New players, but same goals for MU softball

Missouri softball has its share of fresh faces for the 2014 season, but the results have been similar for a program that boasts six consecutive NCAA regional titles.

The Tigers, who have averaged more than 46 wins per season since coach Ehren Earleywine’s arrival before the 2007 season, lost ace Chelsea Thomas, outfielder Nicole Hudson and catcher Jenna Marston.

Nonetheless, No. 15 Missouri, 12-3, remains among the nation’s elite as it prepares to open Southeastern Conference play Friday at No. 13 Texas A&M.

“The newness of it has been kind of neat,” Earleywine said. “It’s just stirred up the pot and made it fresh, and I think we all need that in our jobs.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise so far has been sophomore center field and leadoff batter Taylor Gadbois, who leads the Tigers with a .500 average and 15 stolen bases.

Earleywine said she wasn’t projected as a starter entering the season, but Gadbois leads the team in hits (22), runs (15) and on-base percentage (.569).

“Oddly enough, that has made it entertaining and fun,” Earleywine said. “When you coach the same kids — we had Chelsea, J.J. and Nicole, who were the core of what we did for the last four years — sometimes it can get kind of mundane, because you’re teaching the same kids the same things and having the same conversations over and over.”

Meanwhile, two freshmen — Tori Finucane from Germantown, Md., and southpaw Casey Stangel from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho — have been asked to step in for Thomas, who was the SEC pitcher of the year last season after winning the Big 12 pitcher of the year as a sophomore and junior.

Both Finucane, who is 5-2 with a 1.66 ERA and will pitch Fridays and Sundays in SEC action, and Stangel, who is 6-1 with a 1.42 ERA and will handle most Saturdays, have been rock solid.

“Finucane has showed up two or three times against some really good-hitting, big-time teams that she’s got ice water running through her veins,” Earleywine said. “She throws really hard. Even good hitters are late on her, even late in the game after they’ve seen two or three times.”

Stangel, who also serves as Missouri’s designated player to get her bat in the lineup, has been as consistent, but when she’s around the strike zone, she can dominate, Earleywine said.

“Last year, I learned the hard way that you need some depth,” Earleywine said.

Too many Saturday struggles left the Tigers 2 1/2 games behind Florida in the SEC East, but Earleywine views his squad as conference-title contenders led by Finucane and Stangel.

“That’s always our goal,” Earleywine said. “I don’t know if I set the bar too high, because we are so young. But I guess I’m just too lazy to change our goals. SEC champs and national champs, we’re just going to leave it at that until something crazy happens.”

This story was originally published March 6, 2014 at 8:18 PM with the headline "New players, but same goals for MU softball."