Mizzou softball opens up senior weekend with a Top-25 win

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou softball team started off senior weekend with a bang, on Thursday night. The Tigers toppled No. 24 Georgia, 4-2, to open up the three-game series, courtesy of some late-game heroics.

Through most of the game, the MU offense had only mustered one run and carried a 2-1 deficit into the sixth inning. However, things changed when senior Mya Dodge stepped up to the plate in the sixth. She delivered a pinch-hit, go-ahead two-run homer to lift her team to to its first lead since the first inning, 3-2. The very next batter was true freshman Abbie Wilhelm, who recorded her first collegiate hit in the biggest way possible: a game-icing home run.

Those back-to-back homers secured Mizzou's fifth Southeastern Conference win of the season. Every, single one of the Tigers' five conference victories came against ranked opponents and two of those wins were against the No. 1 team in the land, at the time. Head coach Larissa Anderson and company now sit at 24-29 overall and hold a 5-17 mark in SEC action.

Sophomore pitcher Marissa McCann was the difference-maker in her start in the circle, on Thursday. She improved to 10-11 on the season, after throwing for 6.0 innings and only allowing those two earned runs on six hits. McCann struck out a total of seven Bulldog batters.

Junior closer Taylor Pannell came in in the seventh to shut the door on No. 24 Georgia. The Lee's Summit native earned her second save of the season, striking out two batters to secure the victory.

Up next - Mizzou will look to clinch the series win against Georgia in game two, on Friday, May 2 at 5 p.m. It would mark MU's first conference series win of the season.