Missouri softball comes home for weekend tournament

Missouri started the season 8-2.

By Zach Mink

Published March 5, 2010

The Missouri softball team stormed through the Leadoff Classic last weekend, ending with a 5-0 record.

Playing four ranked teams in the tournament, the Tigers continued their dominance this season. Sophomore pitcher Chelsea Thomas once again led the way for Missouri, winning three of the five games. Thomas threw 21 innings in the tournament, finishing with 26 strikeouts and giving up 19 hits and 10 earned runs.

Thomas said aggressiveness was responsible for her success over the weekend.

"The key for me was just getting ahead of batters and going right after everybody," Thomas said. "I got hit a little bit this weekend, but I think that's good for me. We have a great defense behind me, and I'm always confident they will make the plays."

Although the Tigers have been strong on the mound, the offense has yet to break out this season. With a team batting average of .268, Missouri is looking to spark their bats in the upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament, in which they will face all unranked teams.

Coach Ehren Earleywine said Missouri would be even more of a force once the offense starts producing.

"We're 8-2 after playing a really difficult schedule, and we still aren't even close to firing on all cylinders on offense," Earleywine said. "As our hitting progresses, it is going to be interesting to see how good we can get."

Most of the bats have been quiet, but freshman third baseman Nicole Hudson has been having an impressive rookie season. Hudson is batting .345 on the year with two home runs. Hudson has played a big role as a freshman, but nerves do not appear to be getting the better of the rookie.

"I'm starting to feel more comfortable, but I was pretty shaky at first," Hudson said. "My teammates are helping me a lot, and I'm starting to get my feet under me and figure out what I'm doing."

Although Hudson has had a good start, Earleywine said there is room for improvement.

"Nicole is very hard on herself, and even though she's doing well statistically, I know she's not playing up to her expectations," Earleywine said. "She's learning a lot about the mental side of hitting at this level, and physically there's nobody more talented, but she's only going to get better."

Aside from the offense, another concern for the Tigers, looking forward, could be the tendency to play down to unranked opponents. After going 4-0 in the first two days of the Leadoff Classic, the Tigers nearly escaped defeat in a 10-inning 2-1 victory against unranked Radford on Feb. 28.

Thomas felt the tight victory was a learning moment for the Tigers.

"I feel like everyone is going to play their best game against us, and maybe we overlooked them a bit, but that is definitely a learning point for us and shows that in Division 1 softball anyone can beat anyone," Thomas said.

After the long 10-game road trip, the Tigers return home for a 16-game home stand, beginning with the Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament this weekend. The Tigers will face four unranked local teams, starting 3:30 p.m. March 5 with St. Louis.