COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 15/16 University of Missouri softball team (25-7, 4-5 SEC) dropped its series finale to No. 2/3 LSU (25-4, 5-4 SEC), 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Mizzou captured its second-straight SEC home series and improved to 4-2 this season in home conference contests.
Prior to this weekend’s 2024 series with LSU, Missouri previously had picked up two of three wins over the then No. 3 LSU Tigers, April 25-27, 2015, in Columbia, Missouri.
Sophomore designated player Katie Chester led Missouri at the plate Sunday, notching a home run along with two RBI and a run.
With Mizzou leading 3-2, the visiting Tigers scored two unanswered runs in the sixth to grab the third game of the weekend series. Pitcher/designated player Kelley Lynch knocked a two-run base hit to secure the win for LSU.
LSU took an early 1-0 advantage Sunday as Ciara Briggs scored on a wild pitch in the first inning.
Missouri struck back in the second inning with one out and a runner on first. Chester then blasted a two-run shot to center, putting Mizzou up 2-1. The round tripper marked her team-leading fourth of the season.
LSU responded in the third, as Briggs knotted the contest at 2-2 on an RBI single.
In the bottom of the frame, Mizzou would regain the advantage. Julia Crenshaw reached on an error before scoring on another defensive miscue with Maddie Gallagher bringing her home for a 3-2 Missouri edge.
Starter Laurin Krings pitched 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while being assessed the loss. The senior from Loveland, Colorado, added two strikeouts.
Taylor Pannell came on in relief of Krings, allowing no runs on one hit with a strikeout over 1.1 innings.
NOTES
- Katie Chester blasted her team-leading fourth home run of the season. The four homers are a career-high after she notched three as a freshman.
- Katie Chester led Missouri at the plate, notching a home run (1-for-3) with two RBI and a run.
- Katie Chester recorded her team-leading seventh multi-RBI game of the season.
- Kara Daly extended her reached base streak to nine games with a hit-by-pitch.
- Jenna Laird extended her reached base streak to six games with a walk.
- Alex Honnold (1-for-4) and Mya Dodge (1-for-2) each added hits for Mizzou.
- Laurin Krings pitched 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while being assessed the loss. The senior from Loveland, Colorado, added two strikeouts.
- Taylor Pannell came on in relief of Krings, allowing no runs on one hit with a strikeout over 1.1 innings.
- Taylor Pannell registered two saves over the LSU series, allowing no runs on one hit (0.00 ERA) over 3.1 innings in the circle. She limited the visiting Tigers to a .083 batting average.
- Mizzou captured its second-straight SEC home series and improved to 4-2 this season in home conference contests.
- Prior to this weekend’s 2024 series with LSU, Missouri previously had picked up two of three wins over the then No. 3 LSU Tigers, April 25-27, 2015, in Columbia, Missouri.
- After setting the single-game attendance record with 3,370 fans on Saturday, Mizzou set the single-season weekend series record with 8,277 fans over this weekend’s LSU series.
- With the loss, Missouri moves to 13-19 all-time against LSU.
- Head coach Larissa Anderson fell to a 5-7 in her career against LSU.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Mizzou next heads to the East Coast for Spring Break, traveling to Hempstead, New York, for a doubleheader against Fordham and host Hofstra on March 26.
- From there, the Tigers then face George Mason (March 28) in Fairfax, Virginia, before wrapping the weekend at Villanova (March 30) in Pennsylvania.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
- For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouSoftball (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
