Missouri softball clobbers Nebraska again, punches super regional ticket

The top of the first inning in the NCAA regional softball final Saturday at University Field lasted 25 minutes.

Missouri sent 11 batters to the plate — racking up six hits, two walks, four stolen bases and plating six runs — with most of the damage coming against Nebraska ace Cassie McClure, who only recorded two outs before she was pulled.

The outcome was academic from there.

The Tigers swept their way to the program’s eighth regional crown in the last nine seasons with a 9-0, five-inning victory against the Cornhuskers on an idyllic afternoon.

You’ll have to forgive Nebraska for not enjoying the temps in the low 70s, the gentle southerly breeze and nearly cloudless sky after Missouri’s first-inning ambush.

Senior Taylor Gadbois fouled off five straight pitches to open the game then singled on a 2-2 chopper over the head of Nebraska third baseman MJ Knighten.

It might as well have been a double as Gadbois, who leads the Tigers with 54 steals this season and had a team-high three hits Saturday, promptly swiped second.

Senior Emily Crane followed with a sacrifice bunt that turned into another infield single.

After she also stole second, senior Sami Fagan plugged the right-center field gap with a two-run double.

With two away, freshman Regan Nash smashed a liner off Knighten’s glove for another infield single then perfectly executed a double steal with Fagan for a 3-0 lead.

Two batters later, after freshman Kolby Romaine walked, junior Kirsten Mack pounded a wall-scraping, three-run home run just over the 190-foot sign down the left-field line.

After freshman Rylee Pierce walked on four pitches, senior Emily Lockman replaced McClure in the circle, but the damage already was done.

Missouri’s ace Paige Lowary dominated again, posting her third consecutive run-rule shutout. She didn’t walk anyone and allowed only three hits with two strikeouts in facing only four over the minimum.

Lowary didn’t allow a run in 16 innings during regional play, throwing 266 pitches and scattering eight hits and four walks against 13 strikeouts across three games.

The Tigers, whose plus-26 run differential is the most in any of the eight regional championship runs during coach Ehren Earleywine’s tenure, tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning — enough to invoke the NCAA mercy rule an inning later.

Fagan socked an RBI double to left-center and Crane scampered home on a throwing error before sophomore Amanda Sanchez’s sacrifice fly pumped Mizzou’s lead to 9-0.

The Tigers’ third straight lopsided win was a fitting way, in all likelihood, to close down University Field, which opened in 1981.

Missouri advanced to NCAA super regional play for the eight time since 2008 and will face the winner of the Ann Arbor regional, which is hosted by No. 2 seed Michigan.

The Wolverines would host the super regional if they win a regional title Sunday, but the Tigers would host if Michigan gets upset.

Missouri will move into a new stadium east of the Hearnes Center next spring, but the lingering question remains whether Earleywine will still be in charge.

The Tigers have been to the postseason all 10 years during Earleywine’s tenure, averaging more than 45 wins per season.

There is a direct correlation between that success and construction of the new stadium, but Earleywine’s job is in jeopardy amid a university investigation into allegations of verbal abuse directed at players.

This story was originally published May 21, 2016 at 4:07 PM with the headline "Missouri softball clobbers Nebraska again, punches super regional ticket."