Mizzou primed for high-caliber competition to open 2025 season
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The first pitch of Mizzou Softball's run back to NCAA Super Regionals will soon be thrown out.
The Tigers are putting the finishing touches on their preparation to travel to the Sunshine State for the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic. MU will face five opponents in just three days at the season-opening event, including a pair of top-20 teams: No. 20 Northwestern and No. 8 Duke.
However, Mizzou's February calendar features more than just those two ranked opponents. Overall, head coach Larissa Anderson's team will collectively play eight top-25 teams during the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic, the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational, the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic and the Shocker Invite. Facing consistent high-caliber competition early in the season is by design and prepares the Tigers to thrive when SEC play arrives.
"They expose us immediately, you know, playing against teams of similar level to us and the speed that we have to play at, going into our conference series, so they're gonna expose how fast we have to make decisions, how the level of pitching, how quality it is that we're gonna have to carry into the postseason," Anderson said. "If I can get that exposure early on to be able to tell our 10 new players, really it comes down to the first-year players in our program on what the expectations are, how fast our game is to be able to carry that into conference play."
You can watch the full press conference with head coach Larissa Anderson in the slideshow above.
The NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic is the first step on Mizzou's journey to reaching its ultimate goal: the Women's College World Series (WCWS). MU was just one win away from reaching that stage last season, falling to Duke in a decisive game three of NCAA Super Regionals. That heart-breaking loss is fueling the Tigers this season, motivating them to work even harder to punch a ticket to the program's seventh WCWS in history.
"When you're one out, one run away from going to the College World Series, you know how close you were, you can't do the same thing and expect the same result. You got to do more, so knowing that and talking about that what you did last year wasn't good enough, and if it was, then you would've been there. "So, it's having those conversations and pushing each other and the players pushing each other, holding each other accountable and making sure that everybody's doing their part, so we are in the conversation at the end of the year and going to Oklahoma City, not going home," Anderson said.
The team that will be hunting for MU's first WCWS appearance since 2011 will look a little different. Mizzou lost several seniors from last year's team, including shortstop Jenna Laird, outfielder Alex Honnold, second baseman Maddie Gallagher and starting pitcher Laurin Krings. However, the team has made several offseason additions through the transfer portal and 2024 recruiting class to bolster its roster. Kentucky transfer Taylor Ebbs, who batted .272 with 25 home runs over the last three seasons, and Fr. Tolton Catholic graduate Madison Uptegrove, who was a former MSHSAA career home run record holder, are two of the newcomers that have already made a name for themselves.
"Taylor Ebbs is having a great offseason. She had a really strong fall, and then just this January, she's a force in the batter's box. I'm really excited to get her in there. She's been working at first base and second, so it's an added stick, a left-handed stick with power that we really need within our lineup," Anderson said. "I would say Madison Uptegrove. She's one that has done an unbelievable job learning behind Kara Daly. She's been working both middle infield shortstop and second base, and I think she's one that we're going to rely on heavily that's going to have a really strong position within our team."
Mizzou's season opener against Marshall is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 7 at 12 p.m.
