Mizzou Softball Leads Arkansas, But Can't Beat Weather

The Tigers will have a 2-1 lead when their rain-delayed SEC Tournament quarterfinal resumes Frida morning.

Missouri softball's Maddie Gallagher hits an RB- double to shallow left to give her team a 1-0 lead against Arkansas in the 2024 SEC Softball Tournament. / SEC

After a wonky first day of the SEC Tournament that featured two 14-inning games, Mother Nature stepped in to make the second day even more unusual on Thursday, much to the chagrin of the University of Missouri softball team.

Heavy rain delayed the action by several hours. The first game of the day, No. 9 LSU vs. No. 1 Tennessee, had an original start time of 10 a.m.; and didn't get started until 5 p.m. Thus, the succeeding contest between No. 5 Missouri and No. 4 Arkansas didn’t start until 8:07 p.m., not too long after  the Bayou Tigers upset the Volunteers 2-1.

After a seven-hour delay, the Columbia Tigers and the Razorbacks made it to the top of the fifth uninterrupted, only to have another storm blow through Auburn, Ala. When lightning was spotted near the playing field, umpires stopped the game, and a lightning delay was put into effect with Mizzou holding a 2-1 lead. After some reassessing, it was determined that the safest course of action was to suspend the game until 9 a.m. Friday.

Don’t mess with Mother Nature ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/D58ii3vUgW

— Larissa Anderson (@CoachLarissaA) May 10, 2024

The star of the lightning-shortened evening at the plate was Jenna Laird. The model of consistency at the top of the lineup for MU lived up to the moniker, collecting two hits in two at-bats.

On the mound, Cierra Harrison out-dueled Morgan Leinstock, who dominated Missouri in her two starts against the Tigers during the regular season. Harrison yielded just three hits in four innings, while Leinstock gave up seven.

After reaching first on a single in her first at-bat, Laird stole second by way of a nifty swim move to avoid the tag. Two batter later, childhood best friend Maddie Gallagher doubled home Laird to put the Tigers on the board first.

In her second at-bat, Laird almost made personal history. She hadn’t hit a home run since 2022, but that streak was in a good kind of jeopardy, as Laird hit a high fly ball into center field that sent Reagan Johnson running to the warning track ... only for the ball to bounce off the top of the wall.

Although Laird didn’t round the bases, a black jersey still crossed the plate as Laird’s shot to the wall scored Kayley Lenger to put Missouri ahead.

The next batter, Alex Honnold, reached base on an infield single. Missouri will have runners on the corners with no outs when the game resumes.

MIZZOU FOR THE LEAD 🐯#NCAASoftball x 🎥 SECN / @MizzouSoftball pic.twitter.com/HCYlOxB0ZV

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 10, 2024