Strong Start: Mizzou takes series opener, Krings notches 50th win
Athens, Ga. – Laurin Krings notched her 50th career win in the series opener at Jack Turner Stadium with a 4-2 victory over Georgia. Krings tossed 5.1 innings, allowing five hits and two runs with four strikeouts. Head coach Larissa Anderson was pleased with the senior’s outing, noting that the Tigers are taking it one game at a time.
“That’s the Krings that we’ve needed,” said Anderson. “She’s thrown like that early on in the year, and we know that’s her standard. It was great to see it come out today because she’s had some rough outings, and no one’s more of a critic than she is of herself.”
Krings threw her curveball on both sides of the plate and paired it with the off-speed pitch on the lower half of the zone to keep Georgia hitters guessing.
Anderson added, “It was great to see her respond and really put the team on her back. It’s coming down to crunch time, her senior year, and she really elevated her game today.”
Marissa McCann entered in the sixth to mobilize the threat after Georgia cut the lead in half, and Taylor Pannell entered in the seventh to record her 10th save of the year.
For more on Missouri’s pitching staff, check out Brady Vernon’s Tuesday trends.
Key takeaways from the opener:
- Laurin Krings returns to form.
- Georgia continues to struggle with runners in scoring position.
- Missouri jumped out to an early lead and took advantage of every opportunity.
- Women’s sports on the rise as official attendance: 1,291
The Tigers scored early and capitalized on Georgia’s defensive miscues throughout the game. It all started with a one-out triple down the right field line by Abby Hay in the second, followed by a ground ball to second base to take the 1-0 lead.
UGA loaded the bases in the second but came up short and would strand a total of nine runners in five of the seven innings.
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The Tigers added to their lead in the top of the fifth with a quality 11-pitch leadoff at-bat by Kayley Lenger, resulting in a double down the left-field line. After advancing to third on a fielder’s choice, Lenger scored on an overthrow. Alex Honnold hit a lined shot to left, and Goodwin trapped the ball, making a solid throw home. Honnold scampered to second and drew the overthrow to second that sailed into centerfield to take the 3-0 lead.
Georgia threatened again in the fifth inning but came up empty.
Missouri tacked on another run in the sixth, taking advantage of an extra out after a missed double play to end the inning. Katie Chester’s pinch-hit RBI double plated the fourth run of the game.
Georgia cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff double by Goodwin and scored a pair of runs on back-to-back singles by Sydney Kuma and Dallis Goodnight.
In the seventh, Pannell struck out looking for the first out of the inning and induced two pop-ups to close out the game.
“One down. It’s one game at a time, it really is. But, I’m just really so proud of them to come into this atmosphere and this environment because it’s a really, really tough place to play. We battled and we competed,” Anderson added. “And you know what? Today’s game doesn’t care about tomorrow.”
