Softball splits Friday doubleheader with No. 8/11 Florida

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at 8/11 Florida

03/19/2023 | 12:00 p.m.

March 19 (Sunday) / 12:00 p.m.

at 8/11 Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Missouri Softball Program (19-10, 1-4 SEC) split its doubleheader with No. 8/11 Florida on Friday at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium. The Tigers upset Florida, 7-3, in Game 1, for Mizzou’s first SEC victory of 2023. Missouri then dropped the ceiling on the night, 4-3.

Missouri and Florida will wrap up the weekend series Sunday at noon CT. The schedule has been adjusted due to inclement weather expected in the Gainesville area on Saturday.

Missouri 7, No. 8/11 Florida 3

Alex Honnold hit a career-high two homers and was responsible for a Tiger personal best five runs (5 RBIs) as Mizzou opened the series in Florida with an upset 7-3 win.

Missouri handed the Gators their fifth loss of the campaign.

Jordan Weber took the win in the circle, allowing three runs on five hits in 6.2 innings to improve to 5-4 in 2023. Weber notched a trio of strikeouts in the victory.

Honnold hit a two-point shot right in the first for an early Tigers advantage. Jenna Laird opened the game with a first single to right center before rounding the bases at the Honnold homer.

The Gators then tied the game at 2-2 with a two-run home run from Skylar Wallace in the third.

Honnold, a junior center fielder from West Des Moines, Iowa, then hit his second-round scorer of the game in the fifth, an outburst three-pointer.

She is the third Tiger this season to have a two-home run game, joining Julia Crenshaw (February 23, BYU) and Kara Daly (March 4, Tulsa).

Daly then added a solo bomb right in the sixth before a Crenshaw RBI sacrificial fly in the seventh increased the advantage to 7-2.

Florida scraped a run in the seventh before Taylor Pannell showed up for the final to secure the win.

The Tigers defeat the Gators!

Two home runs off the start from @alex_honnold22 help elevate @MizzouSoftball to a 7-3 upset of #11 Florida.#NCAASoftball x?? SECN pic.twitter.com/ZZztW4pMCI

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) March 18, 2023

PLAY NOTES

Alex Honnold tied a season-high three hits (3 for 4) with a career-high two homers, five RBIs and two runs. Kara Daly added a career-high three hits (3 for 4) with a personal best of two doubles, a run and an RBI. She now has six multi-hit games in 2023. Katie Chester tied the two best hits of her career (2 for 3). Jenna Laird and Chantice Phillips (double in every game against Florida on Friday) each had hits in Game 1. Jordan Weber improved to 5-4 in 2023 (37-20 in his career) with the win. She pitched 6.2 innings, allowing just three runs on five hits. Jordan Weber has four strikeouts and now has 29 this season. Taylor Pannell made her ninth appearance of the season, counting the final.

Missouri 3, No. 8/11 Florida 4

The Tigers were then edged out by Florida, 4-3, in the nightcap on Friday.

Mizzou scored first, capitalizing on a Gators throwing error in the first for a 1-0 lead.

Florida then grabbed a third three-run before a Skylar Wallace RBI triple in the next inning increased the margin to 4-1.

The Tigers moved closer to 4-3, scoring a pair in the fifth.

Jenna Laird opened the fifth frame with a single before hitting home on an Alex Honnold hit.

Julia Crenshaw then compiled her second RBI sacrificial fly of the day (one in each game of the doubleheader) to cut the deficit to 4-3.

PLAY NOTES

FOLLOWING

Mizzou and Florida will wrap up the weekend series on Sunday. The first pitch is at noon CT at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.

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