FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Jefferson City graduate Kara Daly went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a walk Tuesday to lead the 13th-seeded Missouri Tigers to a 3-1 victory against the 12th-seeded Mississippi State Bulldogs in the play-in game of the SEC Tournament.
The Tigers jumped in front in the top of the second inning when Maddie Sniper drove home Payton Jackson with a triple to right-center.
Mississippi State tied the game in the fourth inning with a solo home run by Nadia Barbary, but Missouri quickly jumped back in front in the fifth on an RBI double by Alex Honnold that scored Jenna Laird.
Daly delivered the insurance in the top of the seventh, driving an RBI double just inside the left-field line to plate Laird.
Missouri (33-23) will take on fifth-seeded Alabama (38-17) at 4 p.m. today in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
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Daly was also named the D1Softball player of the week Tuesday after hitting walk-off home runs in back-to-back games over the weekend against Arkansas.
Daly went 3-for-8 with two solo home runs in the three-game series, but her game-ending homers helped lead the Tigers to taking the three-game series against then-No. 12 Arkansas.
The first walk-off home run came Saturday in the bottom of the eighth inning in a game tied at 3, and the second came Sunday in the bottom of the seventh to give Missouri a 4-3 victory. Both hits came off Razorback All-American ace Chenise Delce.
They were Daly’s ninth and 10th home runs on the year, as she finished the regular season hitting .261 with 24 extra-base hits and 42 RBI.