Huskers Face No. 21/23 Missouri, Wichita State

The Nebraska softball team (6-8) heads to Columbia, Mo., this weekend for the Mizzou Tournament, which will feature Nebraska, No. 21/23 Missouri and Wichita State. The Huskers will play both teams twice for a total of four games from Feb. 29 to March 1. The Huskers start with a game on Saturday against No. 21/23 Missouri at 12:30 p.m. CT followed by a game against Wichita State at 3 p.m. CT. (Note: both times have been moved an hour later than originally scheduled). On Sunday, NU plays the Tigers (10 a.m.) and the Shockers (12:30 p.m.).

Scouting the Opponents
Missouri enters the weekend ranked No. 21 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and 23rd in the USA Softball/ESPN Poll. The Tigers have an overall record of 12-5, which includes two wins over two top 2- opponents - No. 7/8 Minnesota on Feb. 8 and No. 16 Oklahoma State on Feb. 14. Most recently, Mizzou went 3-3 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Tigers lost to No. 5 Arizona, UC Davis and Seattle, but beat Oregon State, New Mexico and California. Brooke Wilmes leads the Tiger offense with a .357 batting average through 17 starts. She has a team-high 20 hits and also has two doubles and one home run. Hatti Moore has also started every game for Missouri. She leads the team with a .688 slugging percentage and is also hitting a solid .313. Moore has a team-best five home runs and also has three doubles and 11 RBIs.

In the circle, Megan Schumacher, Jordan Weber and Emma Nichols are carrying most of the weight. Schumacher has a team-high 37.2 innings pitched with a 4.09 ERA and a 2-2 record. She is also adding 26 strikeouts. Weber (3-0) has a 2.49 ERA and 29 strikeouts through 25.1 innings pitched. Nichols has a 4.32 ERA and a 1-2 record with 29 strikeouts through 24.1 innings pitched. Eli Daniel is also off to a great start. With a 5-1 record and 1.98 ERA, Daniel has a team-high 29 strikeouts and three saves, despite only pitching 17.2 innings.

Wichita State is 7-9 through the first three weeks of the 2020 season. Most recently, the Shockers went 2-3 at the Easton Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa, Ala., last weekend. WSU beat Penn State twice, but lost to Louisville twice and No. 9/10 Alabama. Wylie Glover leads the WSU starters with a .395 batting average. She also has seven runs, one homer and 11 RBIs on the season. Neleigh Herring is hitting .358 with a team-best .679 slugging percentage through 16 starts. Herring also leads the team with four homers, 17 RBIs and 19 hits. As a team, the Shockers are hitting .329 which ranks second in the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers also rank second in the AAC in doubles (28), on-base percentage (.409) and scoring (6.31).

In the circle, most of the pitching has been evenly distributed between Caitlin Bingham, Bailey Lange and Erin McDonald. Bingham has pitched 29.2 innings and has a 3-1 record with an ERA of 3.07. Lange (2-5) has pitched 28.2 innings and has a team-best 28 strikeouts. She also has an ERA of 6.84. McDonald has an ERA of 7.24 and a record of 2-3. She's pitched 29.0 innings and has 23 strikeouts.

Follow the Huskers
A live radio broadcast will be available on Huskers.com and the official Huskers App for all of Nebraska's games this season. Fans can also follow the action on Twitter (@HuskerSoftball).