Confident Tigers seek Big 12 title

Missouri coach Ty Singleton was verbose after the No. 15 Tigers’ regular season-ending 1-0 win against Nebraska on Sunday.

He praised senior Erin Kalka’s final home start, a three-hit shutout in which she struck out 10 Cornhuskers.

“Erin Kalka did a fantastic job,” he said. “She looked like Erin from last year.”

He also commended Missouri’s ability to regroup after losing Saturday to finish 4-1 in its past five Big 12 Conference games.

“Once you’ve had that loss, you need to look to what you can do,” he said. “They did what they could do, and that was to finish out with a win in conference.”

The victory clinched a fifth-place conference finish for the Tigers, setting up a first-round meeting with Baylor in the Big 12 tournament at 11 a.m. today in Oklahoma City, Okla.

The No. 11 Bears swept the season series from Missouri, winning two one-run games April 23-24 in Waco, Texas.

“We did not play our game down there,” Singleton said.

But when asked why that happened, Singleton was speechless, saying only it was disappointing to watch.

Missouri’s players seemed to respond to a couple “wake-up practices” Singleton held as a result. The Tigers won 6-of-7 to close out the regular season.

Kalka’s performance against the Cornhuskers earned her Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors.

Kalka struck out 286 batters in 2004 to set the Missouri single-season record. She broke her right leg in the offseason and didn’t make her first appearance until March 16 at Evansville.

Singleton said he is excited about the team’s prospects with Kalka on the mound and the offense performing to its capability.

The Tigers led the conference with 71 home runs and finished fourth with a .305 average.

“If we have an average day with her pitching, then we are going to win a lot of ballgames,” he said. “But if we have a great day with her pitching, then there isn’t anybody who can beat us.”

Kalka helped Missouri advance to the Big 12 championship game last year, where it lost 1-0 to Nebraska.

She started each of the Tigers’ four games in the tournament, allowing four earned runs in 23 2/3 innings. She said Missouri will have to pitch well to match last year’s success.

“The Big 12 has a lot of good hitters and…you have to get ahead of them in the count,” Kalka said.

Singleton said this might be the most balanced Big 12 field he has seen during his six years coaching in the conference, including three as an assistant at Texas.

“There are so many talented teams,” he said. “The level of play is so equal.”