No. 23/24 Mizzou Softball Opens SEC Play Against Ole Miss

March 6, 2020

Mizzou Softball will open SEC play this weekend, March 6-8, against Ole Miss at home.
The Tigers lead the all-time series against Ole Miss, 10-5.
The Rebels claimed last season’s series, winning twice in Oxford. Both teams put up the same number of runs in last season’s series (10-10).
At 16-6, the Tigers are seeking the program’s best 25-game start since 2016. Mizzou posted a 21-4 start to that season. With at least one win this weekend, the 2020 squad can surpass the 2018 team.
Mizzou is also seeking its first ever conference-opening series victory since joining the SEC for the 2013 season.
The Tigers split their first SEC series against Texas A&M, with the last game not being played due to rain. Since then, Mizzou has lost six-straight SEC opening series.

Under the direction of Larissa Anderson, the Mizzou pitching staff has developed a crop of four newcomers to a strong start to the season.
The duo of Emma Nichols and Eli Daniel is one of seven teammates to rank in the top 60 nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Daniel is fourth in the country with 11.67 strikeouts per walk, while Nichols is 57th with a 5.00 average.
Mizzou’s 3.20 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks 36th in the country as a staff.
Daniel is also one of two pitchers in the country with at least six wins and four saves this season.
The senior has already exceeded her previous season high for wins in a season. She picked up her sixth win against Wichita State on Sunday, March 1.
The Tigers were the only team in the country to have five different pitchers pick up a win in the first weekend of the season.

Mizzou has utilized the long ball to be the driving force of its offense during the program’s 15-6 start to the season.
The Tigers are tied for sixth in the nation with 31 home runs on the year, and their per game average of 1.41 ranks eighth in the country, and first in the SEC.
Hatti Moore leads the team with seven home runs on the season, while Jazmyn Rollin and Cayla Kessinger both have six.
They are the only trio of teammates in the Southeastern Conference to have at least six home runs on the season.
Mizzou has posted 10 multi-home run games this year.

Despite having only one senior on the roster, Mizzou has displayed the pose to win close games on the season.
The Tigers have gone to extra innings on four occasions through the first three weeks of the season — one shy of matching the total from a season ago.
Mizzou is 3-1 in extra-inning games this season, grabbing wins against Minnesota, Oklahoma State, and Oregon State. The lone loss came on a sacrifice fly against James Madison.
The Tigers are 5-1 in one-run games on the year.
In eight of Mizzou’s 15 wins this season, they have scored the go-ahead run in the final two innings (sixth or seventh in seven inning games, or extra innings).

In her first season back from a right shoulder injury (thoracic outlet syndrome) Cayla Kessinger is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak, dating back to Feb. 20 (Arizona).
Her hitting streak is the second-longest of her career (14 games, 2017-18). She has the opportunity to match that this weekend.
Against Baylor, Kessinger hit a grand slam with no outs in the bottom of the fourth inning — her first home run since May 4, 2018 (Florida).
Her 27 RBI on the year are tied for 10th in the nation, and tied for third in the Southeastern Conference.
Her 27 RBI is a new single-season high in her career. She eclipsed her previous high of 21 against Nebraska on March 1.

Over the 22 games of the opening nonconference slate, Mizzou has played some of the nation’s best teams.
The Tigers have played five teams who were ranked on the date of the game, with two wins also coming over teams who are currently ranked.
Mizzou’s opponent winning percentage is .552 — the fifth-highest mark in the Southeastern Conference.