Columbia Regional Breakdown
Missouri is looking for their fourth consecutive WCWS appearance and the journey begins at home in Columbia. The Tigers have a couple of the best players in the nation in senior infielder Ashley Fleming and junior pitcher Chelsea Thomas. With those two leading the way, this is a team that can beat anybody on any given day. However, the Tigers can be a little vulnerable at times too. When Fleming is struggling, this is a group that can have trouble getting scoring opportunities. There just is not much consistency in the lineup outside of Fleming. That means Missouri will play in some very close, low scoring games in this regional and all it takes is a bad break or two and the Tigers could find themselves in the losers bracket.
And DePaul, Massachusetts and Illinois State will not make things easy for Missouri. The Blue Demons are a well balanced team that have had some quality victories under their belt this season, most notably a couple wins against Louisville. They are not pitcher heavy or hitter heavy, but Kristen Verdun is very strong in the circle and a superb hitter as well. Umass is always dangerous thanks to senior pitcher Sara Plourde. She picked up her 500th strikeout of the season during the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament and will be on the mound throughout the tournament. The Minutewomen and Missouri could be a superb pitching battle where a mistake in the field could make the difference. Like DePaul, Illinois State is not particularly great at any one thing, but they are a solid team. Jordan Birch is an experienced hurler and they do have power at the plate with outfielders Lizzie Andrews and Jhavon Hamilton.
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