The Morning Commute for Wednesday, May 8

It’s do-or-die time for Missouri softball (40-14, 13-11 SEC), as the Tigers kick off what hopefully will be a fruitful stay on The Plains at the single-elimination SEC Tournament.

Local media had the chance to chat with Mizzou head coach Larissa Anderson on Tuesday, and she was quick to remind us, “We turn the page on a regular season and now it’s a whole new season and everyone has an opportunity, so it doesn’t matter where we are right now, What really matters is what we do tomorrow… The game doesn’t care.”

The. Game. Doesn’t. Care. She’s told us this all season. The game doesn’t care who you’re competing against. On whatever field you’re competing. It does not care.

The goal is just to continue to win games, one game at a time. “We’re just going to focus on that one game and play as many games as we possibly can. We absolutely love this team. We love being together and it’s like was let’s play as long as we can and then continue to ride this wave.”

The love between this staff and this team is palpable. You see it in the dugout, in their silly videos, in their jubilant celebrations… everywhere. Anderson calls this her most favorite team of her 25-year career. The vibes are — I’ll say it again — immaculate. [also, Nathan Hurst, stop co-opting my phrase. I borrowed it first.]

Allow me to explain why I keep using that phrase. One, I love Jalen Brunson. Great basketball player, great dude. But also, it perfectly coincides with what we are seeing from Missouri softball this season.

 Brunson said, “I think they’re [the vibes] so immaculate because we’re not even worrying about career-highs… We’re not worrying about beating whatever number team that they are in the league. We’re treating every game the same. I think that’s why this squad has been so special. We just gotta keep it going. Like I said, we’re locked in right now and we’re gonna try to keep this going as long as possible.”

Different sport, yes, but it fits in perfectly with what we’ve seen of this team and what Anderson has said again and again. This team is having THE MOST FUN. Nobody’s trying to “get theirs.” They’re there for each other. Period.

The Tigers (40-14, 13-11) are coming off a sweep of South Carolina in Columbia (L)East, which led to some much-deserved fluctuation in the polls this week. The Tigers moved in all four polls, up two in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll (11th) and Softball America (8th), up three in ESPN/USA Softball (12th), and up five in D1 Softball (10th). They’ve also jumped right to no. 8 in Michalla Chester’s NCAA Power Rankings.

[side note: apparently, taking just one game from an unranked L*berty team results in moving up 4 spots in the ESPN poll… side-eyeing YOU, LSU]

“It’s pretty remarkable,” Anderson said, “Especially in our preseason poll where we were picked 11th and really, what the expectations were for everyone on the outside, not the expectations within us… I was just going through some of our top 10 records and we’re 6-7 in the top 10. We have the second most top 10 wins out of the entire conference. And that’s extremely impressive for us to be able to do what we’ve done.”

Agreed!

I believe in this team, you (should) believe in them, and it looks like D1 Softball, who put out its SEC Tourney preview, has taken a liking to them, too. While Missouri isn’t listed as a “favorite” — that’s reserved for Tennessee, Florida and Texas A&M (they said the final spot could have gone to a number of teams) they do consider the Tigers a dark horse.

The Tigers were hungry to improve from the last few down seasons, and their seniors have been leading the way. Alex Honnold and Jenna Laird have been steady as they come in their final seasons in a Mizzou uniform. They have set the tone for a much-improved offense. Laurin Krings remains the ace of the staff and is capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone. Freshman Marissa McCann has embraced her role as a reliever and grown stronger as her rookie season progresses. The sum of Missouri’s parts works well together.

This is the best conference in the country. Anybody could win this; these teams beat up on each other all season.

“There’s no easy game, so we know we have to compete,” Anderson said. “I can’t look forward. I have to put the best team on the field (Wednesday) and we’ve got to compete to win. And then after that game then we’ve got to focus on the next game but it’s not like a regional where you’re in double elimination. I don’t have to prepare for a loser’s bracket. I just have to prepare to win tomorrow.”

Mizzou’s never hoisted up the SEC Championship trophy before, but they have been to the championship. In 2022, they took a buzz saw through four different teams as a 7-seed before ultimately losing to Arkansas in the finale. Standing in their way this time? Ole Miss, Arkansas, and (likely) a revenge date with the Lady Vols.