Survivors: How Missouri softball, with end in sight again, set up super regional rubber match

Missouri softball coach Larissa Anderson walked out to the circle and delivered a simple message to her closer Taylor Pannell.

Anderson had just watched a two-strike pitch sail inches wide of the left-field foul pole — inches from a grand slam and the potential end to her team’s year.

“I just told her,” Anderson said, “to strike out the next pitch.”

Message received.

Pannell’s devilish changeup got the Blue Devil swinging. One pitch later and the inning was over after a pop up. Pannell retired Duke in order in the seventh to end the two-run ball game and make history.

Missouri, despite living on the edge of the knife blade for most of the NCAA Tournament, is marching into a super-regional rubber match after defeating Duke 3-1 to save its season Saturday in the NCAA Columbia Super Regional. When Pannell closed the door on the Blue Devils, she earned her 15th save of the season, which tied the NCAA single-season record.

“I just knew that I had to empty the tank; give everything for this team,” Pannell said. “They got me this far and I was gonna do whatever it takes to get this win.”

The Tigers, after losing in both their regional and super regional openers, now have five straight wins with their season on the line.

Yes, that’s 5-0 with doom on their doorstep.

They’ll need a sixth Sunday against Duke for a first Women’s College World Series berth since 2011 — seven years before Duke became an NCAA program.

More: Missouri softball survives elimination again, sets up decider vs Duke in super regional

Mizzou has saved its skin every which way since the NCAA Tournament began.

There was Krings’ regional heroics; Madison Walker’s ninth-inning walk-off against Omaha; a last-gasp, five-run seventh against the Mavericks … and on, and on.

Saturday was Pannell’s turn.

The record hasn’t been on her mind, she said.

“It was kind of whatever,” Pannell said. “I knew if the situation was right I would be called upon, but it's really not about the save, it's just about this team getting wins. I have full trust in the pitching staff, and we work so well together. If the save comes, it comes — but the wins are more important.”

Her coach struck a slightly different tone.

“Honestly, I think about (the record) all the time,” Anderson said. “She's one of the best closers in the game. Absolutely, and I want the ball in her hands and I want her to rewrite the record books. … So, when I'm managing there are times like, ‘OK, I could put Taylor in right now and she would get the save and she would be at 20, but (Laurin) Krings is on fire or (Marissa McCann) is on fire, so I'm not going to make a change just to chase a record.’ I'm going to manage (in a way) to put our team in the best possible situation to be successful.”

On Saturday, that did mean Pannell.

And, indeed, the change — or changes — leading up to it came a little earlier than normal.

Pannell entered the circle for Marissa McCann with no outs in the sixth.

All day long, Missouri made sure it was reactive to the changing tide of the super regional.

Krings, who started for MU for the sixth straight game, went 4⅔ innings before Marissa McCann relieved her. That was a bold call. Krings had just given up a solo home run to Duke designated player Francesca Frelick, yes, but that was just the Blue Devils’ second hit off the starter of the game. Krings had been perfect through three innings.

McCann lasted just a ⅓ of an inning, giving up a walk before Anderson went to her closer.

That’s the postseason. Duke's quick moves gave it the upper hand in the opener. Missouri wasn't going to be caught sleeping again.

“Duke is a really, really good, strong team based on momentum, and they scored five runs yesterday with two outs,” Anderson said. “So, it's changing the momentum and changing up something so they don't feel that they have that consistency.

“It could have turned out differently but it's just trying to do whatever we can to control that momentum a little bit.”

Missouri has cut its teeth when the stakes were highest. Before Pannell’s chance to save the day, the Tigers jumped on an up-to-that-moment perfect Jala Wright — Duke’s starter — with a three-run fourth inning spearheaded by the top of its lineup.

Columbia native and Rock Bridge High grad Abby Hay drove in the first run with a single to shallow right, before a throwing error allowed another run to cross and Hay to reach third. Hay made it home in the Tigers’ next at-bat, as Julia Crenshaw drove home the local in front of Hay's hometown crowd.

“I mean, I've never been in a louder environment before,” Hay said. “Nothing really compares to it.”

Sunday might.

Missouri and Duke will face off in a decider Sunday for a spot in Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series. The time of the rubber game will be decided later Saturday.

It’s OKC or home.

Mizzou has made that kind of deal work five times out of five so far.

How?

“They love each other. They enjoy each other's company. You can see it in the atmosphere in the dugout; in the locker room; playing (the video game) Fortnite. Like, everything they do, they genuinely care about one another,” Anderson said. “And they know that the season is on the line, and if today's game was a loss that's the end of their journey together. And they don't want it to end.

“So that's why they have just a little bit more to fight for tomorrow, and they're going to do the same thing tomorrow. We're just going to fight so they can have one more minute together.”

More: What to know about Missouri softball's NCAA Columbia Super Regional: TV, times, tickets, parking

More: The closer: Missouri softball pitcher Taylor Pannell nears NCAA D-I saves record

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Missouri softball thrived again with elimination on the line