Softball Set to Host Home Series against No. 1 Texas

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri softball (20-18, 2-7 SEC) continues its five-game homestand this weekend as the Tigers host top ranked Texas (34-3, 7-2 SEC) at Mizzou Softball Stadium.

Game times for the weekend series are 10 a.m., CT, 5 p.m., and noon.

Friday’s SEC series opener with Texas will be on SEC Network+ before consecutive linear shows on SEC Network (Saturday) and ESPN2 (Sunday).

Noah Reed and Ashley Moore are on the call for the series opener while the Saturday and Sunday matchups will be broadcasted by Mark Neeley and Danielle Lawrie.

Missouri was ranked 28th for RPI and seventh for toughest schedule heading into this week’s games.

Due to rain in the forecast on Friday, April 4, Mizzou’s series opener against No. 1 Texas has been moved up to a 10 a.m., CT first pitch from its originally scheduled 6 p.m. start. Saturday and Sunday games are still on as scheduled.

PROMOTION SCHEDULE

• Friday vs. No. 1/1 Texas – Black Out, Fans are encouraged to wear Black, Mizzou mini flags giveaway, while supplies last
• Saturday vs. No. 1/1 Texas – Healthcare Appreciation Day
• Sunday vs. No. 1/1 Texas – Sunday Funday, Free Ice Cream & Sunglasses while supplies last, Postgame Autographs
• No. 1/1 Texas Series – Fans are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items, hygiene products, and monetary contributions to donate to Tiger Pantry as part of SEC Food Fight. Each item is worth one point in the competition across the conference.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

• Missouri vs. No. 1/1 Texas – Friday, April 4, 10 a.m., CT | SEC Network+
• Missouri vs. No. 1/1 Texas – Saturday, April 5, 5 p.m., CT | SEC Network
• Missouri vs. No. 1/1 Texas – Sunday, April 6, Noon, CT | ESPN2

Live Stats: Friday | Saturday | Sunday

Live Video: SEC Network+ (Friday) | SEC Network (Saturday) | ESPN2 (Sunday)

X: @MizzouSoftball

Notes: Mizzou | Texas

SERIES HISTORY

• Missouri holds a 20-18 record against Texas all-time.
• The last time Mizzou took on the Longhorns was to open the 2023 season at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic with No. 6/9 Texas securing an 11-1 victory.
• Prior to that matchup, the Longhorns and the Tigers faced off at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California, on Feb. 23, 2017, and Feb. 20, 2015. Texas won 10-3 in 2017, and the Tigers recorded a 4-3 victory over No. 25 Texas in 2015.
• Missouri last faced Texas in a series April 5-7, 2012, with the No. 11 Tigers taking two of three in Austin, Texas (9-5 loss, 11-4 win, 2-0 win), on the No. 3 Longhorns.
• Mizzou last hosted the Horns in Columbia, May 7-8, 2011, with the two teams splitting the series (2-0 No. 3 Texas win, 6-3 No. 8 MU win) at University Field
• Head coach Larissa Anderson is 0-1 against the Longhorns.
• Mizzou’s 2025 roster features six players from Texas including starting second baseman Sophie Smith (Spring, Texas) and pitcher Nathalie Touchet (Aledo, Texas).

LAST TIME VERSUS NO. 1

• Mizzou last took on the No. 1 team in the country on March 21-23 this season, hosting No. 1 Oklahoma at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
• In game two with the Sooners, the Tigers handed OU, the four-time defending national champion, its first loss of the season and the Sooners first-ever SEC loss. It also halted Oklahoma’s win streak at 31 games, dating back to last season.
• MU picked up the historic win in front of a program-best 4,146 fans which surpassed the Tigers’ previous attendance record of 4,021 set at the 2024 NCAA Super Regionals against Duke (May 26, 2024).
• The March 22 win marked Missouri’s first over a No. 1 ranked opponent since the Tigers defeated top-ranked Florida, 3-2, on May 3, 2015, at University Field. Mizzou is 2-16 against No. 1 ranked teams dating back to 1999.
• MU also beat Oklahoma for the first time since April 21, 2012, a 4-2 extra-inning (8) victory over the Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma.
• Missouri set a new regular-season weekend attendance record, welcoming 10,229 fans to Mizzou Softball Stadium for the SEC series against No. 1 Oklahoma. The weekend total surpassed the previous record of 9,565 fans set against Florida in 2024 (April 12-14, 2024). Overall, the weekend’s series attendance of 10,229, ranks second all-time in MU program history behind the 2024 NCAA Super Regionals with Duke (11,608, May 24-26, 2024).

MISSOURI STATE RECAP

• Missouri secured a 7-2 midweek victory over Missouri State Wednesday evening at Mizzou Softball Stadium.
• With the win, Mizzou improved to 20-18 this season, marking the eighth consecutive season with 20 or more wins — excluding the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.
• Mizzou powered past MSU on a trio of home runs over a seven-run second frame.
• Stefania Abruscato put the Tigers on the board early with her third homer of the season.
• Kayley Lenger then added a two-run double to extend the Mizzou edge to 3-0. Lenger, a junior center fielder from Liberty, Missouri, paced the Tigers Wednesday, going a career-best 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI (career-best matching, season-high) and a run. She has hit safely in three-straight games with bunt singles in each contest.
• Mya Dodge and Taylor Ebbs each added two-run homers during the stanza to push the lead to 7-0. For Dodge, the homer was her first of the season and 35th in her collegiate career. Ebbs blasted her seventh long ball of the season to increase her career total to 32.
• Cierra Harrison picked up the win in the circle, improving to 9-5 this season (31-10 at Mizzou). She pitched five innings, allowing no runs on one hit with eight strikeouts.
• Julia Crenshaw extended her reached base streak to 11 games with two walks and a run.

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 .373 batting average to go with 11 doubles, 10 homers, 37 runs and 25 RBI. Her 11 doubles are sixth in the SEC, and she is averaging 0.31 per game (11th in SEC).
• She had a team-best 15-game reached base streak earlier this season and has reached safely in each of the last 11.
• Defensively, she ranks second in the SEC with five batters caught stealing.
• Crenshaw has 99 career runs.
• She paces the Tigers in SEC play, hitting .393 (.929 slugging) with four homers and seven RBI.
• Crenshaw was listed No. 12 on Softball America’s weekly catcher player rankings Monday.

MADISON WALKER

• Sophomore corner infielder Madison Walker has been on a tear this season, blasting 13 home runs. She ranks second in the SEC for the category and is averaging 0.36 home runs per game (third in SEC).
• With 16 homers, she will break into Mizzou’s single-season record books. The single-season record is 20 set by Amanda Renth in 2008.
• 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 .246 (.587 slugging percentage) with four doubles and 34 RBI this season.

KARA DALY

• Kara Daly blasted her 38th career home run at Ole Miss (March 30) and ranks 10th all-time in Mizzou program history.
• 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 eight homers this season which surpassed her total from 2024 (7).
• She is one run away from 100 in her collegiate career. She surpassed 600 career at bats (618, 19th in NCAA) at Mizzou in the series against Oklahoma.
• Daly ranks sixth amongst the NCAA Division I active career leaders with 224 games played.
• She is hitting .294 this season.
• Daly was the featured cover story in this month’s issue of Rod Smith’s Show-Me Sports Magazine.

QUICK HITTERS

• Mizzou is 20-18 overall (2-7 SEC) in 2025.
• Mizzou has five ranked wins in 2025, defeating No. 20/21 Northwestern, No. 7/8 Duke, No. 16/18 Nebraska, No. 1/1 Oklahoma, and most recently No. 19/21 Ole Miss this past weekend.
• Mizzou is outscoring its opponents, 47-16, in the first inning.
• Julia Crenshaw leads Mizzou in SEC play, batting .393 with seven RBI and three homers. Taylor Ebbs is hitting .381 in conference play.
• Madison Walker leads Mizzou with 13 home runs and 34 RBI. She is slugging .587 this season. Walker is second in the SEC for home runs (13, 0.36 homers/game, third in SEC). She leads Mizzou with eight multi-RBI games this season.
• Overall, Crenshaw paces the Tigers’ offensively, hitting .373 with a team-high 41 hits, 11 doubles, 10 homers, 25 RBI, 37 runs and seven stolen bases. Crenshaw has a team-high 11 multiple hit games in 2025.
• Defensively, the senior catcher from O’Fallon, Missouri, is second in the league with five runners caught stealing.
• Crenshaw is on an 11-game reached base streak.
• Crenshaw is sixth in the SEC with 11 doubles.
• Crenshaw and Walker are ninth and 18th, respectively, in the SEC with 82 and 74 total bases each.
• Marissa McCann ranks 10th for complete games (six) and sixth for innings pitched (97.2) this season.
• Missouri sits second for sacrifice bunts in the SEC with 22. Freshman Madison Uptegrove is third in the SEC with 0.18 sacrifice bunts per game.
• Claire Cahalan has knocked three triples and is averaging 0.08 per game (sixth in SEC) this season. She and Crenshaw both went on a team-best 15-game reached base streak this season.
• NCAA Division I saves leader Taylor Pannell has 22 in her career. She has also pitched 93 career innings with 94 career strikeouts.
• Kara Daly ranks fifth in the NCAA Division I active career leaders with 224 games.
• 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.

OLE MISS RECAP

• Missouri went 1-2 against Ole Miss this past weekend, dropping both games of the doubleheader on Sunday before beating the Rebels 9-5 in the series finale Monday.
• Freshman Sophie Smith powered the Tigers’ offense on Monday, tallying a career-best two hits with five RBIs including a grand slam in the first inning. The grand slam was the second for Mizzou in 2025 as Madison Walker previously registered one against Nebraska on March 2.
• Cierra Harrison picked up the victory. She pitched 3.2 innings of relief work, allowing no runs on seven hits with two strikeouts.
• Nathalie Touchet earned her second save of the season, coming on with the bases loaded and the tying run at bat. She closed out the final 1.2 innings, surrendering no runs on one hit.
• Julia Crenshaw had a career-best matching three walks.
• Kara Daly hit .444 over the series while Crenshaw added a .375 mark at the plate.

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 returned home after spending 19 days in hotels and traveling a total of 6,986 miles across the country to start the 2025 campaign.
• Missouri ranks 28th for RPI and seventh for toughest schedule.

UP NEXT

• Following its SEC home series at No. 1/1 Texas, Missouri finishes its five-game homestand with a midweek matchup against Southern Illinois on Wednesday, April 9.
• The Tigers then go on the road to take on No. 15/18 Mississippi State for a weekend series in Starkville, Mississippi, April 11-13
• Wednesday’s midweek against the Salukis is Wicked Wednesday with first pitch set for 6 p.m., CT.

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.

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