Mizzou impresses at season-opening tournament, prepares for more challenging competition

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

After just five games, No. 15 Mizzou Softball already has two top-20 wins on its NCAA Regional resume.

The Tigers (4-1) walked away from the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic with four wins in five games, including victories over No. 8 Duke and No. 20 Northwestern. Now, MU is preparing to face five more opponents in three days at the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational, following its midweek matchup with UCF.

Mizzou's lineup shined over the weekend, outscoring its opponents by a 28-10 margin. The team was guided by Stefanie Abruscato, who batted a team-best .438 with one home run and four RBI's to earn NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic All-Tournament honors. However, the lineup was impressive from top-to-bottom. Five different players with double-digit at-bats posted batting averages of .295 or higher and four Tigers hit home runs.

"We're not really going to rely on one hitter. I think that's really important for us to be successful. We graduated three of our top people in the lineup, and it's really not coming down to, right now, that we need someone to get a hit in order to get the job done," Anderson said at Monday's press conference. "We had some kids last year that were not big production players, Julia Crenshaw being one, Madison Walker being another, and they saw the ball extremely well, which we know we're going to need them. They're going to be the core of our lineup and being able to put them at one and two really helps us. Being able to have hitters that didn't have the track record of the success to be able to come up and really produce this weekend, those are some nice surprises but expected."

You can watch the full press conference with Coach Anderson in the video player above.

Arguably, the highlight of the season-opening tournament was MU's NCAA Super Regional rematch with Duke. The Tigers toppled the No. 8-ranked team in the nation, behind a nine-run, two-out rally in the sixth inning. During that frame, eight straight batters reached base on five singles, one double, one home run and one walk to lift Mizzou to a comeback win, showing a glimpse at the capability of this year's lineup.

"There was never a doubt. All the way through the lineup, even from game one, we were receiving a lot of production from a lot of different places. That is our capability, and we know it's not going to happen all the time but what it does is it builds the confidence within the team on knowing that it's not going to come down to one person that we can get production any way, as long as we're having quality at-bats and we're gaining that information," Anderson said. "Doing it against a team like Duke and quality pitching, that just adds to the confidence, and then, understanding that they're never out of a ballgame."

MU's starting rotation of Cierra Harrison and Marissa McCann also had a stellar five-game stretch. The duo only allowed five combined earned runs in five outings, including a complete game shutout from Harrison against No. 20 Northwestern. Not only was Anderson impressed with her two starting pitchers, she also liked the potential she witnessed from sophomore reliever Nathalie Touchet, who could play a key role for the Tigers out of the bullpen.

"Extremely impressed. [Harrison] dominated every time she went out there. She dominated. You don't have to have 21 strikeouts, like obviously that would be unbelievable, but 21 outs is 21 outs. Her composure up there and her competitiveness, there was one game in particular, she had 19 out of 25 first pitch strikes, and that's impressive. Where she's controlling the strike zone, she's controlling the momentum. She is in the driver's seat, and now, she can get batters to be able to chase the ball off the plate and they can swing at her pitch, rather than her throwing to the hitter's strength. McCann's still finding her own. I'm seeing a little inconsistency in her command, which is okay, because she can move the ball as well as she does, which is why hitters stay off balance. The two of them give us every single opportunity to be able to win," Anderson said. "I think the addition to our pitching staff, which we didn't have a lot last year, was Nathalie Touchet coming in yesterday. She is going to be someone that's going to really bridge the gap, and she wasn't available until yesterday, which is why you didn't see her in the first four games. She's going to be the bridge-the-gap person. Someone that's going to go from a McCann to Harrison to a Touchet to bridge that gap to set it up for Pannell. She's going to be our setup man because she's so different and throws that hard drop ball."

The Tigers will be tested again this weekend with more tough competition on the horizon. Mizzou is scheduled to face No. 12 Florida State to begin a five-game stretch at the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational, along with games against Liberty, Clemson and San Diego State who are all receiving votes in the most recent USA Softball Poll. The recipe for maintaining its recent success at this upcoming tournament is staying aggressive.

"Tough six games that we have coming up. The message is just continue to be in driver mode like attack. The analogy I gave them today in practice is like if you're walking into a dark house and someone jumps out and scares you, how does your body react? You're in defense mode, you're in fight or flight, and we have to be the one attacking. If you walk into a dark house, and you know someone's going to jump out and scare you and you know it, you're in a different state. You're now the initiator, and you're going to try to scare that person," Anderson said. "So, when we're playing defense, we have to be in attack mode. When we're in the batter's box, we're in attack mode. It's put the pedal to the metal and get them uncomfortable. Don't let the pitcher be in the driver's seat. Don't let the hitter be in the driver's seat when we're playing defense. It's we're going to be initiating everything, and just continue to put the pressure on our opponents."

First pitch for Mizzou's matchup with UCF is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. while the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational is set to run from Feb. 13 to Feb. 15.