Mizzou Tigers’ late-season rally earns host spot in NCAA Softball Tournament regionals
Missouri had just been swept in a three-game series at Mississippi, and it was time to re-establish some season goals.
The Tigers had dropped to 0-5 in SEC play that day at Ole Miss, and their chances of attaining the success of last season, which ended in the NCAA Super Regionals, were diminishing by the game.
“It was really that sticky at that moment,” Mizzou coach Larissa Anderson said on Sunday. “We had to re-evaluate what we were doing. I said, ‘We’re not going to host (a regional this year); let’s put that off the table.’”
Look at Mizzou now. A strong second half of the season, punctuated by a spot in the SEC Tournament’s championship game on Saturday, pushed the Tigers up the NCAA bracket.
They’re the national No. 15 seed and will indeed open the national tournament at home by hosting a regional that starts Friday against Missouri State at 1 p.m. The other teams in Columbia: Arizona and Illinois.
Missouri (36-20) knocked off Auburn, Alabama and Tennessee, all nationally ranked teams, to reach the SEC title game in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday. The Tigers fell 4-0 to Arkansas, but they had played their way into a home-field advantage.
“Our success in the second half of the season has really turned some heads, and we were rewarded with that,” said Missouri outfielder Brooke Wilmes.
The Tigers have played in every NCAA Tournament since 2007. The 2020 event was canceled because of the pandemic. Last season ended with a loss to James Madison in the deciding game of the Super Regionals.
Meanwhile, Missouri State (27-18) won the Missouri Valley Conference championship. Friday’s meeting will be the first between the Tigers and Bears since 2015. They’ve met once in the NCAA Tournament, with Missouri taking two of three in a 1983 regional.
“They’d like nothing better than to come into our house and ruin it for us,” Anderson said.
Oklahoma, the defending NCAA champion, is the tournament’s top-seeded team. Five SEC teams will host regionals this weekend: Mizzou, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Arkansas.