‘I see where our potential is’: Mizzou softball looks to capitalize on lessons from opening weekend
CLEARWATER, Fla. (KMIZ)
'Up and down,' was the way that Mizzou softball coach Larissa Anderson described her team's opening weekend at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic, as her group left that weekend with a 2-3 mark. The leader of the Tigers added that her team is not even close to its full potential, yet.
In the first five games of the season, the Tigers have already faced some of the top talent in the country and did manage to walk away with a couple of good wins against No. 23 Liberty and BYU, on Saturday. Despite the three losses, that weekend of tough competition may be just what the doctor ordered for head coach Larissa Anderson's group. After all, you'd much rather find out what you need to work on in February, rather than when Southeastern Conference play begins.
"It exposes you immediately. Like, it absolutely exposes you immediately, where we're we're deficient and what we need to work on. I would much rather know now, on February 9th, than not be exposed until March. Like, then your team is scrambling and saying, 'well, why didn't we know this ahead of time?'" Coach Anderson said. "So, our freshmen know the level of pitching that we have to face and they know the speed of the game. You know, for instance, there is a play that Addy Waits drove and made a great play in the five-six hole and she popped to her feet and she still tried to get the force out at second base and she was safe. That's the speed of our game and if she's not exposed to that speed in February, then she's going to make that same mistake in March. So, now she knows that because of the speed of the game is so much faster than what she's experienced in her high school and travel ball level, she can now elevate her game to play at a faster pace, so that is the advantage. The disadvantage is sometimes, how do you respond to failure? We got to make sure that they're confident in their preparation and they trust their preparation."
You can watch the full press conference with Anderson in the video player below.
One of the high notes of opening weekend was the way that the MU pitching staff performed. Coach Anderson said she thought that group kept them in every ball game, throughout the weekend.
Tiger fans got their first look at true freshman pitcher Abby Carr, who came up big in some of the largest moments of the weekend. In fact, in Saturday's win over ranked Liberty, the Wildwood, Missouri native held a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Then, she followed up that performance with her first-career home run against South Alabama, on Sunday. She ended that game against the Jaguars in the circle, as well, tossing for about four innings.
Carr's performance was enough to earn her a spot on the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic All-Tournament team.
"It was it was great for her. I mean, I'm so glad with her pitching outing out there. [She had] great composure in some really, really tough situations that she battled through and and just really stayed true to who she was. She didn't deviate from that. Then, being able to get some offensive numbers out of her. I mean, we've talked about her a lot and we know what her potential is going to be, but I think the biggest challenge is how do we manage the two way player," Anderson said. "How do we get her so she's able to get time in the bullpen to put her in game situations that she's prepared for, if she's in the starting lineup? What I absolutely love about it is my creativity that I can manage the game. I love being able to have her being in one through nine as the [designated player] and put someone else in the flex position and being more creative and making some double switches defensively that I'm able to have some stronger nine hitters in the lineup and then being able to flip it to have nine different defensive players out there. It gives me a lot more creativity that I can get more people in the game and maximize how they're going to contribute. But, we got to manage her workload."
Carr was one of a few freshmen who got their first-career starts over the weekend. Lee's Summit native Addy Waits started her Tiger career in the leadoff spot for Coach Anderson, while Oklahoma native Sidney Forrester also cracked the starting lineup as the three-hitter.
"I'd like to see [Addy Waits] have a little bit more control of the strike zone. I'm going to attribute that to some freshman nerves. You know, she has an unbelievable eye and she chased some balls, so that's just telling me she's just trying to do too much and, you know, trying to make things happen rather than letting the game come to her," Anderson. "I thought Forester was [very comfortable and confident in her ability.] You know, she's the type of kid that she can laugh at herself and she's just very, very, very confident and comfortable."
During Monday's meeting with local media, though, Anderson noted that her lineup for the year is still not 100 percent set. In fact, as of now, she feels like the bottom of her lineup is performing better than the top.
Mizzou had Tolton alum Madison Uptegrove in the seven-hole, outfielder Kayley Lenger in the eight-hole and second baseman Sophie Smith in the nine-hole for opening weekend. Collectively, that group went 11-for-35 at the dish with eight RBI's.
As the group prepares for a midweek matchup with UCF, Anderson said she's really looking for players to step up and be RBI producers in the four and five holes. Ideally, she'd love that to be Rock Bridge alum Abby Hay, but she said that the Columbia native is very comfortable with her typical role near the bottom of the lineup.
Hay finished the weekend going 4-for-11, while launching the first home run of the Tiger softball season. All-in-all, she drove in four runs on four hits through the first five games.
"Even though she has a fierce reputation that everyone knows nationally, she's going to get a little different pitch selection down at the bottom line up than she is going to get three or four or five," Anderson said. "it was really all January, on her just understanding her bread and butter. Like, what does she do really well? What pitches she should be looking for? So, she's much more confident in that, so then her conversations right now aren't panicked. It's not, well, this is how the pitcher's attacking me. What should I do? It's this is what I'm going to be looking for, coach. Like it's much more relaxed and confident, which I call it like a mature conversation, like it's a very mature, hitting conversation rather than it being reactionary. The more confidence she gets, the more she's going to trust being put in those situations that I can start building her up to be a four or five hitter."
It will undoubtedly be a growing process for Mizzou's hitters, in 2026. After all, the group is under new leadership with hitting coach Jake Epstein, who brought in a much more analytical approach to the dish.
Anderson said she's learned from past hitting coaches that it takes about 15 months for hitters to really figure out what a new system is all about. As of now, they're in month four working with Coach Epstein, so there will still be lots of growing to come.
In looking back at the Tigers' struggles at the dish in opening weekend, Anderson said seeing the result they want with Epstein's new system and approach will come down the maturity of her hitters.
"I think when you have experienced hitters that they're not trying to do too much, they can simplify it. Like, we can give them this information and we can tell them exactly what the pitchers are throwing And then like if you were to think about going up against [Mizzou pitcher Marissa] McCann and she has every pitch in the repertoire, like you can have all this information, but how are you going to simplify it so you have the best attack plan forward? I think the younger, inexperienced hitters, they're trying to do everything," Anderson said.
Heading into a matchup with UCF, Coach Anderson said she hopes the biggest step her team takes is in trusting their approach and staying disciplined.
"Just having quality at-bats, putting a good swing on a good pitch. We have no control over that, but when I see defensive swings and we get out in front, we're just trying to put it in play, that's the fear of failure. Obviously, every athlete wants to be successful, but you have to fear greatly and that's stuff that we talk about within our team," she said. "You have to see you have to fail at full speed and no one wants to strike out, but sometimes that swinging and missing is the best thing to show that they're being aggressive. That's what I'd like to see that growth and just continue to pass the bat. If the pitch is telling you to take it, take it and draw that walk, so then we can be able to get more people on base."
Up next - Mizzou will face the Golden Knights in the first midweek clash of the season. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT on Wednesday.
After that, Anderson and her team will prepare for another gauntlet of a weekend at the Shriner's Children's Clearwater Invitational. In that tournament, MU will face some of the top teams in the nation in NC State, UCLA, Northwestern, Florida Atlantic and Duke.
The Tigers will stay in Florida, instead of returning home to Columbia to utilize some much-needed practice time outside, on dirt. Up until this point, MU had been practicing indoors, at Devine Pavilion, for about six weeks.
