Laurin Krings commends Taylor Pannell for closing out Ole Miss, advancing in SEC Tournament

It appeared to be smooth sailing for Missouri on Wednesday, leading 3-0 heading into the seventh inning against Ole Miss on say two of the SEC Tournament.

Tigers pitcher Laurin Krings (13-7, 2.60 ERA) had pitched six scoreless innings against the Rebels up to that point. Before a single out could be recorded in the seventh, Ole Miss’ Aynslie Furbush stepped up to the plate and hit a solo bomb on Krings’ and was subsequently relieved for sophomore Taylor Pannell.

Pannell finished the game out and gave the Missouri a 3-1 win, helping her team advance to the quarterfinals to play Arkansas on Thursday.

“I can go as far as I can, and I know if Taylor [Pannell] goes in, she’s going to get the job done,” Krings said on the field postgame. “It’s just having trust in each other. … We’re just gonna keep having fun. That’s what we do at Mizzou, we just have fun and play the game we know and just don’t put our heads down. Just keep grinding.”

Pannell finished the game pitching one full inning which took her 21 pitches to close out. For Krings, her 6.0 inning performance saw her strike out one batter — but in 79 pitches she faced 22 batters and recorded 17 outs. Four of those 22 were allowed on base, while only Furbush was able to touch home plate.

Now, Missouri advances to face top-four seed Arkansas in Thursday’s quarterfinal. On a four-game winning streak heading into the game, Krings’ confidence in her team is seemingly at an all-time high.

We worked so hard to get here,” she said. “We believe that we’re up where the top ranks are and we just got to keep working.”

The matchup between the Tigers and Razorbacks is scheduled to be the second game played during Thursday’s slate. It will begin approximately 35 minutes following the conclusion of top-seeded Tennessee‘s quarterfinal matchup against LSU, which is set to begin at 10 a.m. CT.

Being on the same side of the bracket, one of the four teams of Tennessee, LSU, Missouri and Arkansas will be featured in the SEC Championship game this weekend.

Having won its last three games heading into the tournament — Missouri’s softball team finished the 2024 regular season 40-14 overall and 13-11 in SEC play. Winning 40 games (now 41) in a regular season is no fluke — and Missouri believes they have a real chance to make a splash in the postseason.