COLUMBIA, Mo. - They made it harder than it needed to be, but the Missouri softball team was still able to pick up a win in its opener at the NCAA Softball Columbia Regional.
The Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead and got the first two outs of the seventh inning against the Bradley Braves before running into trouble, giving up five runs.
But the 16th-ranked Tigers regrouped and scored one run in the bottom of the seventh to force extra action, and then won it with a run in the bottom of the eighth, taking a 6-5 decision.
"We were fortunate enough to get out of there with the win," Missouri coach Ehren Earleywine said. "We didn't play extremely smart but we played hard and it was enough for today. It probably won't be enough for (today), we'll have to do a better job managing our at-bats and making sure we don't give the other team freebies.
"Survive and advance is the final word on that."
After getting the first two outs in the seventh, Missouri starter Casey Stangel ran into trouble by walking the next two batters. She then gave up a three-run homer, the first of four straight hits she allowed before leaving the game.
Alora Marble (Blair Oaks High School) came on in relief and gave up a hit to the first batter she faced, putting the Braves up 5-4. But she recovered and got a groundout for the final out of the frame.
In the bottom of the seventh, Corrin Genovese led off with her third double of the day, followed by an error and a walk to load the bases. Kirsten Mack followed with a sacrifice fly to force the extra inning.
Then in the bottom of the eighth, Taylor Gadbois drew a walk, Emily Crane had a single and Angela Randazzo drew a walk to load the bases. It was Genovese doing the damage again, as she smacked a walkoff single to end a day where she went 4-for-4 with two RBI.
"I was so glad that Angie walked because had Angie not walked, they would've had that base open to walk Corrin and that would've made our job a lot harder," Earleywine said. "... I know today is the first day of regionals, but Corrin, she basically carried us today. Hopefully we can continue to get that kind of performance out of players each day."
Marble got the win, improving to 7-1 on the season. She did not allow a hit after that first single, retiring the next four batters in order.
"She did a really good job," Earleywine said of Marble. "One of the things I really like about Alora is that she throws strikes."
Stangel ended up going 6 2/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits and five walks with for strikeouts.
In addition to Genovese's big day, Crane went 3-for-5 with one RBI, Kelsea Roth went 2-for-3 with one RBI and Natalie Fleming had one hit and one RBI.
Missouri (42-16) will play Kansas (34-21) at 3:30 p.m. today, while Bradley (27-31) will meet Nebraska (40-16) at 6 p.m. in an elimination game.
In the day's first game, Kansas upset 19th-ranked Nebraska 3-1.
The Jayhawks got all of their runs in the top of the first, as they actually got outhit 5-4 by the Cornhuskers in the contest.
Nebraska got its run in the bottom of the fourth.
Taylor Hatfield had a two-run home run for the Jayhawks, while Maddie Stein went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
Kelsey Kessler (20-14) got the win for Kansas, pitching a five-hitter. The run was earned and she walked three while striking out six.
Tatum Edwards (22-12) was the loser, allowing three earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven.