Missouri Tigers softball

Last updated
Missouri Tigers
Softball current event.svg 2025 Missouri Tigers softball team
Mizzou Athletics wordmark.svg
Founded1975
University University of Missouri
Head coach Larissa Anderson (6th [1] season)
Conference SEC
Location Columbia, MO
Home stadiumMizzou Softball Stadium (Capacity: 3,300)
Nickname Tigers
ColorsOld gold and black [2]
   
NCAA WCWS appearances
1983, 1991, 1994, 2009, 2010, 2011
AIAW WCWS appearances
1981 [3]
NCAA Super Regional appearances
2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2021, 2024
NCAA Tournament appearances
1982, 1983, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Conference Tournament championships
1983, 1991, 1997, 2009
Regular Season Conference championships
1991, 1997, 2011

The Missouri Tigers softball team represents the University of Missouri in NCAA Division I college softball. The team is coached by head coach Larissa Anderson, who was hired on May 26, 2018.

Contents

History

Early history (1975–1987)

In response to the passage of Title IX in 1972, Missouri began sponsoring women's softball, women's basketball, and women's track & field, women's swimming, women's volleyball, women's tennis, women's golf, and women's field hockey during the 1974–1975 academic year. [4] Alexis Jarrett was the first women's softball coach at Missouri, also coaching the women's basketball (1974–1975) and women's track and field teams (including cross-country) from 1974–1977 while serving as the women's assistant director of athletics (1974–1976) and sports information director for the eight women's sports (1974-1977). [4] Jarrett would have success, going 14–7 in both years at the helm for a .667 win percentage and finishing 2nd in the 1975 and 1976 AIAW State Championship. [5] The 1975 team also finished sixth in the unofficial Big Eight Championship held at Kansas State.

For the next four years, Missouri would continue to have moderate success under head coach Debbie Duren, peaking in 1980 with a 2nd place finish in the Big 8 Tournament and a 5th place finish in the AIAW Region 6 Championship. [5]

Barb Preist took over as head coach in 1981 and led Missouri to greater heights, including a 5th place finish in its first appearance in the Women's College World Series in 1981. [3] [5] In 1982, Preist led Missouri to an appearance in Mideast Regional in the inaugural NCAA Division I tournament. [6]

Joyce Compton took over for Preist after the 1982 season and in her first season as head coach led Missouri to its first Big 8 Tournament Championship and to its second appearance in the Women's College World Series. [3] [5] The 1980–1983 teams were led by Missouri's all-time wins and shutouts leader and 1983 All-America Teresa Wilson. [5] After Wilson's departure, Compton was unable to build off of that 1983 season, failing to reach the NCAA Tournament in each of her next three years before accepting the head coach position at the University of South Carolina. [5] [7] Compton was replaced for one season by Rhesa Sumrell, under whom Missouri would suffer their only losing season between 1979 and 2002. [5] Missouri has had only three losing seasons (1978, 1979 and 1987).

The Miller era (1988–2002)

Jay Miller was brought in as Missouri's 6th head coach in 1988. After three years of a fair amount of success, the Tigers had a breakout year in 1991 behind All-American pitcher Karen Snelgrove, winning both the Big 8 Championship and Big 8 Tournament Championship and reaching the WCWS for the third time in school history. [5] Anchored by sluggers Mary Babb and Barb Wright, Miller would go on to lead Missouri to its fourth WCWS appearance in 1994, as well as Missouri's first Big 12 Championship in 1997. [5] All in all, in his 15 years as head coach, 10 different Missouri players would earn All-American honors under Miller. [5]

The Singleton years (2003–2006)

Ty Singleton took over as head coach in 2003. [5] Missouri had moderate success under Singleton, earning three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament from 2003–2005 but failing to make it past the Regional stage and unable to win any conference championships. [5] Singleton did earn Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 2003 but ultimately was let go in 2006 following just Missouri's third losing season since 1979.

The Earleywine legacy (2007–2018)

In 2007, Missouri lured Jefferson City native and 2005 ACC Coach of the Year Ehren Earleywine away from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. [8] Earleywine would earn Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in his first season and again in 2011. [5]

In 2008, in winning the Iowa City Regional, Earlywhine led Missouri to its first ever Super Regional appearance, where the Tigers fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide. [6] In 2009, Missouri would win the Big 12 Tournament and defeat the UCLA Bruins en route to the 2009 Women's College World Series, Missouri's first WCWS appearance since 1994. [5] Missouri would host a Super Regional for the first time in 2010, defeating the Oregon Ducks to advance to the 2010 Women's College World Series. [6] In 2011, Missouri won the Big 12 Championship for the second time and defeated the Washington Huskies on the way to the 2011 Women's College World Series, Missouri's third consecutive trip. [5] In Missouri's last season as a member of the Big 12 in 2012, Missouri fell just short of a fourth consecutive WCWS appearance, losing to the LSU Tigers in the Super Regionals. [6]

From 2008–2013, Earleywine led Missouri to six straight Super Regionals. [6] From 2009–2011, Earleywine led Missouri to back-to-back-to-back WCWS appearances. [6]

In seven seasons under Earleywine, six different players have earned All-American honors and three players, Rhea Taylor (2008, 2010, 2011), Ashley Fleming (2011, 2012), and Chelsea Thomas (2011, 2012, 2013), have earned multiple All-American honors. [5] Thomas won conference pitcher of the year honors three times (twice in the Big 12, once in the SEC) and was a Top 3 finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year honors in 2011. [5]

Earleywine was fired from Missouri on January 26, 2018, less than two weeks before the 2018 regular season was set to begin. [9] Gina Fogue replaced Earleywine as head coach on an interim basis; she led the Tigers to a 30-29 record during the 2018 season, but was not retained following the year.

The Anderson tenure (2018–present)

Larissa Anderson was hired as the Tigers' head softball coach on May 26, 2018. [10] Anderson signed a five-year contract with Missouri after spending four years as the head coach at Hofstra.

In 2019, the Tigers received NCAA sanctions due to academic misconduct. This included a one-year postseason ban, scholarship and recruiting limitations, and a monetary fine. [11] [12] The sanctions were in effect for the 2020 season, which ended up being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] The NCAA later ruled that the postseason ban would not apply to the 2021 season. [14]

Head coaches

NameYearsWonLostPct.
Alexis Jarrett1975–19762814.667
Debbie Duran1977–19807850.609
Barb Preist1981–19829132.740
Joyce Compton1983–198611577.599
Rhesa Sumrell19871418.438
Jay Miller 1988–2002556309.643
Ty Singleton2003–200613088.596
Ehren Earleywine 2007–2018226104.685
Gina Fogue (interim)20183029.508
Larissa Anderson 2018–present217114.656

Year-by-year results

SeasonCoachRecordNotes
OverallConference
Big 8 Conference
1975Alexis Jarrett14–7 AIAW State Championship (2nd Place)
197614–7 AIAW State Championship (2nd Place)
1977Debbie Duren19–11 AIAW State Championship (2nd Place)
197814–17 AIAW State Championship (4th Place)
19799–15 AIAW State Championship (4th Place)
198036–17 AIAW Region 6 Championship (5th Place)
1981Barb Preist46–20AIAW Women's College World Series (5th Place)
198246–20NCAA Regional
1983Joyce Compton40–13NCAA Women's College World Series (7th Place)
198421–18
198529–23
198625–23
1987Rhesa Sumrell14–18
1988 Jay Miller 44–18
198935–22
199030–14No. 20 Final NCAA poll
199139–14Big 8 Champions, Big 8 Tournament Champions, Women's College World Series (5th Place)
199241–14No. 16 Final NCAA poll
199331–18
199440–23 Women's College World Series (7th Place)
199547–19 NCAA Regional, No. 23 Final NFCA poll
Big 12 Conference
1996 Jay Miller 31–2211–10
199747–1615–3Big 12 Champions, Big 12 Tournament Champions, NCAA Regional, No. 12 Final NFCA poll
36–205–13
199941–2110–5 NCAA Regional, No. 15 Final NFCA poll
200034–276–13
200131–285–11
200229–334–14
2003Ty Singleton31–2012–5 NCAA Regional
200429–2613–4 NCAA Regional
200544–1510–8 NCAA Regional, No. 20 Final NFCA poll
200626–277–11
2007Ehren Earleywine40–2413–4No. 19 Final USA Softball poll
200847–1711–6 NCAA Super Regional
200950–1212–6Big 12 Tournament Champions, Women's College World Series (7th Place)
201051–1311–7 Women's College World Series (7th Place)
201153–1015–3Big 12 Champions, Women's College World Series (6th Place)
201247–1417–7 NCAA Super Regional
Southeastern Conference
2013Ehren Earleywine38–1415–8 NCAA Super Regional
2014Ehren Earleywine43–1815–9 NCAA Regional
2015Ehren Earleywine41–1714–10 NCAA Super Regional
2016Ehren Earleywine42–1614–10 NCAA Super Regional
2017Ehren Earleywine29–287–16 NCAA Regional
2018Gina Fogue (interim)30–296–17 NCAA Regional
2019Larissa Anderson35–2512–12 NCAA Regional
2020Larissa Anderson19–73–0Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021Larissa Anderson42–1715–9 NCAA Super Regional
2022Larissa Anderson38–2212–11 NCAA Regional
2023Larissa Anderson35–267–17 NCAA Regional
2024Larissa Anderson48-1713-11 NCAA Super Regional

Missouri in the NCAA Tournament

Individual awards

Missouri has had numerous players earn national or conference honors including 31 NFCA All-Americans. [5]

All Americans

All Women's College World Series

Rhea Taylor
Chelsea Thomas

National awards

See also

Related Research Articles

The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. The eight teams of the WCWS play a double-elimination tournament until just two teams remain. These two teams compete in a best-of-three series to determine the Division I WCWS National Champion. Previous WCWS losses do not factor into the best-of-three championship series, and the first team to win two of three games is declared the National Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri Tigers</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Missouri

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Alicia Kay Hollowell-Dunn is an American, former collegiate four-time All-American, retired professional softball pitcher and assistant coach. She played college softball at Arizona Wildcats softball from 2003 to 2006, collecting 144 career wins and 1,768 strikeouts, both top-10 NCAA career records. She currently holds the Arizona Wildcats records for career strikeouts, shutouts and innings pitched, in addition to the Pac-12 Conference wins and strikeout ratio records. Hollowell won the 2006 Women's College World Series.

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Joann Rutherford is an American retired basketball coach. She was the head women's basketball coach at the University of Missouri from 1975 to 1998. She holds school records for longest tenured head coach, most wins by a head coach with 422, and highest career winning percentage (.617). Her career record spanning 23 seasons is 422-263. She guided the Tigers to winning campaigns in 19 out of 23 seasons. She led the Tigers to four Big Eight Conference championships in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1990.

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Chelsea Rae Thomas is an American former collegiate softball pitcher, originally from Pleasantville, Iowa. Thomas pitched for the Missouri Tigers in the Big 12 Conference and Southeastern Conference; Thomas is the career leader in wins and strikeouts for the school. She ranks top-10 for no hitters (11) and perfect games (3) in the NCAA Division I. Thomas and was drafted #20 in the National Pro Fastpitch and won a title in 2014.

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Tim Jamieson is an American baseball coach and former catcher, who is the pitching coach for the Missouri Tigers. He played college baseball at New Orleans from 1978 to 1981. He then served as the head coach of the Missouri Tigers (1995–2016). The second winningest coach in school history, Jamieson coached in 3 conferences, and took his teams to 9 NCAA Regionals, winning two conference championships in the process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene McArtor</span> American baseball coach (died 2024)

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Amid an otherwise undistinguished decade, the Missouri Tigers baseball team won the Big 12 Conference tournament in 2012. The team moved from the Big 12 Conference to the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference in 2013. The Tigers struggled the first two seasons after the change of Conference, then improved to a limited extent. As of 2018 their best performance during the decade in a Conference league was in 2015 and their best overall performance was in 2018. Tim Jamieson retired as head coach in 2016 after 22 years, to be replaced by Steve Bieser.

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Ehren Larry Earleywine is an American sports coach and administrator who is currently athletic director at Jefferson City High School. From 1997 to 1999, Earleywine was head baseball coach at Westminster College in Missouri. He later became a college softball head coach, first at Georgia Tech from 2004 to 2006, then at Missouri from 2007 to 2018.

Larissa Anderson is an American softball coach who is the current head coach at Missouri.

References

  1. https://mutigers.com/sports/softball/roster/coaches/larissa-anderson/2550 [ bare URL ]
  2. Mizzou Athletics Brand Identity Guidelines (PDF). July 9, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN   978-0-9893007-0-4.
  4. 1 2 Staff (4 March 2004). "29 years of women's basketball at MU and counting...they got attitude, they got history, they got game". Vox Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Missouri Softball History and Records" (PDF). mutigers.com. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "NCAA Softball Championships Record Book" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  7. "Joyce Compton". Gamecocks Online. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  8. "Ehren Earleywine". mutigers.com. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  9. "Ehren Earleywine fired as Mizzou softball coach". kansascity.com. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  10. "Larissa Anderson to be Missouri head coach". justinsworldofsoftball.com. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  11. "Missouri's NCAA appeal denied, confirming postseason ban for football, baseball and softball". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  12. May, Jake (2019-11-26). "NCAA Upholds Missouri Bowl Ban, Sanctions". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  13. NCAA.com. "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships due to coronavirus concerns | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  14. Rau, Melanie (2020-07-06). "NCAA rules that Missouri baseball and softball bans will not carry over to 2021 season". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  15. "NFCA | National Fastpitch Coaches Association".