Softball finishes at No. 8 for second straight year
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Jun 15, 2010 – For the second consecutive year, the Missouri softball team concluded the season with the No. 8 overall ranking in the final USA Today/NFCA poll. The eighth place by the 2010 squad ties them with last year’s team for the highest end-of-season ranking in program history.
The Tigers made the Women’s College World Series for the second straight season, as they finished with a 51-13 record. The 51 wins set a new school record, breaking the 2009 team total of 50 wins. Mizzou faced off against 11 of the final top-25 teams this season, putting together a record 13-10 against those opponents.
The 2010 team scored more runs than any other Tiger team in the history of the program, as they touched home 381 times. Junior Rhea Taylor led the offense with a .452 batting average, the best in a single-season at Missouri, and also set personal bests in doubles (10), triples (8), home runs (8), runs batted in (40), total bases (135), slugging percentage (.718), walks (13) and on-base percentage (.490). Taylor earned All-America honors for the second time in her career, and became the first Tiger ever to be name to the Women’s College World Series All-Tournament team.
The pitching staff finished the year with a 2.25 combined ERA in the circle. Senior Jana Hainey and sophomore Kristin Nottelmann stepped up in the middle of the year following a season-ending injury to Chelsea Thomas. Hainey posted a 2.96 ERA and a 10-2 record in her final season, while Nottelmann, who emerged as the ace in the postseason, went 24-9 with a 2.09 ERA. The 24 wins in a single season tie her for eighth most in school history.
Missouri returns 19 of their 22 players next season, which includes two All-Americans in Taylor and Marla Schweisberger, three freshmen standouts, Nicole Hudson, Jenna Marston and Lindsey Muller, Ashley Fleming, who was named USA Softball National Player of the Week for May 4, Nottelmann, who proved she could step in and lead Missouri against some of the top teams in the country, and a healthy Thomas.