Welcome to Larissa’s Lessons, a weekly takeaways series in which some combination of Karen, True and Dylan will break down the biggest takeaways from the weekend’s games. We love an alliteration and puns around here, so be prepared for some word play.
Because the Tigers are playing a ridiculous number of games in a weekend and most of aren’t televised, this will be a look at more of a big picture of a bunch of games as opposed to a recap of each game. Once the home opener comes around in March, this will likely go in a different direction, but we’ll see!
Defense wins championships
This week’s games were defined by Mizzou’s ability (or lackthereof) to shutdown their opponents’ bats. The most frustrating loss came against NC State, where the Tigers gave up 13 runs. In that game the Mizzou pitchers allowed 10 hits and 10 walks as the Wolfpack paraded around the bases. A similar situation happened against #7 UCLA, where Mizzou led 5-1 through four innings before giving up five runs and the lead, ultimately falling at the hands of the Bruins.
By contrast, Marissa McCann pitched a complete-game shutout in the win against Florida Atlantic. Against Duke she struggled, but Natalie Touchet and Abby Carr pitched 5.2 innings and allowed no runs to allow Mizzou to win 5-4 after its offense started rolling. This week the Tigers allowed 2.0 runs in wins and 6.8 in losses.
Both McCann and Cierra Harrison have ERAs approaching five, struggling against some of the elite competition the Tigers have seen across these first two weeks. Mizzou should look at giving Abby Carr a bigger piece of the rotation within the pitching staff, as she currently has a 1.26 ERA and a 2-1 record in 16.2 innings pitched. She’s clearly the strongest piece of the Tigers bullpen. I believe using Carr as a consistent starter (at the very least in the midweek) will take some of the burden off McCann and Harrison and allow the freshman to gain much-needed experience if she hopes to become the true ace of the staff sometime in the future.
Kayley’s offensive explosion
Kayley Lenger has been an irreplaceable part of the starting lineup due to her defensive capabilities as an outfielder. She threw out a runner in both the FAU and Duke games in a perfect demonstration of her value:
However, her defensive prowess have not always translated to offensive efficiency. As a junior last season, Lenger finished the year batting .217 with a .342 on base percentage. Her offense has been much improved through 11 games this season, currently batting .300 with .417 on base percentage. “Bruiser” (Editor’s note: we are making this happen) once again leads the team in hit by pitches at 3, bringing her up to 32 in her career thus far.
“(Lenger’s) really focused and she’s bought in. She has a great relationship with [hitting coach] Jake Epstein,” Anderson said at Monday’s media session.
This week Lenger finished with three hits including a 2-RBI home run during the loss to NC State. The senior has stepped up big-time for a team that has needed her help both offensive and defensively.
Playing down (and up) to opponents
If you take a look at Mizzou Softball’s schedule, it doesn’t take long to see that Mizzou has some strong wins, but also some pretty bad losses. The Tigers, currently at 4-7, have three ranked wins against then-No. 21 Liberty, No. 23 FAU and No. 22 Duke. These aren’t the highest ranked wins in the world but they are still resume-building wins that Mizzou needs.
On the other hand, the Tigers have fallen against five unranked opponents (Penn State, South Alabama, UCF, NC State and Northwestern) and they weren’t very pretty losses.
Mizzou coach Larissa Anderson wasn’t scared to say exactly what she saw during her midweek press conference.
“We had some highlights, we had a handful of lowlights,” she said. “We got to have some players that need to step up. We had opportunities to be able win a majority of our games.”
It’s clear the Mizzou is playing to the level of its opponent but if one thing is for sure: it has the talent to beat the top teams. If the Tigers are able to find some consistency across all three facets, there’s a good chance they can find a groove.
This upcoming week will be a good test as Mizzou plays five unranked games. If the Tigers are able to come out of the weekend undefeated against Houston, McNeese State and Louisiana, they’ll be back on track for improvement from last season. That would also put them back above .500 which is the most important part.
McCann emerging as the team’s ace (for now)
This might not remain the case but junior Marissa McCann is making her case to be Mizzou’s ace this season. She leads the Tigers in innings pitched this season and despite her struggle against Duke, she’s had some really strong outings. McCann went the distance against FAU in a ranked victory for the Tigers over the weekend.
On the stat sheet Abby Carr has a stronger resume — and it might be just a matter of time until she takes over as Mizzou’s top pitcher — but McCann has been the one in the tight situations like starting against Duke in a rivalry game.
“McCann has every pitch in her repertoire,” Anderson said. “From a determination standpoint, we need her to have the confidence that every game she throws she can win. And she can.”
I don’t think Mizzou’s pitching has to be the Achillies heel of the team, but it’ll have to gain some consistency if it wants to stay in the hunt for the tournament. Letting up 14 runs against an unranked NC State team isn’t ideal, but it’s early so HCLA knows what she needs to work on.
Offensive & Pitching Leaders thru 5 games
- Kayley Lenger: .300 BA | .884 OPS | 30 AB | 5 R | 9 H | 2 2B | HR | 5 RBI | .467 SLG% | 3 BB | 3 HBP | 7 K
- Sidney Forrester: .290 BA | .888 OPS | 31 AB | 2 R | 9 H | 2 2B | HR | 5 RBI | .452 SLG% | 7 BB | 7 K
- Abby Hay: .286 BA | .918 OPS | 35 AB | 4 R | 10 H | 3 2B | 2 HR | 9 RBI | .543 SLG% | 5 BB | 5 K
- Madison Uptegrove: .286 BA | .722 OPS | 36 AB | 4 R | 10 ZH | 4 2B | 6 RBI | .389 SLG% | 3 BB | 11 K
Overall, the team is batting just .2227 (down from .238 last week) with a .707 OPS. They’ve scored 50 runs, had 68 hits, 19 doubles (that seems good!), and 6 homers. They’re slugging just .357. They’ve walked 48 times but also struck out whopping 73. Their on-base % is .350.
- Abby Carr: 1.26 ERA | 1.20 WHIP | 16.2 IP | 10 H | 4 R | 3 ER | 10 BB | 13 K | 4 XBH | .172 Opp BA
- Marissa McCann: 4.78 ERA | 1.33 WHIP | 26.1 IP | 31 H | 21 R | 18 ER | 4 BB | 12 XBH | 6 HR | .301 Opp BA
- Cierra Harrison: 4.87 ERA | 1.82 WHIP | 18.2 IP | 28 H | 14 R | 13 ER | 6 BB | 14 K | 9 XBH | 5 HR | .346 Opp BA
Overall, the team ERA is 3.63 through 11 games and 79 IP. They’ve allowed 86 hits, 54 runs (41 earned), 32 walks, 58 strikeouts, 11 doubles, 4 triples, and 13 home runs. Opponents are batting .283 against them.
What’s to Come
Now that the Florida trip has concluded, the Tigers will head to Lake Charles, La. this weekend for another five game road trip. Here’s who they’re facing and how their seasons have started:
- Houston (Feb 20 at 1pm, Feb 21 at 1:30pm): 8-1 overall | W 6-3 v. Pitt | W 12-4 v. Lafayette (DH) | L 2-10 v. Penn State (DH) | W 10-9 v. Michigan | W 7-0 v. Incarnate Word
- The Cougars are on a two-game win streak after a 4-1 weekend at home for the Houston Invitational
- Houston is hitting .295 as a team with a 1.098 OPS. They’ve whacked 22 home runs this season and worked 44 walks to only 27 strikeouts. Maddie Hartley is currently leading the offense in hitting .500, with a massive 1.927 OPS.
- The pitching staff has a 3.08 ERA and holding its opponents to a .229 batting average. Neveah Brown (1.94 ERA, 21.2 IP, .111 Opp BA) and Gigi Solis (2.17 ERA, 9.2 IP, .297 Opp BA) lead the staff.
- The Cougars earned its 800th career win in program history after a 9-1 run-rule victory over Fairfield on February 7.
- McNeese State (Feb 20 at 6pm, Feb 21 at 4pm): 7-4 overall | W 12-11 & L 3-8 v. #21 Ole Miss (DH) | W 11-9 & L 5-7 v. Austin Peay | L 3-5 & W 14-4 (5 in.) v. UIC
- McNeese is coming off of a 3-3 weekend in the Ragin’ Cajuns Invitational and the Carl Vincent Insurance Invitational.
- McNeese is hitting .352 with a 1.026 OPS. They’ve worked 59 walks to just 31 strikeouts, and have quite a few players hitting above .350, including Corine Poncho (.364 BA), Nyiah Fontenot (.368 BA), Maddie Taylor (.464 BA) and Rylee Cloud (.500 BA). These three players rarely strike out and each have at minimum 10 hits and 10 runs scored.
- If McNeese has a significant weakness, it is their pitching staff, who has a whopping 5.50 ERA, with opponents hitting .317 against them. They’ve given up 18 home runs this season, along with 19 doubles, which presents a great opportunity for the Tigers to get their bats moving.
- Louisiana (Feb 22 at 11am):6-3 overall | L 2-5 & W 8-5 v. #21 Ole Miss | W 5-1 & W 23-0 (5 in.) v. Texas A&M- Corpus Christi | L 5-6 v. Prairie View A&M
- The Ragin’ Cajuns are coming off a 3-2 weekend in the team’s home tournament.
- Louisiana is hitting a massive .351 with a 1.041 OPS so far this season, with 15 HR, 74 hits and 86 runs scored. They also don’t really strike out, working a 37 BB : 27 K ratio.
- Their pitching is just okay, with a 3.56 ERA in 61 IP. They’re holding opponents to a .252 BA, and have given up just 17 extra base hits (7 HR).