Familiar problem costs Mizzou softball its season in NCAA Regional finals

A Missouri softball season that once appeared hopeless, then returned from the near dead through the final month and SEC Tournament ended Saturday at the hands of Arizona.

The Wildcats took out the Tigers 1-0 on the final day of the Columbia regional, robbing Missouri of the chance to return to the super regionals for the second straight year. 

In the end it was a familiar demon that did in the 2022 Tigers: An inability to score runs. In two games against Arizona in the regional, Missouri failed to score at all. 

"We were pressing a little bit,” senior designated player Kim Wert said after the game. “I think we started to have better at-bats as the game went on, but at that point it was kind of too late.” 

As usual, the Missouri pitching and defense were strong, mostly stifling an Arizona attack that had put up eight runs against Illinois on Friday. However, the team couldn’t overcome its offensive shortcomings. 

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Anderson praised pitcher Jordan Weber after the game. 

"She threw great,” Anderson said. “She’s tough as nails. She’s such a competitor. I’m thankful that we get her for a couple more years.” 

The fact that the Tigers were hosting a regional to begin with would strike anyone following the team early in SEC play as a miracle of sorts.

Missouri lost its first five SEC games to Tennessee and Ole Miss, and also dropped matchups against Northwestern, Connecticut and Maryland among others. 

The team, which returned most of its core from the 2021 squad that nearly made the Women’s College World Series, had expected to host a super regional. After the Ole Miss series, Anderson called a team meeting.

Things had to change. 

"This is terrible,” Anderson said of her message to the team in a press conference before the SEC tournament. “But we are not having a good time. Let’s get out of our own way and let’s start having fun.” 

After that, things got better. The Tigers got their first SEC series win against South Carolina before dropping two more against Mississippi State and Georgia. 

Things really came together in a series at Kentucky. On the trip, Anderson tried to get the team to relax, working outings to a Chris Stapleton concert and Keeneland Race Course into the schedule. 

The plan worked. Missouri swept that series and the next one against Texas A&M before taking a game at Alabama and earning the seventh seed in the SEC Tournament. 

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After making a run through Auburn, Alabama and Tennessee before falling to Arkansas in the SEC championship game, before being named as a host for the regional. That alone felt like a victory after the turnaround needed to get there. 

Still, the Tigers were expected to win. Anderson said going into the tournament that the goal was to win one game each day. 

On day one, Missouri beat Missouri State. On Saturday, they fell to Arizona for the first time, necessitating another game against the Bears to stay alive. 

Then came Sunday’s game. Jordan Weber and the defense played well, holding the Wildcats to four hits. Unfortunately, one of them was a solo home run by Arizona’s Sharlize Palacios. 

"We had very, very high expectations and you always want to repeat and go further than you did before," Anderson said. "But I can't tell you how hard they worke

The Wildcats will move on to the super regional, where they will take on Mississippi State. 

'I prayed' 

The loss brought to an end the careers of several top Tigers, including Brooke Wilmes, Hatti Moore, Casidy Chaumont and Kendyll Bailey. Not least among the departing core was Wert, who nearly hit a home run in the fourth inning of Sunday’s matchup. 

Wert was visibly in pain throughout the regional, wearing a knee brace as she soldiered on through her at-bats. 

“I don’t know,” Wert said about what might be ailing her. “I wouldn’t let them take me to the doctor until I was done.” 

The senior didn’t want to know what was happening. With the season over, she said she would get checked out. 

In the meantime, she had to figure out how to play through pain. 

“I prayed,” Wert said. “I prayed a lot actually. I cried. I’ll be honest, I cried a little bit. But I looked around me and I knew I had to do it.” 

Wert was one of the leaders from the plate for the Tigers all season. She finished with 17 home runs and was eighth in the SEC in RBIs with 52. 

Even when obviously hurt, she kept trying. 

“I knew I needed to be out there for my team so I did what I could,” Wert said. “No, I didn’t get on base a lot this weekend, but I was swinging and I was swinging as hard as I could, I’ll tell you that.” 

Anderson referred to Wert as a “15-year offensive lineman” before Sunday’s game. Afterword, she praised the fifth-year senior, noting the toughness will be part of her legacy. 

“That’s the toughness,” Anderson said. “That’s their loyalty and their commitment to this program, to do everything they possibly can for their teammates.” 

Matt Stahl is the Missouri athletics beat reporter for the Columbia Daily Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @mattstahl97.