Softball Falls to No. 14/13 Alabama Wednesday at SEC Tournament

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 13-seeded University of Missouri softball program (34-24) fell to No. 14/13 and fifth seeded Alabama (39-17), 7-2, in the second day of the 2023 SEC Tournament Wednesday evening at Bogle Park.

Jenna Laird (2-for-4 with a run) and Megan Moll (2-for-3) paced the Tigers at the plate with two hits apiece. 

The Mizzou offense registered eight hits against Crimson Tide ace Montana Fouts who went the distance, allowing two runs to go with 10 strikeouts. 

Alabama took an early 1-0 lead off a solo home run from Ashley Prange in the first. 

The Tide increased their advantage to 4-0 with a trio of runs in the second. Kali Heivilin connected on a RBI single to left before a Tigers fielding error followed by a sacrifice fly from Jenna Johnson.

Alex Honnold cut the deficit (4-1) to three with a RBI single up the middle in the third. With one out, Laird doubled down the left field line before tagging home on Honnold’s basehit.

Alabama would get a run back on a wild pitch in the fourth before a Kara Daly single trimmed the margin back to three (5-2) in the fifth. 

Honnold earned her team-leading 42nd walk of the campaign before stealing second and scoring on Daly’s RBI base hit to left. 

Prange then belted her second homer of the day, a two-run shot to push the Crimson Tide lead to 7-2. 

Wednesday’s first pitch was pushed back five hours to 9 p.m., CT after a pair of extra-inning SEC Tournament games combined with a weather delay. 

The Tigers will now wait for Sunday’s NCAA Selection Show to see their postseason fate. The selection show will air on ESPN2 at 6 p.m., CT and will announce the 64 teams that will be competing across 16 regionals.

GAME NOTES

• Jenna Laird (2-for-4 with double and a run) and Megan Moll (2-for-3) paced the Tigers at the plate with two hits apiece.
• For Jenna Laird, it was her team-leading 22nd multi-hit game of the season. She extended her reached-base streak to 10 games (four-game hitting streak). 
• Jenna Laird also notched her 10th double of the campaign. 
• Megan Moll matched a career-best two hits (fourth time) for her third multi-hit game in 2023.
• Alex Honnold, Kara Daly, Maddie Gallagher, and Maddie Snider each added a hit. 
• Alex Honnold pushed her reached-base streak to five games (three-game hitting streak), while Maddie Snider and Kara Daly increased their reached-base streaks to four games each (four-game hitting streaks). 
• Kara Daly has now compiled a RBI in each of the last four games (six hits, two doubles, two home runs).
• Alex Honnold earned her 42nd walk of the season and now ranks fifth all-time in the Mizzou record books for a single season.
• Alex Honnold also grabbed two stolen bases to increase her total to 20 this season. 
• Jordan Weber started in the circle for Mizzou before being relieved for Laurin Krings (three strikeouts) and Cierra Harrison (no runs on one hit over 1.2 innings).
• Wednesday’s first pitch was pushed back five hours to 9 p.m., CT after a pair of extra-inning games combined with a weather delay.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

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