Missouri Tigers’ bid for Women’s College World Series comes up short
Missouri opened the deciding game of the Super Regional against James Madison with thunder as Brooke Wilmes’ leadoff home run sailed over the right field fence.
But it was James Madison in a group hug after the final out. The Dukes were a 7-2 winner at Mizzou Softball Stadium on Sunday to punch a ticket to the Women’s College World Series this week.
“It’s tough, real tough,” Missouri coach Larissa Anderson said. “We just didn’t play perfect today and we needed to play perfect.”
The Tigers’ season ends at 42-17 in Anderson’s third year. They were playing in a Super Regional for the first time since 2016 and hadn’t hosted one since 2013.
Anderson took over a program dealing with an NCAA investigation and wound up on probation and ineligible for the SEC and NCAA Tournaments last year, although those were canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the Tigers produced a solid season and earned the No. 8 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“This mission has been almost two years in the making,” Anderson said. “There could have been more sanctions and drama and the team could have fallen apart. But they continued to battle and they had their sites set on what they just accomplished.
“It’s just going to motivate them from here on out, and say we’re hosting every single year.”
Sunday, Mizzou couldn’t find a phase of the game to lean on.
The Tigers’ bats, which kept Missouri in the series with Saturday’s victory, went largely silent against James Madison’s dominant Odicci Alexander, who started for the third straight game.
The only other run came on Jenna Laird’s fifth-inning homer. This from a lineup that produced a 7-1 victory in Saturday’s Game 2 with a pair of solo home runs from Cayla Kessinger and a three-run blast from Wilmes.
Pitching and defense also played roles in the defeat.
Three Tigers pitchers surrendered 12 hits. The staff had given up a total of two hits in three games in the Columbia Regional last weekend, and three runs to the Dukes in the first two games.
Missouri errors factored into the Dukes’ early scoring innings. A terrific diving stop by third baseman Kim Wert on Madison Naujokas’ smash turned sour when her throw across the diamond pulled first baseman Emma Raabe off the bag. That put runners at first and third and a a sacrifice fly tied it at 1-1.
The Dukes, who had led for only one inning in the first two games, took the lead in the fifth. Two singles around a sacrifice bunt scored one. On the second hit, the throw to the plate from Wilmes in center field sailed over the head of catcher Hatti Moore, allowing Sara Jubas to motor to third.
That proved important when Alexander’s infield single allowed Jubas to score and make it 3-1.
“You can’t make mistakes like that against a quality team like JMU,” Anderson said. “It puts too much pressure on the pitchers and the offense.”
James Madison’s four-run seventh got the celebration started and the Dukes are on their way to the first Women’s College World Series in school history. For Missouri, losses don’t get more painful.
“What hurts me so much, when your team does everything you ask them to do and they come up short, you’re hurt, you feel for them,” Anderson said.
This story was originally published May 30, 2021 at 1:50 PM.