The sixth inning began with a misplayed ball in left field. At John Cropp Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, Linny Ramsey lost a leadoff triple to the wind, and the Tigers (Shop Mizzou) started to fall apart. A throwing error followed by a wild pitch led to a two-run homer from Auburn freshman Hannah Roebuck. Those mistakes contributed to six Auburn runs over the final two innings, as Missouri’s softball team suffered a season-ending 6–2 loss last week. For the second straight year, Mizzou finished below the .500 mark needed for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, ending the season at 28–29. It was the first time since 2002 that the program missed back-to-back tournaments. Under NCAA rules, teams must finish at or above .500, including conference tournament games, to be eligible for at-large consideration. MU knew that heading into its final game. The Tigers were reminded of it after every loss this season, and they felt it acutely after last week’s season finale in Lexington. Here’s a recap of the season:
Feb. 9: Missouri opened the season at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida, going 2–3 in a competitive first five games. Two of the three losses came in extra innings. The third was against Oregon, now ranked No. 11 in the country.
The freshman class made an immediate impact, leading the way for the rest of the season. Two-way player Abby Carr earned a spot on the NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team after taking a no-hitter into the final inning against then-No. 23 Liberty. Sidney Forrester hit her first collegiate home run against South Alabama. “For the first time being outside, I was extremely happy,” Anderson said after the tournament. “I see where our potential is. We’re not even close to it as a whole.”
March 1: That optimism quickly faded. Missouri went 2–3 at the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational, including a competitive matchup against currently ranked No. 6/8 UCLA, before going 1–4 at the Cajun AC Louisiana Clash. The Tigers lost twice to McNeese State, once to Houston, and suffered a 9–1 run-rule loss to Louisiana in six innings. This stretch also included a 5–1 road loss to UCF. The Tigers entered the Mizzou Invitational with a 5–11 record the first time Anderson had a losing record through 16 games since taking over the program in 2018. The team batting average sat at .248, the worst in the Southeastern Conference. The pitching staff’s ERA was 3.80. The Tigers split their weekend at home, run-ruling Drake and Wichita State while losing two to Miami (Ohio). “When you have seven out of nine players in your lineup who are either freshmen or sophomores, they don’t have a lot of experience understanding the game within the game,” Anderson said after an 8–2 loss to Miami. “There were times we just got ourselves out of situations that we could have capitalized on.”
March 12: Conference play arrived, and Missouri seemed to have figured some things out. Despite being swept in their SEC series opener against then-No. 5/8 Florida, the Tigers lost two games by just one run and pushed Game 2 to 11 innings before former Tiger Madison Walker won it with a walk-off single.
March 30: The Tigers fell to 7–16 and 0–3 in SEC play, but something shifted after Florida. Missouri won 13 of its next 15 games, a stretch that included a statement win over No. 6 Alabama and a series sweep of Auburn. In front of more than 3,500 fans at Mizzou Softball Stadium, the Tigers beat the Crimson Tide 5–2 in Game 2. Cierra Harrison settled in after allowing two early runs, finishing with five strikeouts in 4⅓ innings. Carr earned her first career save, stranding three Alabama runners in the seventh with a lineout. Sophie Smith delivered the decisive two-RBI double in the third. “They walked Abby Carr to get to me, and I knew I had to make them pay for that,” Smith said. Alabama took the other two games of the series, which were the only losses in that 15-game stretch. But Missouri kept rolling, sweeping Auburn on the road. This was the first time the Tigers swept a conference opponent since closing the 2024 regular season against South Carolina. Carr hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth inning of the finale. The Tigers moved to 19–18, above .500 for the first time all season.
“If you don’t believe, you have no shot,” Anderson said after the win over Alabama. “They’re starting to believe that everything that they’re doing is paying off.”
April: Missouri hovered around .500 for the rest of the season. The Tigers won their midweek matchup before stealing a game in the weekend’s SEC series on five separate occasions including against Alabama. LSU run-ruled the Tigers 9–1 in the series opener at Mizzou Softball Stadium, with pitcher Jayden Heavener striking out 11. Harrison responded by throwing a shutout in Game 3 to salvage the series with a 1–0 win. In Athens, Georgia, Missouri took Game 2 against No. 14 Georgia 4–3, thanks to four shutout innings from Marissa McCann and a career-high six strikeouts from Carr in relief. Missouri was 22–22 following its trip to Athens. In its toughest midweek game, against Kansas, Abby Hay delivered a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning to beat the Jayhawks (Shop KU) 4–2. It was the kind of win that could only come from a Columbia native. “They know what’s at stake more than anybody else,” Anderson said. “The pride that they have and the rich tradition and the history, they understand the rivalry, it just means more.”
South Carolina followed, a team the Tigers were ahead of in the SEC standings. McCann threw her first career SEC shutout in a 5–0 win in Game 2. She was backed by a Claire Cahalan throw that gunned down a runner at home and a diving catch in right field by Forrester. “They work so hard, and I’m just so happy that they got to showcase some of their skills,” McCann said. “Knowing I can pitch free and my defense always has my back no matter what.” But the Gamecocks took the other two games, winning their first series against the Tigers since 2018. Mizzou fell to 23–24 with Arkansas and Tennessee still ahead. Missouri added a midweek game against SIUE to help boost its record. McCann delivered the signature moment of her career so far, throwing the 13th perfect game in program history, striking out 11 in a 7–0 win. “It almost made me want to tear up seeing the way that my teammates ran out of the dugout,” McCann said. “That just shows a lot about the closeness of this team.” In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Missouri dropped the first two games to No. 6 Arkansas before stealing the series finale 3–1. Forrester hit a three-run homer off Payton Burnham, who had shut out the Tigers in Game 1. Harrison entered from the bullpen, holding one of the SEC’s most dangerous offenses scoreless over 4⅔ innings.
Lenger gunned down a runner at home from center field. Ramsey made a running catch in the left-center gap that robbed Arkansas of a sure double. After a midweek win over Kansas City, Missouri came home to face Tennessee and Karlyn Pickens, the No. 1 overall pick in the AUSL Draft. The Tigers upset Tennessee in Game 3, 4–3, in Harrison’s final home start. She pitched four innings, allowing two runs and striking out three in her last game in Columbia. When the senior walked off the mound, the crowd of more than 2,600 rose. She was greeted at the dugout with hugs from McCann, Anderson, and Hay.
At 28–28, Missouri needed just one win in the SEC Tournament to stay at .500 and be eligible for the NCAA Tournament.
May 5: Missouri led Auburn 2–0 through five innings in Lexington. Harrison held Auburn to three hits and no earned runs one final dominant performance from the senior who had been a model of consistency for four years. Then the sixth inning happened. The season ended the same way it had threatened to end all year: one win short. Of the nine starters in Missouri’s final batting lineup, six were underclassmen. Carr, Forrester, and Addy Waits the freshman trio who defined this season will all return. So will McCann and Hay. The biggest loss is Harrison, who leaves behind a legacy Anderson described through tears after the loss. “She’s got guts,” Anderson said. “One of the toughest pitchers I’ve ever coached, and I’m extremely proud of her. It’s always tough when you have players that give everything they have, and this is the end. Our defense has been our staple all year, and defense let us down today.”
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