This SUCKS!

Just like that, the magic is over.

Failing to make good on preseason expectations that saw them potentially going as far as the Women’s College World Series, Mizzou Softball season ended on Sunday when the Tigers lost 1-0 to the University of Arizona. It was the Tigers second loss to ‘Zona on the weekend.

It’s a disappointing end, to be sure. After all, expectations were high, and the Tigers were playing well leading into the tournament. In the final weeks of the season, the Tigers charged into a host’s spot by storming the SEC Championship game.

Despite the less-than-expected end result, as Karen mentioned in her story, Larissa Anderson applauded her team for their efforts.

“I know that everyone’s disappointed when a loss means one team in the country ends with a win, and we had very, very high expectations,” Mizzou Head Coach Larissa Anderson said in the postgame. “And you always want to repeat and go further than you did before. But I can’t tell you how hard they worked to get to this point. I mean, we’re one of 32 teams left in the country, out of 300 D1 softball programs. That’s not easy to do. It’s really tough to win.”

Like much of the Regional (and unlike much of the regular season, it feels like) Mizzou’s offense failed to deliver in key moments, allowing the Wildcats to capitalize on their lone run.

“We were pressing a little bit,” senior designated player Kim Wert said. “We’re an older lineup. We knew this could have been our last game. That was in the back of our minds. … I think we started to have better at-bats as the game went on, but by then it was too late.”

Despite the heartbreaking end to the season, there’s a lot to look forward to next spring. Chief among the reasons? Mizzou is going to have a pair of aces up their sleeve all season long.

Laurin Krings has proven she’s either 1A or 1B on Missouri’s pitching staff alongside Jordan Weber.

In two of the highest-stakes games of the Columbia Regional, Krings pitched 14 innings, two complete games, and struck out 23 batters.

Between those two games, she threw a total of 221 pitches. She did not allow a single run.

Of course you have to score to win, but run prevention shouldn’t be too much of an issue for the Tigers next season. We’ll have more postseason content headed your way as we set course for 2023. And be sure to check out all of Karen’s softball writing. She’s been busy.

Yesterday at Rock M

• In which Karen tells us it had to end sometime. :( :(
• In which Karen recaps Saturday’s very late night win over Missouri State.
• In which a deep secondary gets even deeper thanks to the addition of LJ Hewitt

More Links:

• Sean East is officially here, y’all!

It just looks right, doesn’t it?

• Despite their hard end to the regular season, Mizzou still placed one player on the All-SEC teams: shortstop Josh Day, who was named Second Team All-SEC.
• Did you ever bring home your report card and the ‘rents would give you money for extra good grades? Now imagine you’re the kid, your transcripts are the report card, the state is your dad, and the money = discounted tuition. After all, who doesn’t want discounted tuition as a reward?!

To no surprise, with recruiting implications at stake, the Southeastern Conference jumped on board last fall when SEC campus leaders voted unanimously to give each school discretion on how it determines criteria for the academic bonuses and allowed its members to reward athletes the maximum $5,980 per year plus other education-related benefits, including computers.

• Exciting news! For the first time since 2014, Mizzou will host the Special Olympics Missouri this summer!
• If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now!
• If you’re looking to sign up for a new streaming service, you can try FuboTV: click HERE for FuboTV access — FuboTV now has ESPN, CBS, FS1 and more sports channels.
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