COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri softball (11-13, 0-3 SEC) commences its 2025 home slate with the Mizzou Invitational Thursday through Saturday at Mizzou Softball Stadium before matchups against Kansas City (Sunday) and Illinois (Tuesday, March 18).
The Tigers will open the four-day Invitational Thursday, facing South Dakota State at 2:30 p.m., CT, before taking on Princeton at 5 p.m. The tournament continues Friday and Saturday with games against Michigan (5:30 p.m.) and Quinnipiac (4 p.m.). Missouri will then face Kansas City Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and Illinois on Tuesday, March 18, at 3 p.m. in midweek action.
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All of Mizzou’s games will be available on SEC Network+. Nate Gatter and Ashley Moore are on the call Thursday while Max Thoma and Moore will be in the broadcast booth on Friday and Saturday to finish off the Invitational. On Sunday, Casey Roehl and former Mizzou softball player and NFCA All-Region pitcher, Madi Norman Gerlach, will be on the broadcast.
All-Tournament passes are currently on sale for $20 while day passes are also available for purchase online. Fans are allowed to reenter the stadium all weekend and just need to get their hand stamped before exiting the Mizzou Softball Stadium.
Due to the MSHSAA Basketball Tournament at Mizzou Arena this week, Tiger fans are encouraged to arrive early and expect higher volumes of traffic around the Mizzou Softball Stadium during the Mizzou Invitational.
New concession food items for the 2025 softball season at the Mizzou Softball Stadium include Funnel Cake, Popcorn Shrimp Basket and MIZ DOG which will be sold on the third base side. Draft cocktails will also be available on the berm.
PROMOTION SCHEDULE
- Thursday – Home Opener – Schedule Magnet & Team Poster Giveaway
- Friday – First Responders Appreciation – Autographs and Meet & Greet with Mizzou Volleyball
- Saturday – Junior Tigers Day – Mini Megaphone Giveaway
- Sunday – Happy Hour – $2.99 Beers from 12:30 to 2 p.m., CT
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
MIZZOU INVITATIONAL
- Columbia, Mo. (Mizzou Softball Stadium)
- Tournament Central (Full Invitational Schedule)
MIZZOU INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
- Missouri vs. South Dakota State – Thursday, March 13, 2:30 p.m., CT | SEC Network+
- Missouri vs. Princeton – Thursday, March 13, 5 p.m., CT | SEC Network+
- Missouri vs. Michigan – Friday, March 14, 5:30 p.m., CT | SEC Network+
- Missouri vs. Quinnipiac – Saturday, March 15, 4 p.m., CT | SEC Network+
SUNDAY (NON-MIZZOU INVITATIONAL) SCHEDULE
- Missouri vs. Kansas City – Sunday, March 16, 1:30 p.m., CT | SEC Network+
TUESDAY MIDWEEK SCHEDULE
- Missouri vs. Illinois – Tuesday, March 18, 3 p.m., CT | SEC Network+
Live Stats: SDSU | Princeton | Michigan | Quinnipiac
Live Video: SEC Network+ (SDSU) | SEC Network+ Princeton | SEC Network+ Michigan | SEC Network+ Quinnipiac
SEC Network+ KC | SEC Network+ Illinois
Notes: Missouri | SDSU | Michigan | Princeton
SERIES HISTORY
- Missouri holds a 6-0 all-time record against South Dakota State. The teams last met at the 2025 Shocker Invitational earlier this season (March 1), where Mizzou secured a 10-1 run-rule victory (five innings). Head coach Larissa Anderson is 3-0 against the Jackrabbits.
- Taylor Ebbs reached 100 career hits in that matchup, while Madison Walker and Kara Daly provided key offensive production.
- Missouri leads the all-time series with Princeton, 3-1, with the last meeting taking place in 1997 (1-0 MU win). This will be head coach Larissa Anderson‘s first-time facing Princeton.
- This weekend marks the first-ever meeting between Missouri and Quinnipiac.
- Michigan leads the all-time series, 5-4, against Missouri with the Wolverines taking both wins at the 2016 NCAA Ann Arbor Super Regional (May 28-29).
- Mizzou graduate assistant, Keke Tholl will face her alma mater, Michigan, on Friday as well as her aunt, Bonnie Tholl, who serves as head coach for the Wolverines. Keke Tholl appeared in a trio of NCAA Regionals and captured a pair of Big Ten titles as a Wolverine, splitting time between catcher and first base.
- Missouri holds a 55-1 all-time advantage on Kansas City (UMKC). Mizzou picked up a 3-0 shutout victory in 2024 (March 6) in Kansas City. Cierra Harrison, a Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native, starred in the circle, throwing a complete-game shutout with a career-best 10 strikeouts while allowing just two hits.
- Missouri holds a 16-4 all-time edge against Illinois. The two teams last met in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, where Mizzou swept the Braggin’ Rights doubleheader (March 13, 2024).
- Head coach Larissa Anderson holds an 8-1 record against Illinois.
SEC OPENING WEEKEND RECAP
- Mizzou dropped all three games on the road at No. 23 Kentucky to open SEC play.
- Julia Crenshaw led the Tigers offensively, recording a hit in every game, including a leadoff home run in the series finale. She hit .417 over SEC opening weekend with two homers, five RBI and three doubles.
- Taylor Ebbs blasted a three-run homer in Game 2 against her former team, Kentucky, and posted back-to-back multi-hit games to conclude the series. She hit .500 with four RBI in her return to Lexington, Kentucky.
- Abby Hay notched a career-best matching two hits in Sunday’s finale, adding an RBI double and a solo homer.
- Stefania Abruscato hit .333 over the road SEC series.
- Claire Cahalan notched a career-best matching pair of hits (fifth time in her career) in game one, finishing 2-for-4 with a triple. It marked her third triple of the campaign (third in SEC, 0.13 triples/game). She drew a personal-best two walks and is on a nine-game reached base streak.
- Cierra Harrison compiled her 200th career strikeout in game two. Jayci Kruse pitched a career-best 1.2 innings in relief, holding the Wildcats scoreless on two hits with a strikeout.
- Mizzou hit a season-best five doubles Saturday in game two. It’s the most for the Tigers since they compiled a program-record tying six at South Carolina on April 3, 2021.
TAYLOR EBBS
- Senior designated player Taylor Ebbs, a Kentucky transfer, put together a strong showing in her return to Lexington, Kentucky, for Mizzou’s SEC opener, starting off conference play with a .500 batting average.
- Ebbs blasted a three-run home run in game 2 against her former team, pulling Missouri within one run in the fifth inning. She finished that contest 2-for-4 with two runs, three RBI, a double and a homer.
- She reached base safely in all three games of the series, recording a season-high matching two hits in each of the final two games. Ebbs is now just two RBI away from reaching 100 in her collegiate career.
JULIA CRENSHAW
- Senior catcher and leadoff hitter Julia Crenshaw continued her consistent offensive production, extending her reached-base streak to 13 consecutive games (five-game hitting streak).
- She opened the series with a solo home run in game 1, finishing that contest 2-for-4 with two RBI, a double and a homer.
- In game 3, she launched her third leadoff home run of the season, capping the weekend with another multi-hit performance (2-for-4) while driving in three runs.
- Crenshaw is now just three home runs away from matching her career-best of nine set in 2023.
- She has nine multi-hit games in 2025 and leads the team in on-base percentage (.468) and hitting percentage (.359).
- Crenshaw ranks fourth in the SEC with nine doubles (0.38 doubles/game, fifth in SEC). She is also the second toughest batter to strikeout in the SEC (8.667) behind teammate Madison Walker (8.300).
ABBY HAY
- Sophomore first baseman Abby Hay recorded a career-best matching two hits in the series finale against Kentucky, including a solo home run in the sixth inning. She finished that contest 2-for-3 with two RBI, two runs, a double and a walk.
- Hay, a Columbia, Missouri, native, hit .286 over SEC opening weekend.
MADISON UPTEGROVE
- Madison Uptegrove, a freshman second baseman, opened her SEC debut with a .429 batting average, recording a single, a double, and a triple between the first two games of the Kentucky series.
- Uptegrove ranks first in the SEC for sacrifice bunts per game (0.29).
ROAD WARRIORS
- The Tigers opened its 2025 campaign as the only NCAA Division I institution that competed in the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic, Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational Presented by EvoShield and Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
- MU returns home this week after spending 19 days in hotels and traveling a total of 6,986 miles across the country to start the 2025 campaign.
- Missouri ranks fourth for strength of schedule and 40th for RPI.
QUICK HITTERS
- Mizzou is 11-13 overall (0-3 SEC) entering the Mizzou Invitational.
- Mizzou has three ranked wins in 2025, defeating No. 20/21 Northwestern, No. 7/8 Duke and No. 16/18 Nebraska.
- Madison Walker leads Mizzou with nine home runs and 23 RBI. She is slugging .614 this season. Walker is fifth in the SEC for home runs (9, 0.38 homer/game).
- Julia Crenshaw paces the Tigers’ offense, hitting .359 with a team-high 28 hits, nine doubles and five stolen bases. Crenshaw has reached base in 13 consecutive games and leads MU with Walker with nine multi-hit games.
- Marissa McCann ranks second in the SEC with 11 starts while Cierra Harrison is fourth with 10. McCann is also fourth in innings pitched (65.1) and sixth for complete games (five). McCann has 90 career strikeouts.
- Missouri sits first for sacrifice bunts in the SEC with 20 (15th in NCAA).
- Head coach Larissa Anderson picked up her 350th career win with a 10-3 victory over Duke on Feb. 8. Anderson was also inducted into the Gannon University (Erie, Pennsylvania) Athletics Hall of Fame that same day.
- Anderson signed an extension with Mizzou through 2028 over the fall.
- Mizzou is coming off an impressive 2024 that saw the Tigers earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the 17th consecutive year (27 total regional appearances). MU made its 10th Supers appearance in program history in 2024.
- The Tigers totaled 48 wins (48-14, 13-11 SEC) in 2024, their highest total in the program’s SEC era and fourth most in program history. Missouri’s 13 SEC wins in the 2024 campaign are the most since 15 in 2021.
- The Tigers return six starters from the 2024 NCAA Super Regional team including SEC All-Defensive right fielder Kayley Lenger, NFCA All-Region first baseman Abby Hay along with catcher Julia Crenshaw and third baseman Kara Daly.
- Mizzou added 10 newcomers including seven freshmen and three transfers for the 2025 season.
- Missouri returned the 11th best team ERA (2.03) in 2024 led by starters Cierra Harrison and Marissa McCann along with NCAA saves leader Taylor Pannell.
- Missouri ranked fourth in the NCAA in 2024 with an average attendance of 2,784. In the postseason, MU had the highest home attendance of Regionals (10,016) and Super Regionals (11,608, MU record). Mizzou set single-game (4,021, vs. Duke, May 26, 2024) and single-series attendance records over the postseason weekends.
NEXT UP
- The Tigers next host No. 1 Oklahoma March 21 through 23 at the Mizzou Softball Stadium following Mizzou’s home midweek against Illinois on Tuesday (March 18). All three games will be featured on SEC Network+.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
- For all the latest on Mizzou Softball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouSoftball (X, Instagram, Facebook).
- The Diamond Club is accepting new members. Email MAF@missouri.edu or call 573-882-0704 to join.
- Join us in Expanding the Tradition of excellence in Mizzou Softball! This special initiative focuses on building a Rock M at the Mizzou Softball Stadium, a centerpiece of Tiger pride. The Rock M will debut at the Tigers’ 2025 Mizzou Invitational starting on March 13.
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