COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 7 seed University of Missouri softball team (45-16) earned a pair of wins on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s 2024 NCAA Columbia Regional Final at Mizzou Softball Stadium. The Tigers opened the day with a 5-1 victory over Indiana before finishing off the night with a 4-1 win against No. 13/15 Washington.
With the victories, Mizzou has advanced to Sunday’s Regional Finals. The Tigers will take on Omaha for the second time this weekend starting with a 1 p.m., CT Sunday matchup. Game two will follow 35 minutes later as the schools set to battle for a Super Regional bid.
Senior Laurin Krings earned the victory in the circle in both contests – combining for 11 innings pitched (163 pitches) with just two earned runs allowed and six strikeouts. With the pair of victories, Krings, a 2024 NFCA All-Region Selection, improved to 15-8 during her senior campaign.
Offensively, senior Jenna Laird and freshman Abby Hay led the Tigers by each going 4-for-7 on the day. The duo each connected on a home run in the nightcap with Hay tallying four RBI on the day – two in each contest – and Laird scoring four runs.
GAME ONE RECAP
No. 7 Mizzou 5, Indiana 1
The Tigers tallied two runs in the top of the first and never gave their lead back en route to a 5-1 win over the Hoosiers (40-20).
After the first three Tigers of the day reached base, a pair of grounders from Maddie Gallagher and Abby Hay plated two for the 2-0 lead.
The two runs were all the scoring Krings would need during the game.
However, Mizzou would add three insurance runs – Hay scoring on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth before a groundout and a Hay single added two more in the seventh.
Laurin Krings pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball – allowing only four hits to the Hoosiers – to advance to Saturday’s nightcap against the nationally-ranked Huskies.
GAME TWO RECAP
No. 7 Mizzou 4, No. 13 Washington 1
Home runs from Abby Hay in the second and Jenna Laird in the third carried the Tigers in their second victory of the day, 4-1, over No. 13/15 Washington (32-15).
The duo’s early blasts gave the home team a two-run advantage it would hold until the fifth inning. After back-to-back two-out hits scored Washington’s only run of the day, freshman Marissa McCann needed just one pitch to get out of the jam, preserving the MU advantage (2-1).
Mizzou then added two runs in the bottom half of the fifth for the 4-1 advantage. Four-straight singles gave the Tigers more than enough scoring with Maddie Gallagher and Hay plating Laird and Alex Honnold.
McCann finished off the victory from there. The rookie needed just 12 pitches to get all seven batters she faced out, securing her third save of the season in the victory.
UP NEXT
The Tigers next face Omaha in a rematch of Friday’s opener in the Regional Final Sunday. First pitch is set for 1 p.m., CT at Mizzou Softball Stadium and if Mizzou claims the opener, game two will follow 35 minutes later as the schools set to battle for a Super Regional bid.
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