If Mizzou Tigers get pitching like last weekend, book a College World Series trip
Pitching doesn’t get much better than what Missouri delivered in the Columbia Regional last weekend.
Three games, three shutouts.
A pair of one-hitters in each of the first two games, by Jordan Weber and Lauren Krings, preceded a no-hitter by Weber against Iowa State in the victory that advanced the Tigers to the Super Regional against James Madison. The best-of-three series in Columbia begins on Friday.
The winner goes to the College World Series in Oklahoma City.
“After Friday’s game when Jordan threw a one-hitter I told her I expected you to have that type of performance every single time you’re out there,” Mizzou softball coach Larissa Anderson said. “And look what she did on Sunday.”
Weber, in her second season at Missouri after a standout career at Lee’s Summit West, struck out seven on Sunday, matching her total against Illinois-Chicago on in the regional opener. She’s 12-5 with a 2.91 ERA in a team-high 108 1/3 innings.
Krings, a freshman from Loveland, Colorado, struck out 10 in her gem against Northern Iowa on Saturday.
No relievers were used in any of Mizzou’s regional victories, but this appears to be a fresh armed staff. Five pitchers have started for the Tigers, four have thrown at least 65 innings, and Krings called it a tight-knit group.
“We like to push each other and encourage each other,” Krings said. “When Jordan had that no-no, that was amazing for all of us.”
James Madison went with one pitcher, Odicci Alexander, for all but 1 2/3 innings of its sweep through the Knoxville Regional. Alexander struck out 19 over 10 innings in a first-game victory over Liberty, the team the Dukes defeated in the final game.
Alexander pitched against Missouri in 2020 before the pandemic ended the season. She surrendered six hits and seven runs in an 8-7 victory in 10 innings at an early season event in Florida.
The programs have more in common: Anderson came to Missouri from Hofstra, which plays in the same Colonial Athletic Association as JMU. Anderson understands the mid-major mentality.
“The mid-majors are out to try to prove everyone wrong,” said Anderson, who spent four of her 17 seasons at Hofstra as the head coach. “They have nothing to lose. Nobody is expecting them to win.
“When you look at it on paper, the resources Mizzou gets verses the resources James Madison gets, Mizzou is expected to win ... But the game doesn’t care.
“Softball does not care. The pitch being throw doesn’t care which school you’re playing for, a Power Five verses a mid-major. It’s about the execution and who wants it more. Those JMU players are going to come and want to prove who they are and want to go to the World Series as bad as we do.”
No. 8 seed Missouri (41-15) vs. James Madison (37-1)
Friday: Game 1, 8 p.m (ESPNU)
Saturday: Game 2, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday (if necessary): Game 3, noon or 2 p.m