FAYETTEVILLE -- The No. 19 University of Arkansas softball team will look to ride the momentum of last week's SEC road series win against Georgia this weekend as the Razorbacks host No. 11 Missouri starting at 5 p.m. today at Bogle Park.
Senior third baseman Hannah Gammill provided the power, belting a grand slam and solo shot in the third game to power the Razorbacks (26-9, 5-4 SEC) to Monday's 8-2 win to claim the series.
Missouri (29-8, 4-5) comes into the series after dropping a 1-0 game against Southern Missouri on Wednesday, which snapped a four-game winning streak. The Tigers were held to three hits in the loss.
Following Friday's series opener, the two teams will go at it at noon Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Tigers own a series win against LSU, but were swept by Tennessee. Last weekend, Missouri played outside of the SEC on an East Coast swing and went 4-0 against Hofstra, George Mason, Villanova and Southeast Missouri State .
Missouri has a mixed roster in terms of experienced players and newcomers. There are nine upperclassmen and eight freshmen on the 22-player roster.
"They have a lot of tools throughout their order," Arkansas Coach Courtney Deifel said. "They are not necessarily one style. They are just a little more unpredictable throughout the order, which is a little more difficult to prepare for."
Former SEC pitcher of the year Mary Haff is a graduate assistant coach for the Tigers. At Arkansas, Haff was 97-31 with 15 saves and was named All-SEC four times.
Laurin Krings (8-6, 2.93 ERA) is Missouri's leading pitcher with a team-high 88 1/3 innings pitched. The senior right-hander was a 12-game winner in 2023 and has one perfect game and two no-hitters in her career.
Sophomore right-hander Cierra Harrison (10-1, 1.62 ERA) has already exceeded last year's win total. In 73 1/3 innings, she has just 19 walks and 61 strikeouts.
Freshman Marissa McCann is 6-1 with a 2.00 ERA, and sophomore lefty Taylor Pannell (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is a closer with six saves.
"All of their staff do what they do really well and complement each other really well," Deifel said. "Krings looks to me like she's mixing her off-speed a little more, going down in the zone a little bit more, which only complements Harrison and McCann and everyone else."
The Tigers' offense starts with All-American outfielder Alex Honnold. The senior leads the team in most hitting categories including a .377 batting average with 16 doubles and 26 RBI.
Senior shortstop Jenna Laird, a second-team All-SEC performer last season, is batting .376 with 41 hits and 12 stolen bases. She had 30 steals last season.
Last season Kara Daly twice had game-winning hits against the Razorbacks to give Missouri the series win. The junior has 5 home runs and 22 RBI. Infielder Katie Chester has 4 homers and 24 RBI.
"Alex Honnold is one of the best hitters in the country and her numbers prove it," Deifel said. "She's a lefty hitter and she has the ability to drive the ball and she also has some speed. She's a tough hitter to defend because of the tools that she has.
"Daly came up big for them last year with the two walk-offs. She has the ability to drive the ball. She's a really strong athlete and she came up big for them last year ... twice."