Missouri Softball Crumbles Late, Falls in Series Finale Against Mississippi State

Over the first 20 and two-thirds innings of the No. 10 Missouri softball's series against No. 23 Mississippi State, the Bulldogs had scored one run.

Throughout the final game of the series, Laurin Krings dominated like she did in her last start. Although Missouri had only scratched across two runs on Sunday, it seemed to be enough with Krings pitching as well as she was.

And then, it all came crashing down.

MSU found new life in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs en route to a shocking 3-2 victory. The Game 3 demons couldn't be shaken, as the loss dropped Missouri to 0-7 in SEC series finales this season.

After the game, head coach Larissa Anderson's first words were blunt.

"It sucks," head coach Larissa Anderson said.

For MU's senior class, the loss in the final home regular season game of their collegiate careers stung, especially because the game started so well for them.

The childhood best friend duo of Jenna Laird and Maddie Gallagher tag-teamed for the game's opening run. Laird led off the bottom of the first with a towering double into the right center field gap, which she followed up by stealing third base. Maddie Gallagher brought her home with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Missouri added a little bit of insurance in the bottom of the sixth when fellow senior Alex Honnold drilled her fifth home run of the season over the wall in center field.

Entering the top of the seventh, head coach Larissa Anderson kept Krings in the game despite a save opportunity being present for Taylor Pannell.

Krings induced a pop-up out before Kylee Edwards roped a double down the right field line. After Krings induced a lineout for the second out of the inning, she took pinch-hitter Matalasi Faapito to two strikes.

On paper, Krings seemed to have the upper hand. Faapito wasn't a regular in MSU's lineup having bat just 10 times in 2024. She also hadn't recorded a hit since Feb. 18 against UC Davis.

Instead, Faapito metaphorically ripped those papers to shreds. Although she didn't fully swing, she got enough of the pitch to send the ball into left center field for a base hit that got past the glove of Chantice Phillips. As the ball rolled all the way to the wall, Edwards scored.

The run prompted Anderson to bring in Pannell, who'd exited the bullpen and was in the dugout. After walking Sierra Sacco, she left her first pitch to Nadia Barabry over the heart of the plate, which she laced into center field. The ball scurried past the usually sure-handed Honnold, and in what felt like a blink of an eye, Mississippi State led 3-2.

In the bottom half of the inning, the bottom of Missouri's lineup couldn't come through. Kara Daly struck out swinging on a nasty off-speed pitch by Aspen Wesley, making her 0 for her last 25 at home. Pinch-hitter Katie Chester struck in looking on a ball that was inside enough for her to argue with the home plate umpire, who immediately ejected her from the game. Although Kayley Lenger worked a 2-2 count, Wesley struck her out swinging to end the game and leave the home crowd stunned.

Something that was apparent -- especially late -- was Missouri's mistakes in the field. Although the misses by Phillips and Laird weren't scored as errors, they definitely helped MSU advance base runners in key moments. It was also an up-and-down fielding game for Laird, as she made two early errors to bring her total to three in the past two games.

"It's not Mizzou softball, that's for sure," Anderson said. "Very uncharacteristic."

However, Laird almost immediately redeemed herself after her second error. With runners on the corners and two outs in the top of the fifth, Laird fielded a tough ground ball and fired a rocket to first that ended the inning.

"No one wants to make an error, especially two," Laird said. "But I think my defense picked me up. I made a play, I saved a run, I didn't let any of my errors cost us a run."

When asked about her decision to relieve Krings for Pannell, Anderson re-stated her confidence in her closer that leads the nation in saves.

"Obviously, you have hindsight, but we've been going to Pannell all season long as our closer," Anderson said. "I would make that same switch all the time because she's won a ton of ballgames for us."

Missouri will travel to the Columbia out East for its final regular season series against South Carolina. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CST on Friday, kicking off a series where the Tigers will look to generate momentum heading into the SEC Tournament.