AUBURN, Ala. – Five members of the No. 11/12 University of Missouri softball team earned 2024 All-SEC honors; the league announced Friday. Jenna Laird, Alex Honnold and Abby Hay were named to the All-SEC Second Team while pitcher Laurin Krings and right fielder Kayley Lenger nabbed spots on the SEC All-Defensive Team.
For Mizzou, it’s the most All-SEC selections since eight in 2021 (also had three All-SEC selections and two SEC All-Defensive Team picks that season).
Jenna Laird was named to her third-straight All-SEC Second Team (four-time All-SEC player) Friday. The SEC postseason honor is her seventh in her career at Mizzou.
The Tigers leadoff hitter from East Meadow, New York, hit .282 during the SEC season, with 22 hits, 14 runs, eight RBI, four doubles and five stolen bases.
Laird paces Mizzou this season with 20 multi-hit games and has gone on a 17-game reached base streak (nine-game hitting streak). She also has posted five multi-RBI games.
Overall, the senior shortstop, ranks in the top-10 in the SEC for runs (49, seventh, 0.89 runs/game, seventh), hits (60, eighth), stolen bases (17, eighth), plate appearances (209, fourth) and at bats (172, 10th). She ranks second on Mizzou in 2024 with a .349 batting average with 10 doubles, 49 runs and 27 RBI in 2024.
She has started and appeared in 235 consecutive games (all 55 games in 2024).
Alex Honnold was selected to her second-straight All-SEC Second Team.
Honnold was second on Mizzou during conference play, hitting .288 with 21 hits, 13 runs, 11 RBI, five doubles and two homers. She also compiled a .438 slugging percentage (.376 on-base percentage) with six stolen bases.
The senior center fielder from West Des Moines, Iowa, ranked 11th in the SEC with a .358 batting average with a Mizzou single-season record, conference best 21 doubles (sixth in the NCAA) in 2024. Honnold also totaled 62 hits (sixth in the SEC) and 43 runs (eighth in the SEC) with a .590 slugging percentage. Defensively, she has posted a .976 fielding percentage in the outfield.
She ranks second on MU with 17 multi-hit games. Honnold also paces Mizzou with eight multi-RBI games. She has also gone on a 15-game reached base streak (12-game hitting streak) in 2024.
Honnold has also grabbed 14 stolen bases. She is the fifth toughest SEC batter to strikeout (15.5) and has started in all 55 games this season.
Abby Hay, a freshman from Columbia, Missouri, was named to her first career All-SEC Team Friday. She paced the Tigers in SEC play, batting .318 with 14 hits, nine RBI, six runs and three home runs. Hay also slugged .591 (.423 on-base percentage).
Hay has tallied six two-hit games in her first collegiate season. She was named the SEC Player of the Week on April 23.
Hay is batting .328 in her first collegiate season. The Tigers’ first baseman has started in each of the last 20 contests (22 starts, 29 games in 2024), chipping in 21 hits, 10 runs, 15 RBI, three homers and three doubles. She is fielding .986 in 2024.
Laurin Krings and Kayley Lenger were both named to their first career SEC All-Defensive Team Friday.
Krings, a senior pitcher from Loveland, Colorado, registered a 1.000 fielding percentage in SEC play (22 assists, three putouts, zero errors).
Overall, Mizzou’s ace has totaled 13 wins (13-7) in the circle which is tied for first on the team. Krings is the only pitcher on the Missouri staff with over 100 strikeouts (113) and 100 innings pitched (139.1).
Krings has notched eight complete games over 30 appearances (26 starts). She tallied a complete-game shutout in the victory over Mississippi State on April 27, punching out five.
For Krings, the postseason SEC honor is the second in her career as she was also named to the 2022 SEC All-Tournament Team.
Lenger, a sophomore right fielder from Liberty, Missouri, posted a fielding percentage of 1.000 during SEC play this season (45 putouts, zero errors).
She paces Mizzou in 2024 with an on-base percentage of .453. The Tigers’ nine-hole hitter and right fielder paces the SEC with 18 HBP (seventh in the NCAA) and has started in 48 games this season (52 games).
Lenger has notched 29 runs, 28 hits, five doubles, two homers and 11 RBI. She has notched two hits on four different occasions and has gone on an 11-game reached base streak this season.
The All-SEC Teams consist of 21 student-athletes on the First Team, 21 student-athletes on the Second Team, and an 11-member All-Defensive Team. No ties were broken.
Jocelyn Erickson of Florida was named the Player of the Year, and Karlyn Pickens of Tennessee was selected as the Pitcher of the Year. Keagan Rothrock of Florida was chosen as the Freshman of the Year, and Karen Weekly of Tennessee was tabbed the Coach of the Year.
