COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri softball is wading into the minutiae.
It’s that time of year for the No. 11 Tigers, who are sitting at 29-8 overall and 4-5 in Southeastern Conference play.
The goal, coach Larissa Anderson is quick to state, is for Mizzou to host a regional in the NCAA Tournament. There are 16 of those to go around, meaning Missouri’s in solid position to do just that. And she certainly wouldn’t mind seeing her team host one of the eight super regionals either.
There have been some big wins for the Tigers already, toppling the likes of Auburn and Louisiana State at home. But MU was swept on the road by Tennessee, a bit of the humble pie readily served in the SEC.
A break in the schedule led to some recent nonconference games and a time to tweak the details that could help Mizzou climb from eighth in the conference — and maybe into the nation’s top 10 programs.
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A 20-0 win over Fordham kick-started last week’s road trip along the East Coast, four straight wins that pushed Missouri up to No. 11. But the need for work on the details was on display Wednesday when Southeast Missouri State upset Mizzou with a 1-0 midweek result.
“Today happened,†shortstop and leadoff hitter Jenna Laird said after that game. “We didn’t want it to happen.â€
Wind — stifling gusts blowing in from left field — kept the score low, mostly because it kept any sort of fly ball short of the fences but long on hang time. More than two-thirds of MU’s outs at the plate came on flyouts or popouts as the Tigers struggled to challenge SEMO’s defense or get on base consistently.
“But that’s no excuse,†Anderson said. “We have to make adjustments, and we have to hit more balls hard, line drives.â€
Adjustments. There it is.
Though Mizzou is only a third of the way through its SEC slate, there already have been some offensive struggles for the Tigers. They’re tied for 11th in the conference with a .215 team batting average against conference opponents and 12th with a .294 on-base percentage.
The duo at the top of the order, Laird and center fielder Alex Honnold, are batting .376 and .377 respectively. Honnold has chipped in 16 doubles so far this season. Two other hitters, middle infielder Maddie Gallagher and utility option Kayley Lenger, are batting above .300.
But that production at the plate has dropped off significantly against SEC pitching. Laird has a .290 average in conference play. Honnold is batting .258 with an OPS of .803. Only six players with at least 20 at-bats are batting above .200.
“In our conference, we’re seeing people that are throwing 68 to 75 (mph),†Anderson said, “so just really focused on hitting elite pitching.â€
Quickening swings across the board was the clear focus of the Tigers’ Tuesday practice, a precious opportunity to dig into details amid the travel-heavy heart of the season — Anderson said practice time is “limited†this time of year.
“We were making adjustments (Tuesday) in practice — really good adjustments,†Laird said. “That’s what we brought into (the SEMO loss). ... It’s just we didn’t make in-game adjustments.â€
There’s also some work being done on the pitching side of things, particularly with ace Laurin Krings.
She started SEC play with a complete-game effort to beat Auburn, allowing two hits and two earned runs across seven innings, adding nine strikeouts. But since that game, she hasn’t gone for more than 5.2 innings in any game.
Through 33 1/3 innings of SEC play, Krings’ ERA sits at 4.83 with a 1.57 WHIP across seven appearances. Conference opponents have a .312 average against her.
Leadoff hitters have been particularly challenging, whether they get on base through contact or a walk. Solving that has been more a matter of mentality than technique.
“I need her to be more competitive in her warmup pitches,†Anderson said. “That’s something that we talk about, but I can’t be out there on the mound getting her to really drive and be competitive. She’s just not on time for that first batter, which is why the ball gets hit too much.â€
The bigger area of focus for Krings, though, has been the movement on her breaking pitches — and the movement of her pitching motion that influences it.
“When she drives off the mound, if she loses her direction, her front side, what happens is — and this happens with all pitchers — if her direction isn’t where she needs to throw it, then you get ‘bullet spin,’†Anderson said. “It’s spinning, but it’s not on the right axis, and if it’s not on the right axis, it’s not going to move in the right direction.â€
Bullet spin occurs when the ball spins like a clock face, a type of rotation that doesn’t produce a lot of movement on breaking balls, leading to pitches that are easier for batters to track.
“When Krings isn’t getting the swings and misses on her curveball, then I know that the axis of the ball is off,†Anderson said.
The Tigers begin a three-game road series against No. 19 Arkansas this weekend. The Razorbacks are rolling off an unexpected series win at then-No. 3 Georgia, presenting another challenge along the gauntlet that is SEC softball.
“We know they’re really good. We know they just beat Georgia,†Laird said. And when it comes to rebounding from the SEMO loss, “it’s just kind of ‘shake it off.’â€