COLUMBIA, Mo. – Senior 1B Kelsea Roth hit a two-run double in the fifth to send the No. 12/13 Mizzou Softball to the NCAA Columbia Regional championship game after a 5-3 win over Kansas in the third game of the regional on Saturday. The Tigers (41-14), a perfect 2-0 in the Regional, play again Sunday, May 17, at Noon against a team to be determined.
Sophomore P Tori Finucane was credited with the win to up her 2015 record to an outstanding 21-8.
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, sophomore RF Emily Crane got the Tigers rolling with a single to the third base side, her fifth hit in the regional. Junior 2B Sami Fagan walked, setting the stage for freshman DP Amanda Sanchez. The newcomer ripped a single up the middle to score Crane from second and knot the score at 3-3.
Sanchez has now tied Mizzou’s freshman RBI record with her total of 55 matching Micaela Minner’s mark from her 2005 season.
Following Sanchez, Roth laced a double down the third base line, scoring both Fagan and pinch runner Kayla Kingsley for a 5-3 Tiger advantage.
The game was closed shut by the glove of senior SS Corrin Genovese in the top of the seventh, who ranged to her right for a grounder deep in the hole. Genovese snared it with her mitt and relayed the ball to Fagan at second base to finish off the win.
The Jayhawks plated two runs in the top of the first to take a quick 2-0 advantage on the Tigers. After SS Chaley Brickey led off the game with a single, 3B Chanin Naudin launched a two-run home run to left, her ninth bomb of the year.
Fagan answered right back with a two-run homer of her own in the bottom of the first to even the score at 2-2. Fagan’s tater, the junior’s 12th of the year, knocked in RF Emily Crane, who singled one batter earlier. Fagan is now one RBI shy of tying Mary Babb’s single-season program record of 63.
A solo home run from Kansas DP Danielle Chavez gave the Jayhawks a 3-2 lead in the top of the third. Mizzou escaped further damage when Kansas CF Briana Evans grounded to third with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Both Crane and Sanchez tallied two hits each in the win. Crane is now hitting .714 (5-7) in the Regional and .486 (18-37) overall in career NCAA Tournament games.
— MU Sports Information —