No. 11/11 Softball Heads to No. 8/9 Tennessee for SEC Road Series

96.9 The Jock March 14, 2024 College Sports, Mizzou Tigers News

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 11/11 University of Missouri softball team (22-3, 2-1 SEC) travels to Knoxville, Tennessee, this weekend to face No. 8/9 Tennessee (19-4, 0-0 SEC) in the Tigers first SEC road series.

The Tigers will face the No. 8/9 Vols Friday (5 p.m., CT), Saturday (1 p.m., CT) and Sunday (12:30 p.m., CT) at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

The three-game series will be available on SEC Network+ with Zack Nelson (play-by-play) and Faith Cain (analyst) on the broadcast.

Mizzou enters the week on the heels of its first SEC series win over #25/25 Auburn, claiming a pair of victories over the visiting Tigers to open the 2024 home slate at Mizzou Softball Stadium.

Missouri most recently picked up a doubleheader sweep of Braggin’ Rights rival Illinois Wednesday in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

Missouri began the 2024 campaign 10-0 and notched perfect preseason tournament weekends three out of the four times.

The Tigers 22-3 record is the best start for Missouri since the Tigers opened the 2013 campaign 22-2 en route to a 38-14 finish.

Mizzou is ranked in all four polls heading into the weekend after first appearing following week one (Feb. 13). The Tigers enter the fifth week of the season #11 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, and ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. Mizzou is also #11 and #12 in the Softball America and D1Softball polls, respectively.

SCHEDULE

#11/11 Missouri vs. #8/9 Tennessee, Friday, March 15 at 5 p.m., CT | Sherri Parker Lee Stadium
#11/11 Missouri vs. #8/9 Tennessee, Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m., CT | Sherri Parker Lee Stadium
#11/11 Missouri vs. #8/9 Tennessee, Sunday, March 17 at 12:30 p.m., CT | Sherri Parker Lee Stadium

AT TENNESSEE

Location: Knoxville, Tenn. (Sherri Parker Lee Stadium)

Live Stats: Tennessee (FRI) | Tennessee (SAT) | Tennessee (SUN)

Live Video: SEC Network+

Tennessee (FRI) | Tennessee (SAT) | Tennessee (SUN)

Notes: Missouri

Twitter: @MizzouSoftball

TENNESSEE SERIES HISTORY

Missouri trails in the all-time series record with Tennessee, 8-12. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 4-5 in her career against the Vols.
Mizzou most recently beat Tennessee, 3-0, on May 13, 2022, to advance to the 2022 SEC Tournament Championship game.
In the pair’s most recent series in 2022, the Tigers dropped a doubleheader to the Vols at Mizzou Softball Complex on March 13. The Tigers fell 14-3 in six innings, before coming up just short 5-4 to close the series.
In Mizzou’s last trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, the Tigers came away with a series-win over the Vols. After dropping its first game, 4-0 (May 7, 2021), the Tigers racked up two wins (7-4, May 13, 2021, and 5-3, May 13, 2021) to secure the series.

ILLINOIS MIDWEEK RECAP

The Tigers swept its Braggin’ Rights midweek doubleheader with Illinois (8-11) Wednesday afternoon at Eichelberger Field.
Trailing 4-3 in the seventh, Mizzou pulled off the comeback in game one with a two-run homer from Alex Honnold to take the opener 5-3.
Mizzou then secured the midweek sweep with a 10-2 run-rule win over the Illini in game two.
Jenna Laird (two runs, a stolen base, RBI) and Alex Honnold (two runs, three RBI, triple shy of the cycle) each paced the Tigers in game one, going 3-for-4.
Jenna Laird and Alex Honnold each recorded their 100th career RBI in the opener with Illinois.
Lilly Whitten made her third career appearance in the circle, tallying two strikeouts over 1.2 innings. She allowed no runs on three hits to improve to 3-0 in 2024.
Taylor Pannell recorded her third save of the season, allowing just one hit over the seventh inning.
Jenna Laird (2-for-4, RBI, stolen base) and Alex Honnold (2-for-3 with three runs, two stolen bases, double, walk) also both notched two hits in game two.
Kara Daly hit her team-leading fourth home run of the season.

Cierra Harrison notched her fourth complete game of the season, allowing two runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout. She improved to 8-0 in 2024.

QUICK HITTERS

The Tigers head into the second week of SEC play with a 22-3 record (2-1 SEC).
The Tigers 22-3 record is the best start for Missouri since the Tigers opened the 2013 campaign 22-2 en route to a 38-14 finish.
Mizzou is ranked in all four polls heading into the weekend after first appearing following week one (Feb. 13). The Tigers enter the fifth week of the season #11 in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, and ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll. Mizzou is also #11 and #12 in the Softball America and D1Softball polls, respectively.
Missouri is ranked sixth (third highest SEC school) in this week’s RPI (Ratings Power Index). The Tigers are also third for KPI and pace the nation with a 20-2 road/neutral record.
Jenna Laird and Alex Honnold each recorded their 100th career RBI in the opener with Illinois on Wednesday.
Abby Hay made her second-straight start at first base in game one against Illinois.
Lilly Whitten improved to 3-0 in the circle, earning the win in her third career appearance in circle in game one against Illinois.

Taylor Pannell recorded her third save of the season in game one against Illinois.
Jenna Laird and Alex Honnold pace the team with 11 multi-hit games this season.
Jenna Laird is currently on a 11-game reached base streak (nine-game hitting streak).
Kara Daly hit her team-leading fourth home run of the season in game two versus Illinois.
Alex Honnold tallied a double in each of the games at Illinois and now has 41 (11th in Mizzou history) in her career at Mizzou. Her 12 doubles in 2024 are a team-high and pace the SEC.
Cierra Harrison has now finished with a complete game in each of her last three starts. Harrison improved to 8-0 in 2024 with her fourth complete game of the season in game two against Illinois.
Claire Cahalan made her first career start in left field.
Alex Honnold has registered a team-best hitting streak of 12 games this season.
Maddie Gallagher has registered a team-best 15 game reached base streak. She entered the week eighth in the SEC for on-base percentage (.500) to go with six doubles.
The one-two punch of Laurin Krings and Cierra Harrison have combined for 16 wins in the circle with 8-3 and 8-0 records, respectively. The duo has also went the distance in the circle 11 times (seven and four complete games, respectively).
Alex Honnold paces the Tigers with a .430 batting average in the two-hole to go with 26 runs, 19 RBI, 12 doubles (first in SEC) and a .722 slugging percentage.
Along with Honnold, five Tigers are batting over .300 in Jenna Laird (.421, 30 runs, 13 RBI), Maddie Gallagher (.328, six doubles, 12 RBI, 15 runs), Katie Chester (.315, three home runs, 19 RBI, .556 slugging percentage) and nine-hole hitter Kayley Lenger (.300, .475 slugging percentage).
Mya Dodge is six runs away from 100 in her collegiate career.
Laurin Krings is two wins away from 50 in her career at Mizzou. With 51 wins, she will enter the program’s top 10.

AUBURN RECAP

Missouri captured its first 2024 SEC series-win over Auburn, securing a 5-2 victory in the opener on March 8, followed by a 5-0 win in game two on March 9. The Tigers fell to Auburn, 4-0, to close out their opening weekend at Mizzou Softball Stadium on March 10.
Laurin Krings notched her 500th strikeout in her career as a Tiger in the opener on March 8. She ranks eighth in Mizzou program history with 510 strikeouts behind Jen Bruck (05-08) with 519.
Laurin Krings notched her seventh complete game of the season in the victory. She allowed two hits and two runs, while striking out nine.
Kara Daly and Julia Crenshaw (first of the season) each launched home runs, respectively, in Friday’s contest (March 8). With the pair of homers, Missouri tied its season-high two home runs in a game, a mark the Tigers have reached four times in 2024.
Cierra Harrison logged an impressive performance in the circle on March 9, notching her third complete-game shutout of the season and second-straight of the week. Harrison tallied nine strikeouts while allowing no runs, five hits and a walk.
Chantice Phillips added a home run for Mizzou in Game 2 of the series on March 10, marking her second homer of 2024 (matched 2023 career-high).
Jenna Laird led the way for Mizzou at the plate on March 10, logging a 2-for-2 performance. She hit .444 over the opening SEC series.
Kayley Lenger notched a .429 batting average over the SEC opening series with a .571 slugging percentage.
Taylor Pannell picked up three strikeouts in the finale on March 10 over 1.2 innings of work.
Mizzou recorded a season-best attendance of 2,222 fans in the win on March 9.
The Tigers then surpassed 2,000 plus fans in attendance for the second-straight game with 2,086 in attendance on March 10.
Missouri now sits at 4-2 against top-25 foes in 2024.
After March 10’s game, Mizzou’s all-time record against Auburn moved to 13-13. The series win marked the first for Missouri over Auburn since 2021.

FIRST SEC SERIES-WIN

Missouri captured its first SEC series win of the 2024 campaign, getting past Auburn, 2-1, this past weekend.
Friday’s (March 8) Game 1 victory marked the Tigers’ first SEC opener win since 2021, when MU conquered No. 19/20 Georgia on the road (March 8, 2021).
With the series win, the Tigers’ claimed their first SEC opening series victory since a 3-0 home sweep of Ole Miss in 2020 (March 10, 2020).

HEY HONNOLD!!

Alex Honnold batted .300 (.600 slugging percentage and .417 on-base percentage) with three runs, three hits, and an RBI last week over Missouri’s opening SEC series against Auburn and midweek with Kansas City.
On March 9 in Game 2, Honnold went 2-for-3 at the plate against Auburn, tallying an RBI and a double.
With the two hits, the senior from West Des Moines, Iowa, extended her reached base streak to 14 consecutive games (tied for second on team in 2024, snapped on March 10).
So far on the season, Honnold leads the way for Missouri, averaging .430, while logging a .722 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage to go with 34 hits (seventh in the SEC), 12 doubles and three home runs.
She leads the conference with 12 doubles (11th in the NCAA, 0.43 doubles/game). Mizzou as a team is second in the SEC for doubles (45, 1.78 doubles/game).
Honnold also ranks 13th for toughest to strikeout (18.2) in the SEC.

OUR LEADOFF HITTER

Jenna Laird logged an impressive performance at the plate this weekend, going 4-for-9, while batting .444 and logging a .500 on-base percentage over the opening SEC series with #25/25 Auburn.
On March 9, Laird finished 1-for-3 with a run and a stolen base.
She also finished 2-for-2 and reaching based on a hit by pitch on March 10. The game also marked Laird’s first perfect performance at the plate this season. For Laird, this is the sixth time she has achieved the flawless feat (with at least two at bats) in her career.
Laird opened the week with a 1-for-4 outing at Kansas City, knocking a double.
The senior from East Meadow, New York, is second on the team in 2024 with a .421 batting average with 32 hits (10th in the SEC), 30 runs (1.22 runs/game, fourth in SEC, 13th in the NCAA).
On the basepaths, Laird is sixth in the SEC with 12 stolen bases (0.43 stolen bases/game, eighth in the SEC).

Laird is currently on a 11-game reached base streak (nine-game hitting streak) following the Wednesday doubleheader at Illinois.

LENGER IN THE NINE-HOLE

Kayley Lenger notched a productive weekend at the plate, putting up three hits, a double and tallying a run. Lenger averaged .429 over the SEC weekend series, going 3-for-7 (.571 slugging percentage and .429 on-base percentage).
The sophomore nine-hole hitter tied her career-high two hits (2-for-3) during Friday’s win on March 8. Lenger previously posted the mark against Wichita State on March 2.
Lenger also added a double on March 9 to help the Tigers clinch the series over Auburn.
Lenger ranks third in the SEC with 0.32 hit by pitches per game.
She is fifth on the team with a .300 batting average (.475 slugging percentage, .472 on-base percentage).

CIERRA IN THE CIRCLE

Cierra Harrison registered two complete-game shutouts to go 2-0 this past week. Harrison pitched 14.0 innings, allowing no runs on seven hits with 19 strikeouts over the week. She limited opposing hitters to a batting average of .143.
Harrison, a Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native, held Kansas City to just two hits, allowing zero earned runs and throwing a career-best 10 strikeouts in her backyard during the midweek (March 6) for the complete-game shutout.
Shen then posted her second-straight complete-game shutout of the week in her 2024 SEC debut against No. 25/25 Auburn on March 9. Harrison limited the visiting Tigers to no runs on five hits with nine strikeouts.
In 2024, Harrison paces Mizzou with an 8-0 record, a 1.25 ERA and three complete-game shutouts (four complete games).
Harrison currently ranks eighth in the SEC for ERA and eighth in the conference with 3.58 hits allowed per seven innings. She is also eighth in the league with 1.37 walks allowed per seven innings.

KRINGS ON A TEAR

Senior ace Laurin Krings pitched 11 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits to go with 12 strikeouts over this past week.
Krings notched her 500th strikeout in her career in Friday’s win over No. 25/25 Auburn on March 8.
The senior recorded nine strikeouts, and she ranks eighth in Mizzou program history with 510 strikeouts behind Jen Bruck (05-08) with 519.
Krings also did not allow a hit to the first 12 Auburn batters she faced, recording four strikeouts in that span during the SEC opener on March 8.
With the win, she notched her eighth win of the season (8-3) with her seventh complete game.
Krings ranks fifth in the SEC for wins and sixth for innings pitched (67.0) this season.
She has registered 58 strikeouts over 67.0 innings with a 2.19 ERA.

2023 RECAP

Mizzou made its 16th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023.
The Tigers finished the 2023 season with a 35-26 mark, including a 7-17 in SEC play. With its 2023 record, Missouri has registered 35 wins in four of the last five seasons (2020 COVID-19 shortened season was the only time the Tigers didn’t meet the threshold in that span).
During the 2023 campaign, Missouri totaled 51 home runs, while logging 75 doubles to go with 310 runs as a team.
On the dirt, Mizzou tallied a .978 fielding percentage. The clip ranks second in program history, after the Tigers’ surpassed their previous .976 fielding percentage from 2022.

LOOKING AHEAD

Mizzou next heads to Lawrence, Kansas, for a midweek matchup against Kansas on March 20. The contest will commence at 5 p.m., CT. The Tigers will then return home, hosting LSU for a three-game series March 22-24 at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

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

This article is provided by University of Missouri Athletics