COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri's softball players say they are playing in protest of an internal investigation they say focuses on the program and its coaches.

The Columbia Daily Tribune says the team announced in a statement Saturday it would play that day's home game against South Carolina under protest.

Without detailing possible reasons for the investigation, the statement said the inquiry by the school's athletic department is "wholly unsubstantiated."

"The softball players support and love our coaching staff, and we wonder why this black cloud is being put over our program intentionally by Mizzou AD Mack Rhoades," the statement continued.

On Sunday, Missouri coach Ehren Earleywine acknowledged that the investigation surrounded player complaints.

"There's a couple of kids on the team that probably have things, exchanges between myself and them or different scenarios, that they would have liked to see handled differently," Earleywine said, according to the Kansas City Star. "... I'm tough on kids. I make them accountable, and there's discipline in our program. I'm a throwback. If that's demeaning, maybe, but it's not about them, the person. It's about their performance as a player."

The Missouri athletic department released its own statement Saturday saying the complaints came "from both inside and outside the program."

Because the review is ongoing and involves personnel matters, the school said it would have no other comment at this time.

Earleywine has coached at Missouri for 10 years and has two seasons left on his contract. He signed a seven-year extension in 2011 and makes $155,000 a year.

"I'm a little bit of a throwback into a millennial culture of people," Earleywine said. "It forces you to evaluate how you coach. It's not easy changing who you are and your instincts, but I know there are things I can do better."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.