No. 19 Mizzou Softball (33-12, 8-9 SEC) supplied the faithful black and gold fans with heroics for the second consecutive night on Sunday, earning a 2-1 walk-off win over No. 16 Texas A&M. The Aggies evened the score at one apiece in the top of the seventh but Mizzou responded with a run in the bottom half to tally the victory.
Freshman Danielle Baumgartner (Mexico, Mo.) was two outs away from tossing a complete game shutout before Texas A&M finally recorded its first run of the contest in the seventh inning. Baumgartner baffled the Aggies all evening long, allowing one earned run while striking out a season-high six batters over 6.2 innings of work.
Sophomore Paige Lowary (Dallas Center, Iowa) tallied the final out in the top of the seventh inning, completing a 1-3 put out to give Mizzou a chance at a walk-off victory. Senior Emily Crane (Troy, Mo.) roped her 13th double of the year to put the Tigers in business in the bottom half of the final inning.
Following consecutive walks to the Tigers, junior Chloe Rathburn (Mission Viejo, Calif.) stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. A slow chopper to the Aggies’ shortstop resulted in a close play at the plate but Crane slid in safely just ahead of the throw.
Crane matched her career high tonight with her 17th consecutive game reaching base safely. Redshirt senior Taylor Gadbois (Maryville, Mo.) extended her current hitting streak to 10 games following a third inning single. Redshirt senior Sami Fagan (Dunnellon, Fla.) recorded the only other RBI tonight for Mizzou, marking her 46th run driven in this season. Fagan’s 2-for-3 performance at the plate also marked her 19th multi-hit effort this year.
