Mizzou softball puts more emphasis on analytics, heading into 2026
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
It's become pretty unusual for the Mizzou softball team to miss out out on the NCAA Tournament play.
However, that was the case in an up and down 2025 season, a campaign that saw head coach Larissa Anderson and her team snap a 17-season streak of making the NCAA Tournament. While there's lessons to be learned from that season, where MU fell just four games short of making the tournament field, it's also important to turn the page to a new year.
"The only time we addressed it is was in our first meeting in August and that was it. Then, I said to the team, like, we're not talking about last year ever again. We learned from it. It's not the same. It's over with. It doesn't carry over. We're turning the page. It stopped, like they do not talk about last year, one bit. It's a new year, it's a new team, which is the way it should be," Anderson said. "They've come in this year and they've had a different ownership and a different pride to make sure that we take care of business. But, when you break down last year's season, it came down to four games...If instead of losing, if we had won four like four of those games, we were in the postseason."
You can watch the full press conference with Coach Anderson in the video player below.
As a coach, Anderson said a season like that brings you back to the feeling you have when you're a coach in the mid-majors, as there's an even bigger need to win at that level, just to be considered to make the NCAA Tournament.
"When you're a mid-major program, you have to win your conference tournament to go to the postseason. So, you know what that feeling is like to have to win and that's what the mid-majors teach you," she said. "When you're in the SEC, every team in the SEC has an opportunity to go the World Series. That's how strong the SEC is and there's times that you're finishing 13, 14, 15 in this conference and you're still going to postseason and you can make a run deep into postseason. So, our players don't always know what that feeling is like to have to win. So, when you experience a year of not going, it kind of it kicks you in the teeth a little bit on maybe we're taking some things for granted. Now, it's not an automatic guarantee that you're going to go."
In response, Mizzou softball has made quite a few changes in the postseason, including to its coaching staff.
Anderson added former North Texas assistant coach Jason Gwyn over the summer to serve as an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator for MU. Perhaps the biggest hire of the offseason, though, came in June of 2025. That's when Coach Anderson brought in a new hitting coach: Jake Epstein, a hitting guru and Mizzou baseball alumni.
"[He's] been a tremendous addition. He's really controlled understanding the approaches and every batter has an approach on what balls they can handle, what they can't handle to be able to be much more disciplined," Anderson said. "That was really our biggest weakness the last few years is that we didn't have a lot of discipline in the batter's box. We chased pitches all out of the zone, we were very susceptible to off-speed pitches and so he's really zeroed in on what our weaknesses were to make sure that they're not exposed. That's that's the biggest piece and we know we have to have offense to be able to score runs. We're always going to be strong defensively, we're always going to be strong in the circle, but we can't put all the pressure on our on our pitchers to throw a shutout. So, we have to be able to manufacture those runs."
Coach Anderson said that, overall, her hitters spend a lot more time on analytics and video analysis, than they have in the past. That analysis all works to help players understand what their point of contact needs to be, so they have a deeper awareness of what a 'good pitch' is for each of them.
The analytical approach is something that Anderson said they've always had the resources to do, but have never really taken a deep dive into, before this offseason.
"That's really Coach [Epstein's] background, that he's done a lot of video analytics. He's been very in tune to a lot of video breakdown. He's a swing coach and he understands the swing behind it and the exit velocity and what the launch angle is. So, now being able to have our players understand it, as well, and then implement it and they have to be able to make those adjustments. Like, it doesn't matter how much our coaches know, if our players don't understand it. So, he's been really detailed in being able to break that down for the players, but having drills so that it's not over their head on just exactly what they should be looking for, how to stay disciplined of what do you want to eliminate and stick to the plan," Anderson said. "You'll hear us all year long, it's just trust the plan, stick to the plan. Players will will panic, at times. For instance, like if you're looking for an outside pitch and then all of a sudden the pitcher throws an inside pitch, they panic. Even if the umpire calls it a strike and then they're like, well, I got to flip my plan and I got to now look inside because you just went inside. Then, the next pitch is outside and now all of a sudden they're 0-2. So, we're staying true to that plan, like you're eventually going to get a pitch that you can handle really well."
Coach Anderson said that stripping down their players' plate approach and getting them to follow a new way, all comes down to trust. That's something she feels like her players have with Coach Epstein.
However, Mizzou's not just taking an analytical approach to hitting, it's also happening in the circle. Although Anderson has always been the pitching coach, she brought in a pitching coordinator in the offseason. Connor Mammola joined MU, after working as an undergraduate manager at LSU in 223 and then at Washington in 2024 and 2025.
With his experience in hand, Mammola is doing things that the Tiger pitching has never done before.
"He brings something that I have not been able to do. I haven't had time to do as the pitching coach," Anderson said. "He breaks down film, he looks at the analytics, he lives and dies by pitching. So, he's been bringing way more to the table, in terms of preparing our players. Some deficiencies that they've had, how do we tunnel pitches better, things that I really haven't been able to really dig into in my role as a head coach. So, just another mastermind that adds another layer to our coaching staff."
Mizzou will lean on returning veterans Cierra Harrison and Marissa McCann in the circle in 2026, but also brought on one of the top freshmen talents in the nation in Missouri Gatorade Player of the year Abby Carr.
The two-way player will bring a lot of versatility to the Tiger roster, as Coach Anderson is going to be very intentional about the spots she puts the true freshman into.
"I want to put her in situations that I know she's going to be successful, early on. I want her to gain some confidence playing at this level. I mean, it's a big jump, no matter what program you come from. So, it's going to be spot-pitching her here and there, without a lot of pressure to gain some confidence," she said. "I know she's going to thrive in that environment. I mean, she's a gamer and it's extremely impressive to see when the game is on the line and even in practice situations that she just elevates. I'll tell you a little story about her. We were having a conversation when we were doing count pitching in practice and I said, okay, full count, 3-2, bases are loaded, winning run is on third base, what do you want to throw in this situation? She goes, whatever you want to call coach. I feel good with everything. That's the type of player she is and that's exactly what I want. I mean, it is a perfect answer."
As Mizzou looks to make its return to the postseason, in 2026, the Tigers will have to get through a gauntlet in the SEC. In ESPN and USA Softball's preseason rankings, 12 Southeastern Conference softball teams are ranked in the Top-25.
During Monday's meeting with local media, Coach Anderson was asked about what she's expecting from the most competitive conference in the nation, this season: in short, she expects dominant efforts in the circle.
"I think pitching is going to be a lot stronger this year in the SEC," she said. "I think that there's been a lot more concentration on some analytics and it's starting to catch up to the hitting. I mean, but with the teams in the SEC, they're so well coached. Like, every year everybody's getting better, they're bringing in better players, they have better technology, they're able to break down, everyone's stronger, so it's really hard to predict who's going to come out on top."
The Tigers know their standard for the season, as the expectation has always been to compete with the best-of-the-best in the SEC. After Mizzou graduated some standout seniors, including catcher Julia Crenshaw and third baseman Kara Daly, Anderson said she has already seen one player, in particular, step up.
"Kayley Lenger. I mean, she is one of our strongest leaders that we've ever had. She's unbelievably mature, she has great awareness and feel for her teammates in the program. She's an extension of the coaching staff, but she's the one who really embodies and makes sure that everybody stays in line and and holds everybody to that standard," Anderson said.
Mizzou will kickoff its season at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida, beginning on Friday morning. First pitch against Penn State is set for 9 a.m. CT.
