Missouri softball continued its impressive fall season with two wins Saturday. The Tigers started off the afternoon by trouncing the Meramec Magic 17-0 and beat Jefferson College 4-0 in the second game.
The Tigers raced out to an early 4-0 lead in the first game, aided by a two-run shot by sophomore third baseman Nicole Hudson. It was her second home run of the fall.
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the third inning, and two more in the fourth, pushing the lead to 9-0. The Tigers recorded 10 hits in just the first four innings, despite the windy conditions. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger and senior outfielder Kathryn Poet led the Tigers offense, both going four for five at the plate with three runs apiece.
The sixth inning was the most eventful of the afternoon, as the Tigers scored a total of eight runs, pushing the lead to 17-0, and putting the game out of reach.
“I’m very happy with the way I played today,” Poet said. “It wasn’t perfect, but I got into a groove where I was comfortable at the plate again.”
Senior pitcher Lisa Simmons also put up a strong performance, allowing only four hits in the five innings she pitched, while recording two strikeouts. Simmons said she wasn’t concerned with the lack of strikeouts.
“I’m just not that type of pitcher,” Simmons said. “I just try to throw strikes and let the other eight girls out there help me out. That’s what this team is about, working together.”
The second game of the afternoon was not so spectacular. Nevertheless, the Tigers still produced a 4-0 victory over Jefferson College.
The Tigers got off to a slow start with only five hits in the first three innings.
“I’m not worried about the slow start,” coach Ehren Earleywine said. ”We had a lot of different people at different positions, so that’s going to happen.”
The Tigers capitalized on errors in the first inning. Senior outfielder Rhea Taylor started the game off with a bunt, and reached second on a throwing error by the pitcher. After a walk and another error, Simmons blasted one to the center field wall to drive in two runs, making the score 2-0.
Missouri would strike again in the third and fourth, scoring one run in each inning.
The Tigers seemed sluggish at the plate in the second game, posting only six hits and four runs by the fourth inning. Despite the cold bats, the team was very mechanically sound, committing no errors en route to the victory.
The highlight of the game was the performance of junior pitcher Kristin Nottelmann. She struck out four batters, and had zero earned runs. Nottelmann is coming off of a season ending hand injury last season. Nicole Hudson came to the mound to close the game.
Coach Earleywine said that he was pleased with the team’s performance.
“The games went well,” he said. “We aren’t so much worried about the scores, but we made some changes and it paid off.”
He said he was more pleased with the second of the two games.
“It was great to see (Kristin) Nottelmann back to full strength,” he said. “This team is headed places.”
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