Expectations high for Mizzou softball in 2023: ‘They know the legacy they want to leave’

The 2022 Missouri softball season was one with massive expectations.

A team that returned its best players and added even more talent set realistic sights on the College World Series.

Those goals fell just short in the NCAA Regionals against a talented Arizona team that played its way to the College World Series, but the season still had its successes.

“My goal coming in here was to make Mizzou Softball Stadium one of the toughest places to play in the country,” Missouri head coach Larissa Anderson said. “It is.”

Now what?

To Anderson, it’s the same. The goal remains to play in the College World Series.

What changes this year are the headliners: the players that will lead MU on the diamond and in the circle to potentially clinch that berth.

The task for MU is replacing 248 of the team’s 435 hits, 58 of the team’s 86 home runs and 166 of the team’s 257 RBIs from last season.

It might be impossible. There may never be a team like the Tigers had last year again in Columbia; it was a near-perfect mixture of experience and talent that eventually found ways to shine, even after a difficult start to the 2022 season.

But MU doesn’t need to replace all that production through a player or two. It just needs to find ways to recreate it in the aggregate.

Anderson pointed to players like junior Riley Frizell and senior Megan Moll as those expected to step into some of the starting roles left open by last year’s graduating class.

Returning players like Kara Daly, Jenna Laird and Alex Honnold have solidified their spots, which is part of the reason Anderson is keeping her expectations high.

“Tradition never graduates,” Anderson said.

Daly and Laird are two offensive stalwarts that allow MU to have power and for-average hitting, respectively. The biggest on-field addition to the team is Texas Tech transfer Payton Jackson, who will fill one of the open outfielder positions. Jackson led the Red Raiders with a .336 batting average last year.

Jackson’s place in the lineup is an example of how different MU’s offense will look in 2023. Expect fewer fireworks and less home run power ... but expect a higher team batting average. Last year, MU hit .274, down from the .320 average the Tigers hit as a team in 2021.

This aligns with the biggest addition to the program this offseason. That addition is hitting coach Jeff Cottrill, who comes to Columbia from Oklahoma State, where he helped coach six OSU players to a batting average above .300 last season.

Most importantly, Cottrill has been to the College World Series. He knows what it takes to get to where MU wants to go.

“What separates him from other hitting coaches is a personal relationship with the players,” Anderson said. “Understanding them as people, not cookie-cutting their swing and knowing what their body is physically capable of doing and maximizing what they physically can do.”

Hitting for power might be more exciting, there’s no doubt. But drawing more base runners with a higher average leads to more opportunities to plate runs. That will complement another MU strength: the pitching staff.

Anderson said the trio of Jordan Weber, Laurin Krings and Megan Schumacher know what’s expected of them this season. Weber and Schumacher are seniors, whereas Krings is a junior, but all bring experience and improvement.

Weber, Krings and Schumacher have each added new pitches for this season, and Krings has upped her pitch velocity. Last year, Krings would peak in the range of 70 miles per hour. She’s now consistently throwing that speed.

“They want to go out on a very, very high note,” Anderson said. “They’ve committed to their craft in the weight room, which has carried over to their pitches.”

Krings and Weber already give MU something few teams nationwide can boast: two aces. Anderson called on them both in the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Regionals, and they both delivered.

Additionally, putting Schumacher in the same category as the starters alleviates some pressure off Weber and Krings. There’s now a third arm that can allow the established duo to take an extra day’s rest if needed, and it allows them to pitch in fewer innings. They can exit a game if they need to because of Schumacher, and they won’t need to go as deep in games as has been the case.

Still, in the past MU’s pitchers have proven they can hold teams to just a couple of runs per game. Should that repeat in 2023, the pressure would fall on an offensive unit to plate enough runs to win games.

The good news: That may be possible this season, especially under Anderson, who has proved she can always have the team in position to win its biggest games. Except for the season that was ended early by COVID-19 in 2020, Anderson has made NCAA Regional appearances every year she’s been in Columbia.

Anderson will look to continue that momentum in 2023 with players that bring the talent but need to bring it all together on the diamond.

“That’s carried over,” Anderson said. “They know what the expectations are. They know the legacy they want to leave.”

The Star has partnered with the Columbia Daily Tribune for coverage of Missouri Tigers athletics.

This story was originally published February 9, 2023 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Expectations high for Mizzou softball in 2023: ‘They know the legacy they want to leave’."