Tigers stomp all over Roos in Sunday showdown

With hits up and down the order from everybody, Kansas City didn’t stand a chance

That was… a trouncing. My god. I actually wished they had scored more runs sooner to end it after 3, as 1) it was cold as hell, and 2) to stop the Roos from having to deal with this. Sorry, Roos. These Tigers were in the mood for mauling.

“Anytime you put up 17 runs, it’s always extremely impressive. And you know, I’m just really happy with the entire weekend. Five wins. Played very competitively, pitched great, played great defense, and obviously the offense really came along these past five games.”

“We weren’t trying to do too much,” senior shortstop Kara Daly said. “Just passing the bat and trying to get on base any way we can. We’re trying to lead up to this next week vs. Oklahoma, and it’s just doing these small things. I think we did a really good job of doing those small things, and we just went out there and competed.”

There were a couple of things that I found really impressive about this game.

Offense from E’erbody

17 different Tigers took an at-bat in this game. As the game went on and Mizzou pulled further and further away, Anderson employed full-scale changes in the lineups and in the field. 8 different Tigers reached base a la hit. 5 reached via walk (some more than once).

• “I loved how aggressive they were,” Anderson said. “Like when you have someone who has not had very many live at bats or very limited, you like to see, does their personality come out? Do they get aggressive? Are they tentative because they don’t feel prepared? And those people that are not in the starting lineup have worked just as hard, if not harder, than a lot of our players, so knowing that they’re going to be called upon at any time, that’s what we talk about with our potential players. You could be called upon at any time.”
• When asked about all the newbies, Kara said it’s been a great experience. “Everyone’s a family and I feel like I’ve known these girls for year and year and years and I’ve barely known them a year so far. Everyone buys into everyone, which is awesome. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
• Sophie Smith came in as a PH for Crenshaw and had a walk, an RBI, sac fly, and run scored in two at-bats in the third and fourth innings. Kadence Shepherd PH for Ebbs, and while she grounded out in the third, it did allow Madison Walker to advance to third base. Abbie Wilhelm also entered in the third as a pinch hitter for Abby Hay, and was hit by pitch. In the fourth, Adi Koller batted for Kara Daly and singled to right and would eventually score. Also in the fourth, Jordyn Thurman batted for Claire Cahalan, and on a normal non-freezing and not as windy day, her shot to CF might have gone out, but she had to be happy with a stand-up double for her first collegiate hit. She also stole third. Neveah Watkins, who had been out since the start of the season with an injury I’d heard, made the most of her first collegiate AB with an RBI single up the middle in the fourth. Haidyn Sokoloski and Danielle Blackstun also entered the game as pinch hitters, but neither got aboard or advanced a runner. So, to keep a tally, that’s three runs, three hits, two RBI, one walk, one sacrifice, one stolen base, and no strikeouts amongst the non-starters.

1. As for the starters, they also did plenty of damage, and much of it came in bunches, as the Tigers scored three runs in the first, eight in the second, four in the third, and two more in the fourth.
2. Julia Crenshaw continued to be a menace, working two walks and turning it into two runs scored, and she now has 20 walks on the season. Stefania Abruscato was 1-3 with an RBI and a run scored. She hit a standup double in the first that went clear over the head of the KC center fielder. Madison Walker continued to annihilate the softball, going 1-2 with a three RBI, a hit by pitch, and two runs scored. She did have one strikeout as she seemed to be caught off guard by a slower drop pitch, but I’ll allow it, as she had a standup double on a really hard hit ground ball to make it 13-0 in the third.

Taylor Ebbs was 2-2 with three RBI and two runs scored, including a two-run single in the second to make it 6-0. She hit an RBI triple in the first. Kara Daly was 2-3 with five RBI and two runs scored. She hit a sac fly in the first to bring the score to 3-0, and added a two-RBI “Daly Double” in the second to make it 8-0. Then, of course, came the moonshot to center field to make it 15-0 in the third. Abby Hay worked a walk and run scored. Madison Uptegrove was 1-2 with two runs scored, three RBI courtesy of a three-run homer she tanked in her second AB of the second inning, and a walk she drew in her first AB of that inning. Claire Cahalan was technically 0-2 but had a walk, reached on a error, stolen base, and scored two runs. In fact, the only starter that didn’t get on base was Kayley Lenger, but she did have a successful sac bunt that advanced a runner who eventually scored.

When talking to Kara Daly post-game, she said she felt pretty confident. “I felt like I was seeing the ball really well, just trying to keep it simple with this pitching. It’s just not trying ot do too much. I was just trying to focus on line drives, and it worked out that it went over the fence that one time.

Acknowledging that it’s her senior season, she’s just trying to go out there, have fun, and “just do the sport and play the sport that I love.” She continued. “That’s taken a lot of pressure off myself and to not perform and to not have the highest standards. I obviously have high standards for myself, but it’s just going out there making sure I’m having fun. And that’s seemed to help me a lot this year.”

Pitching Prevails

Until the Roos (3-18) got two hits in the fifth inning, they had been combined no hit from Marissa McCann (3 innings, 0 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts) and Taylor Pannell (2 innings, 2 hits, 3 strikeouts).

In 11 innings of work this weekend, McCann allowed just two earned runs. She was pretty unstoppable. She started hot in this one, with two strikeouts right away, one of which was looking. Her rise ball was working early on and was getting ahead in the account and really attacking. Of course it didn’t always work, as she did allow a five-pitch walk to the next batter, but overall? Superb.

“She continually moved the ball to both sides of the plate,” Anderson said. “I mean, that’s been the most impressive thing, and keeping them off balance with a change up… She has so many different tools. She can throw her curveball on both sides. She has a screwball. She can throw a rise on both sides, she can throw it up, and then her change up. So it’s really great, like even when we’re facing teams, we’re continually working on things, to perfect every tool that she does have.”

It also should be mentioned that she hit 100 career strikeouts on Sunday with her first K of the day.

Lockdown Defense

Kara Daly, you ARE a shortstop.

Her defensive prowess started early in this one. In the first inning, I watched as she made a quick play and did a shovel pass out of her glove to second base to get the lead runner and the third out.

On the move from third to short, Kara said, “It’s definitely a change of pace, that’s for sure. It took some time to get used to, but I’ve kind of fell back in love with it. I actually started out at shortstop in high school (Kara went to Jeff City High, in case you’ve forgotten),but third base was always my home. It always will be my home, but I’ve fallen in love with shortstop again/”

She continued. “Everyone’s had my back, which I think has helped me succeed so much. They’ve just been working with me, and I feel a lot more comfortable there. The first two weekends in Florida were rough, and I was like, very uncomfortable, and then in California it just clicked, and I haven’t looked back since then. Coach (Anderson) has been great. Jeff (Cottrill) has been great, helping me kind of transition and just get a different mindset, helping me attack balls more and focus on it like I’m at third. It has helped me tremendously, so I owe them a lot.”

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NEXT UP: The Tigers come welcome in the four-time National Champions, Oklahoma Sooners to Mizzou Softball Stadium. Tickets are expected to be sold out.