Mizzou Hosts No. 1 Oklahoma as Softball Celebrates 50th Anniversary

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri softball (17-13, 0-3 SEC) welcomes No. 1 Oklahoma (27-0, 6-0 SEC) to the Mizzou Softball Stadium for a weekend series as the Tigers celebrate 50 Years of Mizzou Softball and Alumni Weekend.

Missouri then continues its homestand with a Border Showdown against Kansas on Wednesday, March 26.

Game times are set for 5 p.m., CT Friday, 2 p.m., CT Saturday and noon, CT Sunday. All three games will be featured on SEC Network+ with Nate Gatter and former Mizzou Tiger Ashley Moore on the broadcast.

The series kicks off Friday with Welcome to the Jungle Night and a celebration of Mizzou’s Half Century Team which will be announced prior to first pitch. On Saturday’s Alumni Day, the program will honor five decades of Mizzou Softball and have a 50th Anniversary Rally Towel Giveaway. The weekend concludes with a Gold Rush Game on Sunday, followed by a postgame autograph session with the 2025 team.

Mizzou then shifts focus to longtime rival Kansas for a midweek matchup Wednesday, March 26 on ESPNU, featuring Military Appreciation Night and Beat kU T-Shirt Giveaway. Chucky Kempf and Monica Abbott will be on the linear broadcast.

Due to the MSHSAA Basketball Tournament at Mizzou Arena this week, Tiger fans are encouraged to arrive early and expect higher volumes of traffic around the Mizzou Softball Stadium over the Oklahoma series.

New concession food items for the 2025 softball season at the Mizzou Softball Stadium include Funnel Cake, Popcorn Shrimp Basket and MIZ DOG which will be sold on the third base side. Draft cocktails will also be available on the berm.

Starting this weekend for MU’s SEC series against Oklahoma, Mizzou Softball Stadium’s right field gate will be open for fans as an entrance. Fans can park in the General Service Building lot next to the gate for both Saturday and Sunday’s games.

PROMOTION SCHEDULE

• Friday vs. No. 1 Oklahoma – Welcome to the Jungle | Tiger Ears Giveaway | Half Century Team Celebration (Team announced prior to first pitch)
• Saturday vs. No. 1 Oklahoma – Alumni Day | 50 Years of Mizzou Softball Rally Towels Giveaway
• Sunday vs. No. 1 Oklahoma – Gold Rush | Postgame Autographs
• Wednesday vs. Kansas – Military Appreciation | Beat kU T-Shirt Giveaway

WEEKEND SCHEDULE | OKLAHOMA SERIES

• Missouri vs. No. 1 Oklahoma – Friday, March 21, 5 p.m., CT | SEC Network+
• Missouri vs. No. 1 Oklahoma – Saturday, March 22, 2 p.m., CT | SEC Network+
• Missouri vs. No. 1 Oklahoma – Sunday, March 23, Noon, CT | SEC Network+

WEDNESDAY MIDWEEK SCHEDULE | KANSAS

• Missouri vs. Kansas – Wednesday, March 26, 8 p.m., CT | ESPNU

Live Stats: Oklahoma G1 | Oklahoma G2 | Oklahoma G3 | Kansas

Live Video: Oklahoma G1 | Oklahoma G2 | Oklahoma G3 | Kansas

Tickets

X: @MizzouSoftball

Notes: Mizzou | Oklahoma | Kansas

SERIES HISTORY – OKLAHOMA

• Missouri holds a 40-49 all-time record against Oklahoma.
• The teams last met in the 2023 NCAA Norman Regional, where No. 1 Oklahoma earned a 11-0 (six innings) win over Missouri.
• Missouri has dropped the last five matchups against Oklahoma.
• The Tigers last defeated the Sooners on April 21, 2012, securing a 4-2 extra-inning (8) victory in Norman, Oklahoma. In that game, Mizzou erased a 2-0 deficit behind a game-tying home run in the sixth inning before plating two runs in the eighth to secure the win.
• Missouri’s last series victory over Oklahoma came in 2011 (April 16-17), when the then No. 9 Tigers swept the No. 14 Sooners in the two-game series in Columbia. The series finale on April 17, 2011, was a marathon 1-0 victory in 11 innings, marking Mizzou’s first series sweep over Oklahoma since 2006 (March 25-26). In the game prior, MU picked up a 3-2 extra innings (9) at University Field.

SERIES HISTORY – KANSAS

• Missouri leads the all-time series with Kansas, 72-45. The two teams last squared off on March 6, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas, with the Tigers securing a 3-2 victory in the Border Showdown.
• Mizzou struck first in the second inning after Maddie Gallagher reached on an error, and Madison Walker drove in the run with a single.
• Cierra Harrison held Kansas scoreless over four innings, allowing just three hits while striking out two to earn the win. Senior Laurin Krings and closer Taylor Pannell combined to hold off a late Kansas rally with Pannell sealing the win with a strikeout.
• Missouri has beaten Kansas in each of the past two seasons. Head coach Larissa Anderson is 5-2 against the Jayhawks.

LAST TIME TOP-5 SEC HOME SERIES

• Missouri’s last victory over a top-5 opponent came against No. 2/3 LSU March 22-24, 2024, when the Tigers secured a 2-1 series win.
• The Tigers notched a 10-9 series-opening win at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
• Madison Walker provided the game-winning RBI, driving in the go-ahead run with a single in the sixth.
• Mizzou jumped out to a 7-3 lead after two innings, fueled by Alex Honnold’s bases-clearing double and RBIs from Daly and Julia Crenshaw.
• Crenshaw added a solo home run in the fourth.
• Marissa McCann earned her first career SEC win, tossing two scoreless innings.
• Taylor Pannell locked down the save, shutting out the seventh inning with a strikeout.
• Missouri went on to win the series over No. 2/3 LSU, securing a 3-2 victory the following day in front of a then single-game program-record 3,370 fans.
• Missouri capitalized on LSU pitching miscues in the third, plating three runs to erase a 2-0 deficit.
• McCann picked up her second straight win, throwing four shutout innings in relief while allowing just three hits.
• Pannell recorded her sixth save of the season.
• This marked Missouri’s first series win over a top-5 opponent since 2015, when the Tigers took two of three from No. 3 LSU in Columbia.

LAST SERIES SERIES VERSUS NO. 1 TEAM

• Mizzou last faced a No. 1 team in a series May 1-3, 2015, when the then No. 11 Tigers hosted No. 1 Florida at University Field.
• Missouri dropped the first two games with the Gators (7-6 and 9-6) before securing a 3-2 eight-innings win in the finale.

ILLINOIS MIDWEEK RECAP

• Mizzou captured Braggin’ Rights on Tuesday with a 5-3 midweek victory over Illinois at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
• Senior Kara Daly and freshman Madison Uptegrove led the Missouri offense on Tuesday, recording two hits apiece and combining for three RBIs. Daly recorded her seventh multi-RBI game of the season.
• Cierra Harrison got the start for the Tigers, recording eight strikeouts through 5.2 innings with only one run given up on her birthday.
• Taylor Pannell was awarded the victory for Missouri, improving her record to 4-3 in 2025. Sophomore Nathalie Touchet followed Pannell in relief, pitching a scoreless frame for her first career save at Mizzou.

HOME-OPENING WEEKEND RECAP

• Missouri swept is home Mizzou Invitational, finishing with a 4-0 record before closing out its home opening weekend with a 17-0 victory over Kansas City Sunday.
• Kara Daly led Mizzou over the weekend with .545 batting average with three doubles, two homers and 11 RBI. Julia Crenshaw added 5 RBI with two homers and a .455 batting average.
• Abby Hay (.444) and Taylor Ebbs (.400) each also hit .400 or higher over the weekend.
• Madison Walker notched 10 RBI to go with three homers on a .375 batting average.
• Freshman Madison Uptegrove belted her first two career homers including a two-run shot against Princeton.
• Marissa McCann held opposing batters to a .103 batting average, earning three wins on a 1.17 ERA. She threw her sixth complete-game against Michigan. Cierra Harrison went 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA.
• MU scored a season-best seven runs in the first frame before adding another two in the third to secure the run-rule win over South Dakota State.
• Junior Courtney Donahue closed out the final two innings against Quinnipiac with a career-best (NCAA Division I) trio of strikeouts.
• Missouri’s pitchers totaled a season-best 11 strikeouts versus Quinnipiac.
• Jordyn Thurman and Nevaeh Watkins recorded their first career hits, while Sophie Smith registered her first career RBI and run in the win over Kansas City.
• MU’s 17 runs scored against KC marked a season-best and the highest run total for the Tigers since putting up 20 against Fordham on March 26, 2024. Missouri compiled 10 or more hits for the eighth time in 2025.
• The run-rule victory over KC marked the fourth of the season for Mizzou.

KARA DALY

• Kara Daly led the Tigers offense, batting .545 with five runs, three doubles, two homers and 11 RBI over Mizzou’s home-opening weekend.
• She notched hits in three of four Mizzou Invitational games and four of the five total games this past weekend at the Mizzou Softball Stadium. Daly also registered a pair of hits in each of the final two home games.
• In the win over Michigan, Daly blasted a three-run homer.
• She then registered two hits (2-for-2) with two RBI, a double and a run in the victory over Quinnipiac.
• Daly finished the home-opening weekend with another two-hit outing (2-for-2) with a career-best matching 5 RBI and two runs against Kansas City. She capped her day with a two-run homer in the third to increase the score to 15-0.
• Daly most recently notched a pair of hits and two RBI (seventh multi-RBI game of the season) in the midweek against Illinois. She homered in the bottom of the fifth for the 37th of her career, overtaking Cayla Kessinger (2017-21, 36 home runs) for 10th all-time in Mizzou program history.
• Daly has hit safely in each of the last four games.
• Daly will move into tied for ninth for career homers at Mizzou with 40 (Micaela Minner, 2005-09).
• Daly, a Jefferson City, Missouri, native, has now hit home runs in consecutive games and three of the last four games. She now has seven homers this season which matches her total from 2024. Daly has also registered two hits in three-straight games.
• She is three runs away from 100 in her collegiate career. With five plate appearances, Daly will have 600 in her career at Mizzou.

JULIA CRENSHAW

• Senior catcher Julia Crenshaw has led by example at the top of the Mizzou lineup card.
• The O’Fallon, Missouri, native, paces the Tigers with a .374 batting average to go with 10 doubles, eight homers and 23 RBI. Her 10 doubles are third in the SEC, and she is averaging 0.33 per game (seventh in SEC).
• Crenshaw has scored 32 times (ninth in SEC).
• She had a 15-game reached base streak earlier this season and has reached safely in each of the last three.
• Defensively, she paces the SEC with five batters caught stealing.
• Crenshaw is two RBI away from 100 in her collegiate career. She also has 94 career runs.

MADISON WALKER

• Sophomore third baseman Madison Walker has been on a tear this season, blasting 12 home runs. She ranks third in the SEC for the category and is averaging 0.40 home runs per game.
• With 16 homers, she will break into Mizzou’s single-season record books.
• Walker launched home runs in consecutive games against South Dakota State and Princeton and has hit round trippers in back-to-back games three times this season.
• She has also notched two, two-homer games this season including most recently against Nebraska (March 2).
• Walker is batting .275 (.667 slugging percentage) with four doubles and 33 RBI this season. She is on an eight-game hitting streak.

MARISSA MCCANN

• Marissa McCann picked up a trio of wins over Mizzou’s home-opening weekend. She limited opposing batters to a .103 batting average with a 1.17 ERA. She threw her sixth complete game (sixth in SEC) against Michigan.
• She threw two clean innings to conclude the game against Princeton. McCann tallied a trio of strikeouts for the win.
• McCann then tossed her sixth complete game of the campaign, striking out six against Michigan which marked her most in a seven-inning outing this season. She allowed two earned runs on four hits.
• She then picked up the win in the circle versus Kansas City, throwing three scoreless innings (0 runs, 0 hits, one walk) with five strikeouts in the combined shutout with Taylor Pannell. She improved to 7-4 in 2025 after her third-straight win of the weekend. McCann also surpassed 100 career strikeouts in the victory.
• McCann and Cierra Harrison rank second in the SEC with 13 starts each. McCann is also fourth in the league with 77.1 innings pitched.

ROAD WARRIORS

• The Tigers opened its 2025 campaign as the only NCAA Division I institution that competed in the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic, Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational Presented by EvoShield and Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
• MU returns home this week after spending 19 days in hotels and traveling a total of 6,986 miles across the country to start the 2025 campaign.
• Missouri ranks 35th for RPI.

QUICK HITTERS

• Mizzou is 17-13 overall (0-3 SEC) entering its first SEC home series of the season.
• Mizzou has three ranked wins in 2025, defeating No. 20/21 Northwestern, No. 7/8 Duke and No. 16/18 Nebraska.
• Madison Walker leads Mizzou with 12 home runs and 33 RBI. She is slugging .667 this season. Walker is third in the SEC for home runs (12, 0.40 homer/game). She leads Mizzou with eight multi-RBI games this season.
• Julia Crenshaw paces the Tigers’ offense, hitting .374 with a team-high 34 hits, 10 doubles, eight homers and five stolen bases. Crenshaw has a team-high 11 multiple hit games in 2025. She has scored 32 times (ninth in SEC).
• Crenshaw and Walker are ninth in the SEC with 68 total bases each.
• Marissa McCann and Cierra Harrison rank second in the SEC with 13 starts each. McCann is also sixth for complete games (six) and fourth for innings pitched (77.1). McCann is 7-4 while Harrison is 6-4.
• Missouri sits second for sacrifice bunts in the SEC with 22. Freshman Madison Uptegrove is first in the SEC with 0.22 sacrifice bunts per game.
• MU is fifth in the SEC with 49 doubles. Stefania Abruscato is seventh in the league with nine (0.30 doubles per game).
• Claire Cahalan has knocked three triples and is averaging 0.10 per game (fourth in SEC). She is currently on a 15-game reached base streak.
• Taylor Ebbs is on an eight-game hitting streak (nine-game reached base streak) with Walker. Abruscato has reached base safely in eight-straight games.
• NCAA saves leader Taylor Pannell has 21 in her career. She has also pitched 87.1 career innings with 90 career strikeouts.
• Head coach Larissa Anderson picked up her 350th career win with a 10-3 victory over Duke on Feb. 8. Anderson was also inducted into the Gannon University (Erie, Pennsylvania) Athletics Hall of Fame that same day.
• Anderson signed an extension with Mizzou through 2028 over the fall.
• Mizzou is coming off an impressive 2024 that saw the Tigers earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the 17th consecutive year (27 total regional appearances). MU made its 10th Supers appearance in program history in 2024.
• The Tigers totaled 48 wins (48-14, 13-11 SEC) in 2024, their highest total in the program’s SEC era and fourth most in program history. Missouri’s 13 SEC wins in the 2024 campaign are the most since 15 in 2021.
• The Tigers return six starters from the 2024 NCAA Super Regional team including SEC All-Defensive right fielder Kayley Lenger, NFCA All-Region first baseman Abby Hay along with catcher Julia Crenshaw and third baseman Kara Daly.
• Mizzou added 10 newcomers including seven freshmen and three transfers for the 2025 season.
• Missouri returned the 11th best team ERA (2.03) in 2024 led by starters Cierra Harrison and Marissa McCann along with NCAA saves leader Taylor Pannell.
• Missouri ranked fourth in the NCAA in 2024 with an average attendance of 2,784. In the postseason, MU had the highest home attendance of Regionals (10,016) and Super Regionals (11,608, MU record). Mizzou set single-game (4,021, vs. Duke, May 26, 2024) and single-series attendance records over the postseason weekends.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

• For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouSoftball (X, Instagram, Facebook).
• The Diamond Club is accepting new members. Email MAF@missouri.edu or call 573-882-0704 to join.
• Join us in Expanding the Tradition of excellence in Mizzou Softball! This special initiative focuses on building a Rock M at the Mizzou Softball Stadium, a centerpiece of Tiger pride. The Rock M debuted this season at the Mizzou Softball Stadium.

UP NEXT

• Following its SEC weekend series with top ranked Oklahoma, Mizzou will face Kansas on Wednesday, March 26. Game time is set for 8 p.m., CT at the Mizzou Softball Stadium. The game will be featured on ESPNU.
• Mizzou then heads to Ole Miss March 29-31 for a weekend series at Ole Miss.

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