Softball America: 2024 Columbia Regional HQ
Welcome to Columbia. The Tigers host their third regional in the past four seasons.
Columbia Regional Schedule
Broadcast team: Chuckie Kempf, Monica Abbott
*All times Eastern
- Friday, May 17
- Washington 8, Indiana 7
- This was a barn burner. Washington saw an early three-lead lead disappear after a four-run fifth inning capped by a Sarah Stone three-run homer. Washington answered when Olivia Johnson dropped in a two-run single and added another run on an error. Avery Parker just missed a two-run homer but brought in the tying run in the seventh with a double. The Huskies walked it off on Giselle Alvarez’s double in the bottom half.
- Omaha 3, No. 7 seed Missouri 1
- The biggest upset of the day goes to Omaha. Sophomore Ava Rongisch stayed hot after a strong Summit League Tournament by hitting a two-run blast in the top of the ninth. And if you didn’t know who Kamryn Meyer was before, it’s never too late for an introduction. Meyer, who holds a handful of Omaha records, threw all nine innings, allowing only four hits and coming through in every big moment.
- Washington 8, Indiana 7
- Saturday, May 18
- Omaha 3, Washington 2
- The Cinderella story seems to be building for Kamryn Meyer and Omaha. Washington struck first with an Alana Johnson two-run RBI, but Meyer got her back later. She struck out Johnson to get out of a jam to end the fifth. She retired the last eight batters in order. Omaha made an error by Rylee Holtorf count in the fourth. The first four batters reached as Sydney Ross and Ava Rongisch drove in all three runs.
- Missouri 5, Indiana 1 (Indiana eliminated)
- Laurin Krings decided her career was going to go at least one more game. The senior held the powerful Indiana lineup in check. Krings didn’t have a ton of strikeouts. She induced a good amount of weak contact between flyouts and groundouts. The Tigers scored off of a single, an error, groundouts and a walk.
- Missouri 4, Washington 1 (Washington eliminated)
- Jenna Laird and Laurin Krings added to their long legacies at Missouri. Abby Hay and Marissa McCann are quickly building their own lore. The combination of Missouri’s seniors and freshmen helped force a rematch with Omaha. Hay and Laird homered against Ruby Meylan to pad a lead for Krings. Hay drove in an insurance run later as did Maddie Gallagher. Krings went 4.2 innings despite throwing earlier in the day. After Washington cut the lead to one, Missouri turned to Marissa McCann. The freshman was great once again. She tossed 2.1 perfect innings to earn her third save.
- Omaha 3, Washington 2
- Sunday, May 19
- Missouri 5, Omaha 1
- The Tigers offense is led by Jenna Laird and Alex Honnold. When those two are on, good things happen. The seniors down to their last two outs said let’s go another round. Laird got enough of a ball to bring in the tying run in the seventh on a groundout. Honnold blasted a two-run go-ahead off of Kamryn Meyer. Missouri added two more insurance runs as they forced the if-necessary game. Laurin Krings gutted through another outing, throwing five hitless innings before giving way to the Missouri bullpen that yielded an unearned run. The nation’s save leader Taylor Pannell finished things off.
- Missouri 1, Omaha 0 (F/9) (Missouri advances to Super Regionals)
- Freshman Madison Walker has had two hits since March. The first was earlier on Sunday to give the top of the order a chance to win the game. The second was a walk-off two-out single to send Missouri to a Super Regional. Laurin Krings also deserves the keys to Columbia. The senior pitched her fourth straight game, going all nine innings and striking out 15 batters in the process.
- Missouri 5, Omaha 1
Columbia Regional Stats
| Team (Record) | Scoring (Rank) | ERA (Rank) | FLD % (Rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri (43-15) | 4.95 (76th) | 2.07 (14th) | .969 (58th) |
| Washington (31-13) | 5.84 (33rd) | 2.71 (45th) | .980 (4th) |
| Indiana (40-18) | 6.14 (16th) | 3.02 (83rd) | .966 (104th) |
| Omaha (41-13) | 4.83 (90th) | 2.36 (26th) | .980 (5th) |
Columbia Regional Stars
No. 7 Missouri (SEC At-Large Bid)
- CF Alex Honnold
- SS Jenna Laird
- RHP Laurin Krings
- RHP Marissa McCann
2-seed Washington (Pac-12 At-Large Bid)
- SS Rylee Holtorf
- RF Alana Johnson
- RHP/UTL Brooke Nelson
- RHP Ruby Nelson
3-seed Indiana (Big Ten At-Large Bid)
- LF Taylor Minnick
- 1B Sarah Stone
- 2B Aly VanBrandt
- RHP/UTL Brianna Copeland
4-seed Omaha (Summit League Tournament Champs)
- 2B Lynsey Tucker
- SS Maggie O’Brien
- RHP Kamryn Meyer
- RHP Sydney Nuismer
