BRANSON MO NEWS: Freshman second baseman Brooke Wilmes stepped into the batter’s box after a single and pair of walks loaded the bases. Missouri held a slim 1-0 lead over Southeastern Louisiana (10-6) in the bottom of the third inning and desperately needed insurance runs after a cold start.In her first home game with the Tigers, Wilmes squared up on a pitch and drove it up the middle. The Lions’ centerfielder fumbled the ball, which allowed Missouri’s runners on second and third to score and helped ignite a four-run rally.Wilmes struck again in the fourth with another deep shot to center field, this time a three-run home run.
In her encore performance against Drake (10-5), the freshman’s patient approach at the plate was rewarded with a double and two more RBI.Wilmes’ team-high seven RBI on the day propelled the Tigers past the Lions 8-0 via run rule and the Bulldogs 4-2 during their home debut Friday in the Mizzou Tournament. Missouri improves to 12-7 with the pair of victories and has won eight of its past 10 contests.”I think I was seeing it pretty well tonight,” Wilmes said. “At the beginning, I was a little nervous just because it’s the first (true) home game. Once I got settled in, I was just really excited to finally be here.”Wilmes was one of 11 newcomers in the Tigers’ highly-touted freshman class, which cracked FloSoftball.com’s top 10 ahead of the 2018 season. Seven of those 11 freshmen were included in FloSoftball’s annual list of top 200 high school players.Not Wilmes. Despite her .522 career high school batting average and four first-team All-State selections, the Johnston, Iowa, product flew under the radar on such a freshmen-heavy roster.”At any given time, you can have six in the lineup,” Missouri interim coach Gina Fogue said. “I’ve been proud …
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