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1) It wasn't easy, but Missouri softball will play next weekend for a chance at its first Women's College World Series since 2011. Prior to the start of regional play, Larissa Anderson stressed over and over the importance of winning the first game and avoiding going into the loser's bracket right off the bat. She also talked a lot about the fact that mid-major teams know how to win because they absolutely have to win in the conference tournament just to get to this point so they shouldn't be taken lightly. Her team promptly lost to Omaha in the opener on Friday night.
But credit Missouri for responding. The Tigers won four consecutive games, beating Indiana and Washington on Saturday then sweeping two from Omaha, both in their last at bat, on Sunday. It wasn't the path of the least resistance, but this team hasn't really taken the path of least resistance all season. The end result is hosting a Super Regional against Duke next weekend. The Blue Devils won the ACC regular season and tournament titles and were one of the biggest "hang on, why are they seeded THERE" teams of Selection Sunday. We don't yet have the schedule for Super Regionals, but we'll be at every game.
2) We'll get back to softball in a minute, but let's put a quick wrap on the Mizzou baseball season, which officially ended on Sunday. The Tigers were eliminated from SEC Tournament contention with a Friday night loss to Mississippi State. They lost again Saturday before finishing the regular season with a win on Sunday. Mizzou ended the regular season 23-32 overall and 9-21 in the SEC. That put them 13th in the league, two games behind Ole Miss for the final spot in the conference tournament.
Kerrick Jackson was never going to be judged by this season. He is taking over a program that is 14th in virtually any imaginable metric in its conference. There is some history and tradition here, but not on the level of anywhere else in the SEC (nor is there the commitment, which is a whole different discussion).
Here are Mizzou's records in the last four seasons (since resuming play after the season lost to COVID
16-36, 8-22
28-23, 10-20
30-24, 10-20
23-32, 9-21
My first reaction to that list is this: So why was Steve Bieser fired?
I'm not saying Bieser was great. I don't think he was going to get Mizzou to the mountaintop here. But I really have very little interest in WHO the Missouri baseball coach is. I don't think the coach himself is the problem. There are a million different ways to win in baseball. But in college baseball, there is almost no way to win if you have fewer resources and less talent than everyone you're playing. And that's where Mizzou is, especially in the SEC.
From 1976-2012, as members of the Big Eight and Big 12, Missouri had three losing seasons total. The Tigers had nine seasons in that span in which they finished more than two games below .500 in league play. In 11 seasons since joining the SEC, Missouri has had five losing seasons and nine years in which it finished more than two games below .500 in conference play (and not one year in which it won more league games than it lost). That's under three different coaches. It doesn't matter who the coach is. The ceiling for Kerrick Jackson is to get back to .500ish in the league and sneak into the NCAA Tournament and get hot at the right time. Qualifying for the NCAA Tournament out of this conference is harder than winning once you're there. The gap between Missouri and the rest of the league is only going to get bigger in the age of NIL (Yes, some SEC teams will actually spend NIL money in baseball; in fact, I'd say most of them will).
I'd love to be able to tell you I see a way to change this. But as long as the level of commitment remains the same, I'd expect Jackson to take his run for five or six years like Bieser did. Missouri will probably move on from him then and hire another person who comes in and faces the same daunting obstacles and likely has the same results. The ceiling for Mizzou baseball as a member of the SEC is just really, really low.
3) Back to the better diamond weekend. Here was Laurin Krings' line from the regional win this weekend: 24 innings, 14 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 5 walks, 24 strikeouts. She saved the best game of her career for when her team needed it the most, throwing nine shutout innings and striking out a career-high 15 in the 1-0 clincher on Sunday evening. Leading up to the regional, I wondered if Missouri's strength was the depth of a pitching staff that didn't have a textbook dominant ace. Turns out, it did have a textbook dominant ace.
Krings' performance made me think about the best big-game performances I've seen at Mizzou. That means I'm going to start it in 1995, which was my freshman year. Going off the top of my head, here are a few that stick out:
Chase Daniel, 2007 vs Kansas: In the biggest game in the history of the rivalry and arguably the biggest game in school history to that point, Daniel was 40/49 for 361 yards and three touchdowns. His passer rating of 163.7 was only the 15th best of his career, but never was he better and never was he as good in as big a spot.
Kobe Brown, 2023 vs Utah State: Brown had 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block in Mizzou's first NCAA Tournament win in 14 years. He was not even his team's leading scorer (D'Moi Hodge had 23). But in a back and forth game in which neither team could get any space, Brown went on a personal 10-0 second half run to give the Tigers control they'd never give back. Missouri basketball has played bigger games in its history for sure, but it hadn't played a bigger one in a long time.
Marcus Denmon, 2012 vs Kansas: Denmon scored 29 points in 39 minutes, including nine in the last 2:10, to lead Mizzou over the Jayhawks in the final Big 12 battle between the two in Columbia. Missouri finished the game on an 11-0 run to erase an 8-point deficit. I maintain the finish is the best single stretch I've ever seen from a Mizzou athlete.
Sophie Cunningham vs South Carolina, 2018: Missouri's best player scored 27 points with 7 assists and 6 rebounds (we'll ignore the 7 turnovers) in 30 minutes as the Tigers beat the nation's No. 1 team in one of her signature performances. The Tiger women haven't played a ton of big games, but this one still resonates with the program's fans six years later.
Missouri defense vs Ohio State, 2023: The Tiger defense suffocated the Buckeyes, knocking out the starting quarterback and limiting a true freshman to virtually nothing in a 14-3 Cotton Bowl win that vaulted them into the top 10 in the final national rankings. Ohio State had 203 total offensive yards in 57 snaps and never threatened the end zone. The Mizzou defense kept the team alive until the dam finally broke for the offense in the fourth quarter. It was as good a big game performance as I remember out of a Missouri defense.
I'm sure I'm missing some here just doing this off the top of my head. Obviously Mizzou wrestling has had some national title individual performances. There may be a baseball game that should be in here somewhere. Chelsea Thomas probably did something to belong on the list. But I think Krings joins the five above as the best individual performances I can recall.
4) I'd say that regardless of what happens next weekend, Missouri softball has had the second best season of any Tiger sport this school year. Here's how I'd rank the top five:
Football
Softball
Gymnastics
Wrestling
Volleyball
If softball wins the national title, it tops this list. Otherwise, I think the order is set.
