Mizzou softball prepares for the start of the 2025 campaign

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou softball team is already considered one of the best teams in the country ahead of the start of the 2025 campaign. However, head coach Larissa Anderson said that in order to be the best, you have to beat the best.

Tiger softball is ranked No. 15 in ESPN's preseason Top-25, after ending up hosting NCAA Super Regional action last season, finishing with a 48-18 mark. That being said, Coach Anderson emphasized in Monday's meeting with the media that this is a new team that is building their own, unique culture.

"Every team is completely different. We could have exact same roster back the following year and your chemistry is going to be different. It's trying to figure out what the pulse is of the team and sometimes it takes a while to be able to develop that. We're still developing it every single day. It's good. It's really good, it's competitive, it's compassionate, it's trusting each other. I don't think that we're where we're not peaking right now. I don't want to peak right now," she said. "Early on in the year, they said they wanted to be like a puzzle and every piece of the puzzle has a certain fit and everyone fits in a little bit differently. You don't know what the picture of the puzzle looks like until it's complete, and we don't want that puzzle to be complete right now. We want that puzzle to be complete about mid-April going into postseason, which is where we want to be peaking."

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

MU graduated some key pieces to the old puzzle, following the 2024 season. Star pitcher Laurin Krings, shortstop Jenna Laird, outfielder Alex Honnold, infielder Maddie Gallagher and others all moved onto the next level. While their leadership will be missed, the team is not focused on necessarily replacing them.

Anderson said that you don't want to put pressure on incoming players to try to be exactly like Laird or Honnold because, frankly, no one will be. They were uniquely their own players. Instead, the focus is on maximizing each player's own potential in 2025 and making sure they are playing true to themselves.

"We have our foundation within our program and we're going to be fundamentally perfect. We're going to make great plays, we're going to make game winning plays and as long as we don't skew from what our foundation is we're always going to be solid," Anderson said.

Laird, Honnold and Gallagher played critical roles at the top of the lineup for Coach Anderson and company in 2024. The top part of the batting order is where the Tigers relied on for most, if not all, of their hitting last season. However, Anderson foresees that changing in the season ahead.

Instead of having just one coach for nearly 20 hitters, Mizzou made an offseason addition to the coaching staff. Anderson hired Bella Norton from Virginia to work as an assistant coach and promoted graduate assistant Mary Haff to an assistant coaching position, as well. Now, hitting coach Jeff Cottrill has more support to lean on in developing Tiger hitters and Anderson said she's already seen the impact of that move.

"I see a lot more offense production within our entire lineup. I also foresee, because we don't have a traditional leadoff hitter right now, like a Jenna Laird...I think we're going to be very different in how we look. I would not be surprised if you have a power hitter in that leadoff spot. You know, someone that has a great eye, that can get on base, but is really, really tough to get out. Playing around with different lineups and how that looks like, you want your three best hitters to be in the top three spots, so they can get the most at-bats and that's really what I'm playing around with right now," she said.

Success in any season starts in the circle, though. Coach Anderson is also playing around with that rotation and said she will not predetermine any roles for her throwers, quite yet.

The Tigers returned three key pieces in sophomore pitcher Marissa McCann, junior Cierra Harrison and junior Taylor Pannell in 2025. That trio has seen the most action in games out of the returning staff, but Anderson also emphasized she's excited to see returning sophomore Nathalie Touchet get into the circle more in 2025, as well.

In addition to those returners, Mizzou hit the transfer portal to find an arm, as well. Former Des Moines Area Community College standout Courtney Donahue joined the Tiger roster over the offseason, which gives Anderson six versatile pitchers to work with.

"You have the experience in Cierra Harrison and Marissa McCann...They have the ability to be starters. They have the pitches in their repertoire to be starters," Anderson said. "Then, you have someone like Taylor Pannell, who led the country in saves last year, who has the ability to be a starter. So, who knows. I think the biggest thing from my game management standpoint with someone like Pannell is, you know, she's so good coming out of the bullpen. Do you put her in the starting role, knowing that you might not have someone coming out of the bullpen was as effective as she was? I don't know that yet. When I look at our pitching staff, it's when the game is on the line, who do I want with the ball in their hands?" So that's really going to determine on what roles that they feel and what they're comfortable with."

No. 15 Mizzou will get to work out some of those rotational questions against some tough competition to start the season. The Tigers will start the year with the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic in Florida, then stay down there to play in the Shiner's Children's Clearwater Invitational the following week. In those two tournament, MU will face four preseason Top-25 opponents.

It's good experience, especially for Mizzou's younger talent.

"It's exposing them to the speed of the game right out of the chute," Anderson said. "They know how fast they have to play, how fast they have to make decisions, how hard the ball comes off the bat rather than a fungo. So, you want to figure that out in early February. You don't want your first SEC game against super regional competition to be the first time that you see a ball come off the bat that hard. So, immediately being able to be exposed on what we what we need to improve on, what we're really good at and what our weaknesses are, so then we can make those adjustments early on in the season."

Anderson and company will kick off the season on Friday, Feb. 7 in the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic. The first game is against Marshall at 12 p.m. CT.