Offensive woes plague Missouri's title bid

The Tigers had two complete games tossed against them.

By Sean Leahy

Published June 2, 2009

It would have been difficult for Missouri to win its Super Regional any more convincingly.

Playing in the home park of No. 2 seed UCLA, the Tigers won the third and deciding game of the series by routing the Bruins 9-1. Missouri won the game via the run-rule (a game ends when one team leads by eight or more runs after five innings), handing UCLA its first such loss of the season.

Fast-forward to the end of Missouri's loss to Georgia in the Women's College World Series and resulting elimination from the tournament. In the two games Missouri played in the World Series, its offense combined for only five runs and nine hits.

Were the bats left behind in Los Angeles?

"We weren't able to connect, especially offensively," coach Ehren Earleywine said after losing to Georgia, in a statement made to NCAA.com. "We didn't get any big hits in that game. We didn't make enough adjustments offensively to give ourselves a chance."

Playing against some of the best teams in the country, the Tigers couldn't match the firepower brought by Arizona State and Georgia.

The result was the third time in four trips to the World Series that Missouri was eliminated without winning a game.

Missouri couldn't crack into their opponent's bullpen in either game, with Sun Devils' starter Hillary Bach and Bulldogs' starter Christie Hamilton each pitching complete games.

When Missouri got runners on base, it failed to capitalize. In the sixth inning against Arizona State, the Tigers scratched across a run on a fielder's choice to make it a 7-2 game.

With runners on second and third and two outs, senior first baseman Lindsey Ubrun popped up to the pitcher and the threat ended.

"We have to hit," sophomore center fielder Rhea Taylor said after losing to Arizona State in a statement made to NCAA.com. "If we have good at bats and play defense I think that we'll be fine on Saturday (against Georgia)."

Missed opportunities continued to haunt Missouri against the Bulldogs.

In the sixth inning, right fielder Marla Schweisberger stood on second base after doubling home Missouri's first two runs of the game.

Trailing 5-2 and down to four outs to work with, Missouri needed a rally. Sophomore catcher Megan Christopher popped out to end the inning and the Tigers failed to get another runner on base the rest of the game.

Despite the team struggles at the plate, it wasn't all bad news for Missouri's offense in the tournament. Schweisberger made her presence known at the plate in both games.

Nearly all of Missouri's offensive production in the series came from the Raytown native. Of the five runs the Tigers scored in the two games, Schweisberger drove in three of them and scored another two.

Despite putting up big numbers in the series, Schweisberger still felt the sting of the team's early exit.

"We wanted to go out and play like we have been in the stretch and in the post-season," Schweisberger said in a statement made to NCAA.com. "We felt like we could hang with these teams."