Four Run Fateful Fifth Slams Door on Missouri

Tigers waste strong start by Harrison, unable to shut down powerful Arkansas offense in relief

Back at Bogle Park for a packed Game 2, the Missouri Tigers, now 24-25 record on the season with five regular season games left, wasted a strong pitching performance by senior Cierra Harrison, with a very leaky bullpen performance and an inability of the Tiger offense, outside of the freshmen, to get anything going against Arkansas ace Robyn Herron.

Honestly, it was only a matter of time before Courtney Deifel’s formidable offense, noted by the announcers as their best lineup in history, teed off on the Tiger pitchers, and once they got started, they did not stop, with a run of five-straight baserunners in the fifth before a foul out mercilessly ended it, and then six-straight in the sixth. It was honestly hard to stomach.

Freshmen Fiestiness

Of the offense produced in this game, all runs (2), hits (4), runs batted in (2), and walks (1) came courtesy of Tiger freshmen, who tried like hell to keep Missouri in this game offensively.

Thanks to the help of its youngins, who represent three of first five lineup spots. the Tigers struck first in this one. “Walk Queen” Addy Waits reached on a leadoff walk and took second on a Stefania Abruscato ground out, before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Abby Carr’s single to left brought in Waits to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead that would hold until the ‘Fateful Fifth.’

Redshirt freshman Saniya Hill also got involved in the offense, taking a backdoor curve to rope a two-out single to left in the second, but as mentioned earlier, that would be all they’d get, as a strikeout and popup ended it.

The third was also unsuccessul with the side retired in order, though Carr did once again get the ball out of the infield, hitting a long fly to the center field warning track that would be caught.

It was Hill again who struck again the fifth, getting the game’s first extra base hit with a one-out double to center, and freshman pinch hitter, Gracie Britton, worked a walk to put two on, but back-to-back outs stranded the runners.

Finally, it was Carr who plated the team’s second run in the sixth on a solo shot off reliever Reese Beuerlein to make it 4-2, but that would be all.

Harrison Holds It

Looking for a better result than Marissa McCann in Game One, Cierra Harrison got the start for the Tigers and was largely effective in this one with the SECN analysts praising her ability to spread the zone well and sprinkle in her changeup effectively.

In the first inning, despite a leadoff four-pitch walk, CC was able to follow that up with a flyout to right, a strikeout, and a groundout back to her. In the second, she allowed a leadoff single that ended up being a closely contested play at first, but that was all, as she worked a flyout and two weakly hit groundouts to second base.

The good work continued in the third, fielding the first two outs herself, and had the call not been overturned at first to the third batter, she would have had a part in all three outs. After a long review delay, the following batter walked to put two Razorbacks on base, but a popup to shallow right ended it.

Deifel complimented Harrison’s approach mid-game, citing her ability to keep the Razorbacks largely off balance and keep them off their game, and that continued into the fourth, where she worked a 1-2-3 inning on a grounder to Madison Uptegrove at short and two flyouts to center and left.

In the fifth, Harrison ran into her first (and only) bit of trouble, allowing just her second runner into scoring position after a leadoff single up the middle and a sac bunt. After a two-out RBI single to right over the outstretched glove of Waits at third, the game was tied up at 1-1, ending Harrison’s day at the dish.

CC’s Line: 4.2 IP | 3 H | 2 ER | 2 BB | 1 K | 19 BF | 73 pitches

Carr Struggles in Circle, Delivers at Plate

In Harrison’s place with two away in the fifth, Carr came in and immediately got into trouble, taking each of the seven batters she faced to full counts. The announcers praised the freshman’s ability to mix in a devastating change up with a high 60s fastball, but questioned its usage late in the counts as it would require essentially a perfect pitch to yield the necessary results.

A wonky bounce at first kept Hay from being able to make a play on Carr’s first batter, giving Arkansas its first lead of the game, 2-1, and adding another earned run to Harrison’s tally. A subsequent walk put two on with two out for the Razorbacks’ cleanup hitter, who smacked a two-run, bases-clearing double on a pitch to the outside corner to make it 4-1 and effectively slam the coffin shut on this game for Mizzou.

If the coffin wasn’t shut already in the fifth, it was nailed shut in the fifth, as back-to-back singles ended Carr’s day in the circle, and brought in another reliever, Courtney Donahue.

Carr’s Line: 0.1 IP | 4 H (1 2b) | 4 ER | 2 BB | 1 WP | 36 pitches

Despite her ineffectiveness in the circle, Carr was impactful at the plate as I mentioned earlier, rocketing a solo shot to deep center off senior reliever Reese Beuerlein to make it 4-2 in the fifth, while also adding an RBI single in the first.

Donahue Doesn’t Deliver

This is going to sound harsh, but I ask for the umpteenth time, when is this experiment over? Because friends, it’s NOT WORKING. When Donahue was brought in in relief of Carr in the fifth, the floodgates opened, leading to a five-run sixth inning in which the pitcher recorded NO outs. A leadoff walked loaded the bases, and with nowhere to go, another walk made it 5-2. A single through the left side quickly made it 6-2, and another single up the middle plated two more, making it 8-2.

It was at this point Donahue was relieved with an unsightly stat line of 0 outs | 2 H | 3 ER | 2 BB in four batters faced and 17 pitches thrown in favor of little-used Houston transfer reliever, Rylee Michalak, who coaxed a groundout at short before allowing a sac hit that made it 9-2. Another groundout ended the threat.

To Review

Cierra Harrison*: 4.2 IP | 3 H | 2 ER | 2 BB | 1 K | 19 BF | 73 pitches*

Pitchers Not Named CC: 1.1 IP | 6 H | 7 ER | 4 BB | 0 K | 14 BF | 1 XBH | 57 pitches

I rest my case.

Up Next

The Tigers will try to salvage one in the series finale Sunday at 1pm at Bogle Park. With a need for four wins in the final five games of the regular season to not require an extended SEC Tournament run to get to .500, the pressure is ON. Will they prevail? We’ll just have to wait and find out.