Mizzou softball hands No. 1 Oklahoma its first loss of the season

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou softball team did what no other team has been able to in 2025: defeat No. 1 Oklahoma.

On Saturday, the Tigers beat the Sooners 3-1 to even up the SEC opening series in Columbia. The victory marked the first time that MU has toppled the No. 1 team in the nation since May of 2015.

You can watch extended highlights from the win in the video player below.

"We proved it to ourselves, we proved it to everybody watching today and just the whole softball world, like we can compete with anybody," designated player Taylor Ebbs said.

You can watch the full postgame press conference with Ebbs in the video player below.

The win came in the most complete game of the season for the Tigers, yet. Head coach Larissa Anderson said while there still were more opportunities she would have liked her offense to capitalize on, her pitching and defense kept the game close throughout.

Junior right-hander Cierra Harrison earned the win in her start in the circle, on Saturday, to improve to 7-4 on the season. She threw for 4.0 innings and struck out three batters, while only allowing three hits.

"I would say pretty much everything was working. Me and coach were on the same page a lot today and a lot of things were working for me today," Harrison said.

You can watch the full postgame press conference with Harrison in the video player below.

Junior Taylor Pannell closed out the game for Anderson and company. The Lee's Summit native also struck out three Sooner batters and only allowed one run, which came in the former of a solo homer in the seventh inning. Saturday marked Pannell's first save of the season.

Offensively, Mizzou only needed to post three runs in order to grab a win.

The Tigers' home run leader Madison Walker got the offense going first, with a solo home run in the first inning. After that, sophomore Stefania Abruscato added on a bit of cushion to MU's lead with an RBI double in the same inning, to gain a 2-0 lead.

Senior Taylor Ebbs led the charge at the plate for Mizzou, though. She went 2-for-2 with one RBI and two runs in the win over Oklahoma. That one RBI came in the form of a missile of a home run in the third inning, which gave the Tigers their three-run advantage.

"Just in attack mode," she said. "When they put it there and then I attack and being ready to attack and so that's something I've been working on is attacking early, but being ready to attack early. That was working for me today."

With the win, Mizzou improved to 18-14 on the season and 1-4 in SEC action. Coach Anderson said wins like this one bolster a team's confidence.

"It gives them belief," Anderson said. "We keep telling them, as coaches, that you can beat anybody in the country. Our pitching is good enough to beat anybody in the country, our hitting can hit any pitcher that we face and they just have to believe it the whole way through. It's one thing to believe it, but when you experience it and come out victorious and have success against a team like Oklahoma and the caliber that they are...I mean, it just adds more to what you do every single day."

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

The Tigers said they are putting this big victory behind them quickly and shifting their focus to a big-time opportunity, on Sunday. Oklahoma has not lost a series since May of 2024, but Mizzou will hope to break up that streak.

Up next - first pitch between the Tigers and the Sooners in the series finale is set for 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 23.