BRANSON MO NEWS: Missouri redshirt junior pitcher Madi Norman trotted out to the circle looking to punch back to start the sixth inning. Norman, fresh off a complete-game shutout win, had just fired four straight scoreless innings and was locked in a pitchers’ duel with her team trailing 2-1.Kayli Kvistad, the first Florida hitter of the inning, connected on a pitch with a 1-2 count to smack a solo home run over left-center field fence.Two batters later, Janell Wheaton hammered another solo blast on a pitch left over the plate to propel Florida to a 4-2 win over the Tigers in the opening game of their regular season series finale Friday in Columbia.
“(Norman) did really well, it just got down to the point that (Florida) got more hits than we did,” freshman second baseman Brooke Wilmes said. “It sucks because we played really well today, but she kept us in the game.”Norman struck out three and allowed just two hits outside of her sixth-inning snafu while holding Florida’s hitters to a 2-for-14 clip with runners on base. However, along with the sixth-inning struggles, Norman was plagued by a season-high seven walks.”She’s had better, but (Norman) had a good game,” Missouri interim coach Gina Fogue said. “She was spotting it pretty good, it was just trying to find her drop ball. She was missing there a little bit and that (resulted) in some of the walks.”Missouri’s struggles instead originated from the offensive side of the plate, a rarity for one of the SEC’s most prolific offenses.Wilmes and designated player Cayla Kessinger each hit solo home runs — the former in the second inning and the latter in the seventh — but the rest of the Tigers’ lineup struggled against Kelly Barnhill, one of the conference’s top arms.Barnhill, who …
Author:
SPONSOR:
Best Branson Condos: The best deals in Branson Missouri for nightly condo rentals. Quality condo rentals with no hidden fees or catches. The best option when visiting Branson, Missouri for your next vacation.
VISIT: Best Branson Condos for more information.
Powered by WPeMatico