Missouri Softball Drops Opening Game of Super Regionals to Duke

The Tigers now have to win two consecutive games if they want to punch a ticket to the Women's College World Series.

Missouri Athletics

For Missouri softball, the 2024 season has emulated some aspects of the 2021 season. One of those aspects was the fact that the Tigers advanced to Super Regionals as a host.

Unfortunately for Larissa Anderson's crew, 2024 also repeated 2021 in that Missouri dropped its opening game of Supers.

This time around, instead of the Dukes of James Madison handing MU an opening-game loss, it was the Duke Blue Devils doing the early winning, this time by a score of 6-3.

Early on, what could've easily been a slugfest was actually controlled by both offenses. Despite both starting pitchers -- Jala Wright for Duke and Laurin Krings for Missouri -- rolling through their respective regional matchups, they both hit uncharacteristic bumps throughout Friday's contest.

In the Durham Regional, Wright allowed just six hits and no earned runs while striking out 17 batters in 13 and two-thirds innings pitched. While neither Morgan State nor South Carolina could really create any offense off of her, Missouri was a different story in regards to both MU's hitting as well as Duke's mistakes in the circle and on the field.

In the bottom of the first, the Tigers only recorded two hits, yet put four runners on base. Alex Honnold singled, then advanced to second base on a rare throwing error by Duke third baseman Ana Gold. Maddie Gallagher followed with an RBI single through the hole on the right side. A couple of batters later, Wright walked Juli Crenshaw, which was just her second since the start of Regionals. The next batter, Kara Daly, struck out, but strike three was a wild pitch, allowing Daly to take first. However, Wright would rebound, inducing a groundout to Madison Walker that left the bases loaded.

The following inning didn't see the sky get any brighter for Wright, both literally and figuratively (it was an overcast afternoon in Columbia). She let up two more runs on an RBI double by Jenna Laird and an RBI groundout by Gallagher. After walking Abby Hay on four pitches, Wright was pulled from the game. It was arguably the most prominent combination of turbulence and shortness Wright had experienced this season, and Missouri had generated more offensive momentum than in any of its three games against Omaha in the Columbia Regional.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, their efforts at the plate were exceeded by the Blue Devils. A three-run inning on the back of a two-run home run by Francesca Frelick gave Duke an early boost and also broke a spell that'd haunted Duke throughout the entire postseason. Since the start of the ACC Tournament, the Blue Devils had scored 36 runs, but just one came in the first three innings of a game. On Friday, they tripled that number.

Duke added two more runs in the fifth, with the second knocking Krings out of the game. She finished the afternoon having allowed seven hits and five earned runs while registering just two strikeouts, both of which came within the first four outs of the game. While Marissa McCann had a decent performance in relief, the Blue Devils added one more in the top of the seventh on a clever base running trick.

With runners on the corners and two outs, the runner on first, Ana Gold, began running towards second, causing MU catcher Julia Crenshaw to throw in that direction. However, Gold intentionally stopped halfway to the bag, creating a pickle. While that was happening, the runner on third, D'Auna Jennings, scored. While Gold was tagged out, the run counted since Jennings crossed home plate before the out was made.

Duke was also lifted by the relief efforts of Cassidy Curd, who bamboozled Missouri's batters with a far different pitching style than Wright. Curd, a lefty, retired 16 of the 19 batters she faced, and no Tiger made it past second base. Curd finished the afternoon with eight strikeouts and her 12th win of the season.

With the loss, Missouri now has to win two consecutive games for a trip to the Women's College World Series. First pitch for the second game is slated for noon CST on Saturday.