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Sliding into a base safely has been a familiar event for Missouri’s Rhea Taylor. Taylor, a freshman, is second in the nation with 51 steals, but MU Coach Ehren Earleywine wants Taylor to focus on the three times she’s been caught.

Missouri center fielder Rhea Taylor enters the softball team’s final Big 12 regular-season series this weekend at Nebraska tied with former Oklahoma State outfielder Shanel Scott for the conference record in stolen bases. Taylor’s 51 steals (on 54 attempts) rank second in the nation this season, one behind Alabama’s Brittany Rogers.

Yet Tigers Coach Ehren Earleywine sees room for Taylor to improve on the base paths.

It sounds ridiculous to suggest that someone who has been successful more than 94 percent of the time she’s attempted to steal a base could get better, but Earleywine’s not joking. Taylor has unmatched speed and gets great timing on her jumps, but she is still learning how to slide.

Taylor is capable of stealing bases with a success rate of 98 or 99, according to Earleywine. And yes, he believes those four or five percentage points could mean all the difference. It’s the difference in stealing the "money bag."

As in a bag that everyone in the stadium knows the base runner will attempt to steal. The runner represents the tying or winning run and it takes place against a good team in a meaningful game.

"That ‘money bag’ is the one we got to make sure she steals," Earleywine said. "The one that wins us the Big 12 title or the one that wins us the College World Series in a few years."

Given the rate at which Taylor learns, it’s easy to imagine her stealing a couple "money bags" before she graduates.

When Taylor arrived at Missouri in the fall, Earleywine viewed her as a project. He didn’t expect her to thrive until her sophomore or junior season. She was blessed with that speed, but she was raw at the plate.

Taylor began her career at Peachtree Ridge High School in Buford, Ga., as a right-handed power-hitter. She taught herself to slap hit from the left side, but it wasn’t pretty.

In her first at bat this fall she took two walking steps, stopped and swung. She should have been close to top speed when she made contact.

"It was basically like starting all over," Taylor said of coming to Missouri. "Or not even starting all over. Starting. Period."

In Earleywine she found a coach who understood what she was going through. As a college student he played men’s fast-pitch softball over the summer. Earleywine switched to the left side as a junior to better utilize his speed, but it took him a couple years to feel comfortable from that side.

"There’s no better teacher than experience," Earleywine said. "You can read stuff out of books - and those things are very helpful - and watch videos. But until you’ve been in their shoes and walked that mile that they’re walking, it’s hard to really relate to them."

It didn’t take Taylor as long to catch on as expected. This season she leads Missouri with 78 hits and a .413 batting average. Taylor’s drive expedited the learning process.

"When coach tells me to do something, it’s like I have to do it," Taylor said. "Even though it’s a new thing and it’s OK to mess up, I constantly tell myself, ‘There’s no room to make mistakes. I can’t make mistakes. I want to be a starter.’ I made myself adjust and listen to him so I could be successful."

Taylor is just as demanding of herself in games.

On April 19, Missouri lost the opening game of its series at Texas 6-1. Taylor was 1 for 3 from the leadoff spot and scored the lone run, but that wasn’t good enough for her.

"The next day she comes at me and she said, ‘Look, Lisa I’ve got to get on base. You know, we have to get runs.’" catcher Lisa Simmons said.

Taylor went 4 for 4 with three stolen bases and three runs in the second game. Missouri won 4-1 and split the series.

"She just knows she’s a big part of the team and if she gets on she’s gonna score," Simmons said.

Taylor has scored a team-high 58 runs. That equates to 1.04 runs per game. Through Sunday that was the sixth best average in the nation.

"She’s definitely got ‘All-American’ written all over her if she takes the time developing her skills," pitcher Jen Bruck said. "I think if she knows that she’s just gonna work twice as hard."

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