Mizzou announces Larissa Anderson contract extension

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Athletics said it has extended softball coach Larissa Anderson's contract through 2026.

Anderson will be entering her fourth season with the Tigers, after leading her team through a historic Super Regional run in 2021. The head coach has a 226-122-1 record as Mizzou's head coach.

"This is a well-deserved extension for Larissa," Reed-Francois said in a press release on Tuesday. "Excellence is our standard and she has built our softball program into one of the best in the nation. Under her direction, the team has shown improvement every season, been successful in the classroom, recruited at a high level and had a thrilling postseason run in 2021. We are looking forward to a bright future as she and her staff continue to build on last season's success."

Anderson's team is coming into the 2022 season with the same starting lineup as the 2021 Super Regional team. Through the previous season, the Tigers set a record with 91 home runs and led the nation with a 1.37 ERA in the NCAA Tournament.

"I want to thank Desiree Reed-Francois for the opportunity she has continued to give me," Anderson said in a press release. "It is a privilege to work with a dynamic and accomplished leader who puts the best interests of our student-athletes at the heart of her decision making and I am extremely grateful and humbled to be the head coach at Mizzou. Working with such amazing student-athletes the past three seasons has been special and I am looking forward to what the future holds for our program. Columbia has truly become home for my husband Patrick and me while Mizzou Nation has become our family."

The Tigers will open up the season on Feb. 11 at the Northern Lights Invitational in Florida.