Missouri softball season ends with loss to Oklahoma in NCAA Tournament regional

Missouri’s softball season ended Sunday with a 7-0 loss to defending national champion Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament.

After Saturday’s regional elimination game was delayed because of weather in Norman, Okla., Missouri topped Tulsa 6-5 on Sunday afternoon. Coming out of the loser’s bracket, Missouri would need to beat Oklahoma twice in order to advance to a best-of-three super regional.

Instead, Missouri gave up five unearned runs and struggled against the Sooners’ pitchers, including former Tiger Paige Lowary, and only mustered five hits in a shutout loss.

Lowary entered the game in the fifth inning and held her former team to two hits in 2 2/3 innings.

“I’m so proud of our group for showing so much fight these last three games and coming away with two victories," interim coach Gina Fogue said. "It was a theme for us all year long, as we continually fought until the end in each and every game. It was fitting that our season concluded that way too. We have a lot of very talented pieces returning in 2019 and I’m excited for what’s in store in the future.”

With the loss, attention turns to Fogue, who coached Missouri to a 30-29 season after longtime coach Ehren Earleywine was fired before the season. Athletic director Jim Sterk has been noncommittal on Fogue’s future but had said she would be “towards the top of the list” of candidates for the full-time job.

Missouri was the first team eliminated in the Eugene regional last season, dropping its first two games against Wisconsin and Illinois-Chicago. The Tigers finished 2-2 in the Norman regional after failing to qualify for the SEC Tournament, which was hosted in Columbia.

This story was originally published May 20, 2018 at 9:10 PM with the headline "Missouri softball season ends with loss to Oklahoma in NCAA Tournament regional."