Missouri softball advances to NCAA regional title game with 8-0 win over Nebraska

There was no hot-air balloon this time, but senior Emily Crane’s three-run, game-ending bomb to right field in the sixth inning provided another iconic moment for Missouri softball Friday during NCAA regional softball action.

Crane’s shot, her team-leading 17th home run of the season, handed the Tigers an 8-0 walk-off win against Nebraska.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had (a walk-off) on a home run, so that felt good,” Crane said.

Crane’s exploits — including two hits, two runs, a stolen base and a season- and career-high five RBIs — also helped power Missouri, 41-14, into Saturday’s regional final.

The Tigers face the Cornhuskers, 35-20, again at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, needing one more win to advance to an NCAA super regional for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.

Sophomore Paige Lowary tossed her second consecutive run-rule-shortened shutout, allowing only two hits and two walks with six strikeouts in the six-inning win.

“I struggled with control a lot this season, but I feel like it’s all starting to work together, and I’m totally confident,” Lowary said.

Nebraska senior center fielder and leadoff batter Kiki Stokes, an Olathe East graduate, said Lowary did a good job attacking the strike zone.

“She was getting a lot of strikes that we weren’t, but she was really working the corners of the plate,” Stokes said.

Missouri beat BYU 9-0 in five innings in its regional opener Thursday behind Lowary and sophomore Amanda Sanchez, who smashed a grand slam as a hot-air balloon with a banner in support of embattled head coach Ehren Earleywine drifted past the stadium.

“That hot-air balloon came at the right time, but we didn’t need it today,” Crane said.

Earleywine has been the focus of a university investigation into alleged verbal abuse of players since early April. The Tigers played several games under public protest of the investigation before dropping the protest ahead of regional play.

Senior Sami Fagan ignited Missouri’s third-inning rally against Nebraska with a one-out single. After a walk by Sanchez, junior Chloe Rathburn’s RBI single broke the scoreless deadlock, and freshman Shelby Romaine doubled the lead with a squeeze bunt.

The Tigers extended that lead an inning later after freshman Regan Nash and senior Taylor Gadbois both singled and stole a base, putting runners on second and third with only one out.

Crane roped a two-run single past Nebraska second baseman Laura Barrow to put Missouri comfortably in front 4-0 and later scored on a throwing error by Huskers catcher Madi Unzicker.

“There’s not a more explosive offense in the country between their power and their speed,” Cornhuskers coach Rhonda Revelle said of the Tigers’ lineup. “They’ve got several ways that they can come at you.”

Unzicker gunned down Crane and Gadbois attempting to steal early in the game, but Missouri persisted and finished with four stolen bases — including two by Nash, who was one of two Tigers with two hits.

In the first elimination game, BYU sent Louisville, 35-17, packing with a 6-4 win. Freshman catcher Libby Sugg gave the Cougars a jolt with five RBIs, including a three-run home run.

However, Nebraska rebounded and eliminated BYU, 36-21, in Friday’s second elimination game 2-0 behind ace Cassie McClure.

McClure, a junior right-hander, struck out seven and scattered three hits with two walks in a 101-pitch shutout. She also helped her own cause with a first-inning sacrifice fly.

Junior slugger MJ Knighten, who missed the Missouri game with an ankle injury, singled and scored for Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers are the last team to upset the Tigers in regional play, winning the Columbia regional in 2014 by rallying for two wins in the final. It’s a feat Nebraska will have to duplicate Saturday to prevent Missouri from winning its eighth regional title since 2008.

“We know it’s do-able,” Stokes said.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Missouri softball advances to NCAA regional title game with 8-0 win over Nebraska."