Laurin Krings heaps praise from Larissa Anderson after three perfect innings vs. Duke

Nine Duke batters went up to the plate and nine were sat back down by Missouri ace Laurin Krings to begin her start against the Blue Devils on Saturday.

Facing elimination, Krings carved two strikeouts on 40 pitches while her teammates took care of the rest as Missouri entered the bottom of the fourth inning with a 3-0 lead. Head coach Larissa Anderson couldn’t say enough about her starter’s efforts and ability to bounce back after Friday’s poor outing.

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“Working both sides of the plate,” Anderson said. “Her changeup is at a really nice speed right now. We’ve just got to continue to keep it low in the zone and keep them off balance. … We’ve been in this situation before — we still got to play the game today. We’re going to be fighting like crazy today to get this game in.”

While the Tigers appeared to move into the driver’s seat with the big fourth inning, Duke pitcher Jana Wright was just as impressive as Krings. She also pitched a perfect three innings before things fell apart in the fourth. After letting up three runs, Cassidy Curd relieved her to finish off the last two outs of the inning.

Wright finished the day with 3.1 innings pitched and while she was perfect through her first nine batters — she wasn’t as lucky against her final four batters. During that four-batter stretch, Wright let up three runs (two earned) on three hits.

“She was just guiding her pitchers a little bit trying to do too much,” Duke head coach Marissa Young said during the game. “But, you know, making the switch here. Curd coming in and it’s time for us to score some runs.”

Krings perfect outing ended early in the fourth, but that didn’t stop her from loosening her command on the mound. She let up a single to start the inning before striking out the next batter and forcing the next two into groundouts.

Missouri lost 6-3 to Duke in the first game in the best of three Columbia Super Regional on Friday. Both teams entered the fifth inning tied at three, but a two-run fifth inning and an insurance run in the ninth would be the difference in the matchup.

The Tigers must defeat the Blue Devils on Saturday if they want to keep their season alive. A win by Duke sends them to the 2024 Women’s College World Series.