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Indiana softball went into the NCAA tournament with an imposing lineup featuring seven hitters with a .300 or better batting average.
Those bats went silent on Saturday night in a 5-1 loss to Missouri that ended the Hoosiers (40-20) season in the Columbia Regional.
Missouri ace Laurin Krings only allowed four hits over six-plus innings. Krings was nearing a complete-game shutout when Sarah Stone hit her second home run of the tournament with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Stone was the first runner to reach third base.
The Tigers turned to closer Taylor Pannell to get the game's final two outs.
Indiana softball gets into a pitching duel with Missouri
Krings faced the minimum number of batters through the first four innings, but that kind of dominance was nothing new for her. She’s thrown two no-hitters and a perfect game during her career.
Indiana worked a couple 3-2 counts against Krings, but struggled to make hard contact. She threw less than 14 pitches in four of the first five innings.
Aly VanBrandt got the Hoosiers their first hit with two outs in the second inning on a nine-pitch at-bat, but was promptly thrown out trying to steal second base.
Indiana suffered a bit of bad luck when it looked on the verge of putting some pressure on Krings in the fifth. Avery Parker hit the first pitch she saw to left field for a single — IU’s first leadoff hit of the game — but she was called out for runner’s interference running to second base on a would-be base hit from Alex Cooper.
Indiana pitcher Sophie Kleiman was pretty flawless herself to start out after coming into the game in the second inning. She worked out of two out jam with runners on the corners and retired the first seven batters she faced.
The first base runner she allowed reached first on a bunt and was called out at home trying to score on an infield single.
Things weren’t as easy for Kleiman in the late innings.
The Tigers loaded the bases in the sixth with no outs and put runners on the corners again in the seventh to push their lead to 5-0. Kleiman allowed three earned runs on a walk and five hits with two strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
Her biggest achievement came when she limited Missouri to just one out after loading the bases with no outs in the sixth. She walked in a run, but got a key force out at home and infield pop up to limit the damage.
There was some controversy when Julia Crenshaw was called out at home trying to score on a passed ball, but the play was upheld on review.
More fielding woes doom Indiana softball
Missouri put its first two hitters of the game on base with a leadoff double from Jenna Laird and a walk to Alex Honnold.
They both came around to score to give the Tigers an early 2-0 advantage.
Laird crossed home after Maddie Gallagher hit a hard comebacker up the middle that Copeland had trouble fielding. She tried to get Gallagher out at first base with an underhanded toss to Sarah Stone, but her throw was off target and she was credited with the error.
Indiana allowed a pair of unearned runs with three throwing errors (two on one play) in the regional opener against Washington on Friday.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here .
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana softball's bats go quiet in season-ending NCAA tournament loss to Missouri
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