L 6-7 in 9, W 15-6, L 6-12). They also put up 14 on NC State in 5 and split a series with #10 Clemson (W 5-3 in 9, L 1-3). They were an unsightly 4-13 in Quad 1 games, 7-7 in Quad 2, 8-4 in Quad 3. which included dropped 2/3 to Maryland, and 9-1 in Quad 4 with the aforementioned shutout to SFA.

The GG made it just two games into the Big 10 Tourney, beating Illinois before losing to Nebraska in 5 innings (2-11) to end their season. The Huskers proved to be tough for Minnesota in 2023-24, ending the regular season with two of three wins (7-6, 8-3) against them.

Oregon (30-21, 13-10 PAC-12)

February 22 at 11:30am (FloSoftball $$)

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #24 USA-S/ESPN | #18 D1 Softball

Notable results for the now-Big 10 team (weird, so weird) who finished no. 29 in RPI were losses to 40-game winner but unranked at the time, Indiana; #5 Clemson; a pair of L’s to Texas A&M; splitting a series with 28-win Loyola Marymount; a loss to Baylor, Nebraska, Maryland and Cal. They had a weird series with Utah (W 20-3 in 5, L 7-10) as well as a pair of losses to #14 UCLA (3-5, 3-6). The Ducks took 2/3 from #9 UW (L 3-8, W 9-8, W 6-4) but lost 2/3 to #21 Arizona. They also lost to an abysmal Oregon State team while taking 1/3 from #6 Stanford (L 3-7, L 1-3, W 1-0). Just confusion at every turn. The Ducks were 14-17 in Quad 1 games with 13 of the 17 losses coming to RPI T-25 teams, and also were 9-3 in Quad 2 (all shutouts), 2-1 in Quad 3 (Maryland), and 5-0 in Quad 4.

Oregon did not a have a lengthy postseason, as they lost their only game in the Pac-12 Tourney (to Utah, 4-7) and did not make it out of the Norman Regional, losing twice to OU after beating #22 Boston University twice to stay alive.

---

Then it’s back to Middle America for the black & gold for five more games in three days, including two against one opponent, and another against someone they’ll see again later in the season.

Shocker Invitational | February 28-March 2

Oklahoma State (49-12, 21-6 Big 12)

February 28 at 3pm

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #4 USA-S/ESPN | #5 D1 Softball | #4 Softball America

While their season may have ended in two losses in the WCWS to Florida and Stanford, the Pokes had an incredible season, bulldozing their way through their hosted Regional and Super opponents undefeated (Northern Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan, Arizona x2 all fell). They also won series against both Oklahoma (W 6-3, W 6-2, L 2-8) AND Texas (W 5-0, L 1-2, W 3-0), BYU (W 3-2, L 8-11, W 10-2), so yeah… they were really good, and finished the season with an RPI of 10.

Sweeping opponents both big and small was a common occurrence for Okie State, who swept kU —love to see it— outscoring them 20-8 in a three-game set, outscoring Texas Tech in a three-game set 30-7, outscoring Houston 24-3 in a three-game set, sweeping UCF in three games and South Dakota State, outscoring them 21-2 in two games. They also weirdly lost two of three to a 20-31 Iowa State team, and did have a bit of trouble in one-offs vs. Georgia (L 4-7) and LSU (L 6-7). Overall, they were 24-9 in Quad 1, 13-3 in Quad 2 and a combined 12-0 in Quads 3-4.

AT Wichita State (28-22, 16-11 AAC)

February 28 at 5:30pm

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #RV USA-S/ESPN

Missouri and Wichita State faced off last year in another version of this tournament, the Big Red Invitational, and the Tigers got the sweep, 13-3 and 8-2 in Lincoln. In the 13-3 run-rule victory, the runs were scored in abundance, with a five run second and four run fourth aided by a career day by Julia Crenshaw, who went a career-high 4-for-4 with four RBI and three runs scored. In the 8-2 win on the tourney’s closing day, former Tigers did most of the offensive damage, while returning pitchers Marissa McCann and CC Harrison combined to allow just two runs.

The Shockers, who finished no. 64 in RPI, were 7-3 in their last 10 games to end the season, beating South Carolina at a neutral site and splitting a series at #17 Arkansas (W 3-1, L 4-15 in 5). Overall, they were 5-15 in Quad 1 with additional wins over no. 30 Charlotte (W 1/4) and no. 44 FAU (split 4 games), 9-6 in Quad 2, including two wins over no. 51 Nebraska. They also were 2-1 in Quad 3 (Lost 1/3 vs. no. 113 UAB), and 12-0 in Quad 4.

South Dakota State (33-22, 14-2 Summit League)

March 1 at 10am

Missouri faced off against South Dakota State twice last year, beating them twice, 4-3 in a back-and-forth affair, and 7-1 without recording a single extra-base hit. The Jackrabbits finished their season no. 66 in RPI, and were 1-13 in Quad 1. Their lone Q1 win? Over SEC foe Arkansas! They also were 11-8 in Quad 2, 1-1 in Quad 3, and 20-0 in Quad 4.

The Jackrabbits’ season ended in the finals of the Summit League Tournament, where they lost two of three of Columbia Regional darling, Omaha. In fact, they faced Omaha six times in the span of eight days, from May 3-May 11 as their regular season ended with them, and then had to play them again in the conference tourney. (They beat them twice.) Their only Quad 3 opponent was no. 127 Santa Clara, who they split a series with on a neutral field.

Nebraska (30-23, 12-9 Big 10) | March 1 & 2

March 1 at 3pm & March 2 at noon

PRESEASON RANKINGS: #16 USA-S/ESPN | #14 D1 Softball | #21 Softball America

Like the Wichita State event mentioned earlier, Nebraska hosted the Big Red Invitational last season, and Mizzou was able to take both games. In the 10-6 Tiger win, Mizzou jumped out to a six-run lead in the second inning before Nebraska fought back with a five-run fifth to cut the deficit to 9-6. CC, while allowing 6 runs on 6 hits, was still able to get the W in her 4.1 innings, as the Tigers never trailed. In the tournament finale, Mizzou again took the victory 5-1, as former ace Laurin Krings notched a complete-game victory, limiting Nebraska to just one run on five hits.

The Cornhuskers finished the season ranked no. 51 in RPI, including 4-15 in Quad 1 with a shutout over no. 29 Oregon, a 5-1 win over no. 32 South Alabama, a 10-2 win over no. 39 Penn State (they lost the other two), and a 4-0 shutout of no. 49 kansas. They also were 8-6 in Quad 2, which included double-digit runs in wins against no. 75 Northern Iowa, no. 82 Minnesota and no. 86 Rutgers. Nebraska was also 11-1 in Quad 3 with a loss to no. 109 New Mexico State, and 7-1 in Quad 4 with a loss to no. 154 Northern Colorado.

While I’m not mentioning opposing players in this preview, I cannot help myself here, as this will truly be a different Huskers team with the return of wunderkind Jordy Bahl, who missed all of last season with an injury. This will be a different Huskers team this year, to be crystal clear.

This concludes Part 1. In Part 2, which will be released closer to March, we will look at the home opener through the end of the season.