Mizzou softball to host second-straight NCAA Regional
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
For the second-consecutive season, the Mizzou softball team will host an NCAA Regional in Columbia.
You can watch full interviews with head coach Larissa Anderson, Brooke Wilmes and Jordan Weber in the player below.
Mizzou took the No. 15 seed and will be facing Missouri State in game one on Friday. Also in the Columbia Regional will be Arizona and Illinois.
Head Coach Larissa Anderson said halfway through the season she told her team they wouldn't host a Regional game. "I said, you're not going to host so let's put that off the table. You're not hosting this year, we got to refocus on what we're trying to do," Anderson said.
"We were actually counting games to make sure that we could get above .500 to have an opportunity to go to the NCAA tournament," Anderson added.
Senior Brooke Wilmes also said during the middle of the season the team didn't think they would have this opportunity.
"Just the fact that we're going to be able to come out and play in front of our home crowd again is going to be such an awesome feeling," Wilmes said.
In MU's 2021 campaign, the Tigers made it all the way to the Super Regional, but fell to James Madison University. The Dukes went on to make a run in the College World Series.
The in-state matchup between Mizzou and Missouri State will be Friday at 1 p.m. followed by Arizona and Illinois 3:30 p.m.
The Tigers and Bears haven't played each other since 2014.
"We played Missouri State in the fall. We have not played them in the spring but we do have a little bit of familiarity. I know that they would, they would like nothing better than come into our house and ruin it for us," Anderson said.
As the team prepares for Friday's game, pitcher Jordan Weber said the pitching staff is focused on continuing to play their strengths like they did in Florida.
"I think people are noticing what our pitching staff can do so it's going to be even more important to keep that going and not letting up," Weber said.
