Softball Secures Senior Day Walk-Off Win Over No. 12/12 Arkansas

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Thanks to a pair of clutch extra-inning home runs from Maddie Snider and Kara Daly, the University of Missouri softball program (32-23, 6-17 SEC) stormed back from a late deficit for a walk-off win over No. 12/12 Arkansas (38-15, 14-9 SEC), 4-3, Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Mizzou Softball Stadium.

After the Razorbacks broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth inning, Snider led off the next half inning with a solo home run to right centerfield to level the contest. Three batters later, Daly blasted a no-doubt solo shot off reigning SEC Pitcher of the Year Chenise Delce to claim the Tigers’ first walk-off victory of 2023.

The mid-Missouri natives and roommates powered the Tigers’ offense, as Snider, a Columbia product, drove in two runs on the day and Daly, a Jefferson City, Missouri, native, added a double earlier in the contest.

Mizzou showed grittiness in the comeback victory as the Tigers had to battle back from an early deficit. 

Arkansas jumped out to an early two-run advantage with back-to-back home runs from Cylie Halvorson and Kristina Foreman in the second inning, and pitcher Hannah Camenzind didn’t allow a run in her first four innings of work for the Razorbacks.

The Tigers made it a brand-new ballgame in the fifth inning, scratching a pair of runs across to even the score. After Riley Frizell and pinch hitter Katie Chester both reached via single, Hannah McGivern, who was pinch-running for Frizell, beat a throw to third base and advanced home on a throwing error to cut the deficit to a single run on a Payton Jackson fielder’s choice.

Snider added a run in the following plate appearance, driving in pinch runner Kayley Lenger with a game-tying sacrifice fly.

Laurin Krings put in another exceptional outing in the circle for Mizzou, pitching 7.2 innings while punching out five Razorbacks. After allowing two home runs in the second inning, the Loveland, Colorado, native, didn’t buckle as the game went to extras. Across the next five frames, the junior righthander allowed just one hit and never let a runner past second base.

Arkansas played small ball to start the eighth, as Reagan Johnson utilized a single, a wild pitch and two fly balls to work her way around the bases, coming to the plate on a Rylin Hedgecock sacrifice fly.

Taylor Pannell (1-0) came on to relieve Krings, inducing a foul out from Halvorson to prevent further damage and set the stage for the offensive heroics from Snider and Daly.

GAME NOTES

•      With Kara Daly’s walk-off home run, the Tigers claimed their first walk-off victory of the season.

•      Kara Daly became the first player to hit a walk-off dinger since Hatti Moore went yard to seal Mizzou’s win over Texas A&M on April 29, 2022.

•      Maddie Snider’s game-tying home run was the second of her career and second in 2023. It also counted as her first-career blast at Mizzou Softball Stadium in her hometown of Columbia.

•      The Tigers picked up their first extra-innings win of the year, marking the team’s first since knocking off No. 6/8 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on May 6, 2022.

•      On the back of Maddie Snider and Kara Daly’s home runs, Mizzou had multiple blasts in an SEC contest for the first time since launching three against No. 8/11 Florida on March 17.

•      For Kara Daly, the multi-hit game was her 10th of the campaign. 

•      With a pair of RBI, Maddie Snider notched her fifth multi-RBI contest of 2023.

•      Jenna Laird had a hit in the first inning to extend her reached-base streak to seven games.

•      Freshman Taylor Pannell picked up her first collegiate win, retiring one batter in the seventh.

•      With five punchouts, Laurin Krings notched at least five strikeouts for the 14th time (13 of her last 17 starts) in 2023.

•      Additionally, Laurin Krings went six or more innings for the 14th time this season. It was also Krings’ second time going past the seventh in 2023.

•      Riley Frizell and Katie Chester each added hits in the win. 

•      Missouri honored seniors Kendal Cook, Payton Jackson, Addie Lange, Hannah McGivern, Megan Moll, Emma Nichols, Megan Schumacher, and Jordan Weber along with graduate assistants Amber Fiser and Kristin Hallam, and senior manager Justin Sykes at the conclusion of the contest for Senior Day 2023. 

LOOKING AHEAD

Missouri will finish the regular season with a rubber match against No. 12/12 Arkansas Sunday at 2 p.m., CT. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

Sunday is Family Funday Sunday with postgame autographs and base running.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouSoftball (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).