The Missouri Tigers softball team is the team that represents the University of Missouri in NCAA Division I college softball. The team is coached currently by their head coach Larissa Anderson, she was hired on May 26, 2018.
History
Early history (1975–1987) In response to the passage of Title IX in 1972, Missouri began sponsoring women's softball, women's basketball, and women's track & field, women's swimming, women's volleyball, women's tennis, women's golf, and women's field hockey during the 1974–1975 academic year. Alexis Jarrett was the first women's softball coach at Missouri, also coaching the women's basketball (1974–1975) and women's track and field teams (including cross-country) from 1974–1977 while serving as the women's assistant director of athletics (1974–1976) and sports information director for the eight women's sports (1974-1977). Jarrett would have success, going 14–7 in both years at the helm for a .667 win percentage and finishing 2nd in the 1975 and 1976 AIAW State Championship. The 1975 team also finished sixth in the unofficial Big Eight Championship held at Kansas State.
For the next four years, Missouri would continue to have moderate success under head coach Debbie Duren, peaking in 1980 with a 2nd place finish in the Big 8 Tournament and a 5th place finish in the AIAW Region 6 Championship.
Barb Preist took over as head coach in 1981 and led Missouri to greater heights, including a 5th place finish in its first appearance in the Women's College World Series in 1981. In 1982, Preist led Missouri to an appearance in Mideast Regional in the inaugural NCAA Division I tournament.
Joyce Compton took over for Preist after the 1982 season and in her first season as head coach led Missouri to its first Big 8 Tournament Championship and to its second appearance in the Women's College World Series. The 1980–1983 teams were led by Missouri's all-time wins and shutouts leader and 1983 All-America Teresa Wilson. After Wilson's departure, Compton was unable to build off of that 1983 season, failing to reach the NCAA Tournament in each of her next three years before accepting the head coach position at the University of South Carolina. Compton was replaced for one season by Rhesa Sumrell, under whom Missouri would suffer their only losing season between 1979 and 2002. Missouri has had only three losing seasons (1978, 1979 and 1987).
The Miller era (1988–2002) Jay Miller was brought in as Missouri's 6th head coach in 1988. After three years of a fair amount of success, the Tigers had a breakout year in 1991 behind All-American pitcher Karen Snelgrove, supported by offensive and defensive stars Karen Schneider, Kellie Leach, Jill Brent, Tiffany Heick and Rechelle Johnson winning both the Big 8 Championship and Big 8 Tournament Championship and reaching the WCWS for the third time in school history. Anchored by sluggers Mary Babb and Barb Wright, Miller would go on to lead Missouri to its fourth WCWS appearance in 1994, as well as Missouri's first Big 12 Championship in 1997. All in all, in his 15 years as head coach, 10 different Missouri players would earn All-American honors under Miller.
The Singleton years (2003–2006) Ty Singleton took over as head coach in 2003. Missouri had moderate success under Singleton, earning three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament from 2003–2005 but failing to make it past the Regional stage and unable to win any conference championships. Singleton did earn Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 2003 but ultimately was let go in 2006 following just Missouri's third losing season since 1979.
The Earleywine legacy (2007–2018) In 2007, Missouri lured Jefferson City native and 2005 ACC Coach of the Year Ehren Earleywine away from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Earleywine would earn Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in his first season and again in 2011.
In 2008, in winning the Iowa City Regional, Earlywhine led Missouri to its first ever Super Regional appearance, where the Tigers fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide. In 2009, Missouri would win the Big 12 Tournament and defeat the UCLA Bruins en route to the 2009 Women's College World Series, Missouri's first WCWS appearance since 1994. Missouri would host a Super Regional for the first time in 2010, defeating the Oregon Ducks to advance to the 2010 Women's College World Series. In 2011, Missouri won the Big 12 Championship for the second time and defeated the Washington Huskies on the way to the 2011 Women's College World Series, Missouri's third consecutive trip. In Missouri's last season as a member of the Big 12 in 2012, Missouri fell just short of a fourth consecutive WCWS appearance, losing to the LSU Tigers in the Super Regionals.
From 2008–2013, Earleywine led Missouri to six straight Super Regionals. From 2009–2011, Earleywine led Missouri to back-to-back-to-back WCWS appearances.
In seven seasons under Earleywine, six different players have earned All-American honors and three players, Rhea Taylor (2008, 2010, 2011), Ashley Fleming (2011, 2012), and Chelsea Thomas (2011, 2012, 2013), have earned multiple All-American honors. Thomas won conference pitcher of the year honors three times (twice in the Big 12, once in the SEC) and was a Top 3 finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year honors in 2011.
Earleywine was fired from Missouri on January 26, 2018, less than two weeks before the 2018 regular season was set to begin. Gina Fogue replaced Earleywine as head coach on an interim basis; she led the Tigers to a 30-29 record during the 2018 season, but was not retained following the year.
The Anderson tenure (2018–present) Larissa Anderson was hired as the Tigers' head softball coach on May 26, 2018. Anderson signed a five-year contract with Missouri after spending four years as the head coach at Hofstra.
In 2019, the Tigers received NCAA sanctions due to academic misconduct. This included a one-year postseason ban, scholarship and recruiting limitations, and a monetary fine. The sanctions were in effect for the 2020 season, which ended up being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCAA later ruled that the postseason ban would not apply to the 2021 season.
Head coaches + Name Years Won Lost Pct.Alexis Jarrett1975–19762814.667Debbie Duran1977–19807850.609Barb Preist1981–19829132.740Joyce Compton1983–198611577.599Rhesa Sumrell19871418.438Jay Miller1988–2002556309.643Ty Singleton2003–200613088.596Ehren Earleywine2007–2018226104.685Gina Fogue (interim)20183029.508Larissa Anderson2018–present242146.623
Year-by-year results Season Coach Record Notes Overall Conference Big 8 Conference 1975 Alexis Jarrett 14–7 —AIAW State Championship (2nd Place) 1976 14–7 — AIAW State Championship (2nd Place) 1977 Debbie Duren 19–11 —AIAW State Championship (2nd Place) 1978 14–17 —AIAW State Championship (4th Place) 1979 9–15 —AIAW State Championship (4th Place) 1980 36–17 —AIAW Region 6 Championship (5th Place) 1981 Barb Preist 46–20 —AIAW Women's College World Series (5th Place) 1982 46–20 —NCAA Regional 1983 Joyce Compton 40–13 —NCAA Women's College World Series (7th Place) 1984 21–18 — 1985 29–23 — 1986 25–23 — 1987 Rhesa Sumrell 14–18 — 1988 Jay Miller 44–18 — 1989 35–22 — 1990 30–14 —No. 20 Final NCAA poll 1991 39–14 —Big 8 Champions, Big 8 Tournament Champions, Women's College World Series (5th Place) 1992 41–14 —No. 16 Final NCAA poll 1993 31–18 — 1994 40–23 —Women's College World Series (7th Place) 1995 47–19 —NCAA Regional, No. 23 Final NFCA poll Big 12 Conference 1996 Jay Miller 31–22 11–10 1997 47–16 15–3Big 12 Champions, Big 12 Tournament Champions, NCAA Regional, No. 12 Final NFCA poll 36–20 5–13 1999 41–21 10–5NCAA Regional, No. 15 Final NFCA poll 2000 34–27 6–13 2001 31–28 5–11 2002 29–33 4–14 2003 Ty Singleton 31–20 12–5NCAA Regional 2004 29–26 13–4NCAA Regional 2005 44–15 10–8NCAA Regional, No. 20 Final NFCA poll 2006 26–27 7–11 2007 Ehren Earleywine 40–24 13–4NCAA Regional, No. 19 Final USA Softball poll 2008 47–17 11–6NCAA Super Regional 2009 50–12 12–6Big 12 Tournament Champions, Women's College World Series (7th Place) 2010 51–13 11–7Women's College World Series (7th Place) 2011 53–10 15–3Big 12 Champions, Women's College World Series (6th Place) 2012 47–14 17–7NCAA Super Regional Southeastern Conference 2013Ehren Earleywine 38–14 15–8NCAA Super Regional 2014Ehren Earleywine 43–18 15–9NCAA Regional 2015Ehren Earleywine 41–17 14–10NCAA Super Regional 2016Ehren Earleywine 42–16 14–10NCAA Super Regional 2017Ehren Earleywine 29–28 7–16NCAA Regional 2018 Gina Fogue (interim) 30–29 6–17NCAA Regional 2019 Larissa Anderson 35–25 12–12NCAA Regional 2020 Larissa Anderson 19–7 3–0 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Larissa Anderson 42–17 15–9NCAA Super Regional 2022 Larissa Anderson 38–22 12–11NCAA Regional 2023 Larissa Anderson 35–26 7–17 NCAA Regional2024Larissa Anderson48-1713-11NCAA Super Regional2025Larissa Anderson25-316-182026Larissa Anderson28-299-15
Missouri in the NCAA Tournament
1982Lincoln, NE Regional Lost to Nebraska, 1–0 Defeated Nebraska, 1–0 Lost to Nebraska, 4–1
1983Columbia, MO Regional Lost to SW Missouri St 3–1 Defeated SW Missouri St 3–0 Defeated SW Missouri St 1–0
Women's College World Series Lost to UCLA 1-0 Lost to Pacific 1-0
1991Iowa City, IA Regional Defeated Iowa 2–0 Defeated Iowa 4–0
Women's College World Series Lost to Long Beach State 1–0 Defeated Pacific 2–0 Lost to UCLA 5–0
1994Lawrence, KS Regional Defeated Kansas 1–0 Lost to Hawaii 2–1 Defeated Kansas 1–0 Defeated Hawaii 3–1 Defeated Hawaii 2–1
Women's College World Series Lost to Cal State Northridge 5–3 Lost to Oklahoma State 7–3
1995Northridge, CA Regional Lost to Cal State Northridge 2–1 Lost to Illinois State 5–1
1997Iowa City, IA Regional Lost to Utah 3–1 Lost to DePaul 1–0
1999Los Angeles, CA Regional Lost to Cal State Northridge 7–3 Defeated Alabama 1–0 Defeated Cal State Northridge 3–1 Defeated Minnesota 3–0 Lost to UCLA 12–5
2003Ann Arbor, MI Regional Lost to Notre Dame 4–3 Lost to Wright State 3–1
2004Los Angeles, CA Regional Lost to Louisville 1–0 Lost to Mississippi Valley State 4–3
2005Columbia, MO Regional Lost to Southern Illinois 3–0 Defeated Robert Morris 9–0 Defeated Southern Illinois 9–0 Lost to Stanford 3–2
2007Carbondale, IL Regional Defeated Southern Illinois 8–0 Lost to DePaul 2–0 Defeated Southern Illinois 7–4 Lost to DePaul 3–0
2008Iowa City, IA Regional Defeated Iowa 3–2 Defeated Long Beach State 5–3 Defeated Iowa 5–4 Tuscaloosa, AL Super Regional Lost to Alabama 6–1 Lost to Alabama 7–1
2009Columbia, MO Regional Defeated Illinois 5–1 Defeated Bradley 2–1 Defeated DePaul 1–0
Los Angeles, CA Super Regional Defeated UCLA 2–1 Lost to UCLA 5–2 Defeated UCLA 9–1
Women's College World Series Lost to Arizona State 7–3 Lost to Georgia 5–2
2010Columbia, MO Regional Defeated Creighton 3–2 Defeated Illinois 3–1 Defeated Illinois 4–2
Columbia, MO Super Regional Defeated Oregon 7–0 Defeated Oregon 7–2
Women's College World Series Lost to Hawaii 3–2 Lost to Florida 5–0
2011Columbia, MO Regional Defeated Illinois State 12–3 Lost to DePaul 2–1 Defeated Illinois State 8–4 Defeated DePaul 7–3 Defeated DePaul 8–0
Columbia, MO Super Regional Defeated Washington 4–0 Defeated Washington 6–3
Women's College World Series Lost to Florida 6–2 Beat Oklahoma 4–1 Lost to Baylor 1–0
2012Columbia, MO Regional Defeated Illinois State 6–0 Defeated DePaul 1–0 Defeated Illinois State 2–1
Columbia, MO Super Regional Lost to LSU 6–1 Defeated LSU 5–1 Lost to LSU 3–1
2013Columbia, MO Regional Defeated Stony Brook 3–0 Defeated Hofstra 1–0 Lost to Hofstra 10–0 Defeated Hofstra 5–0
Columbia, MO Super Regional Lost to Washington 2–1 Lost to Washington 1–0
2014Columbia, MO Regional Defeated Bradley 6–5 Defeated Kansas 6–3 Lost to Nebraska 11–4 Lost to Nebraska 8–1
2015Columbia, MO Regional Defeated Indiana State 7–0 Defeated Kansas 5–3 Defeated Kansas 7–6
Los Angeles, CA Super Regional Lost to UCLA 7–4 Lost to UCLA 10–6
2016Columbia, MO Regional