Jennies Return Home for Pair of Doubleheaders

Quick Hits
Anderson vs. the Miners
Head Coach Susan Anderson is 9-4 in her career against Missouri S&T. The Jennies are 5-1 in their last six games against the Miners, including sweeps in their last two doubleheaders.

Anderson vs. the Bearcats
Coach Anderson also has a impressive record against Southwest Baptist, going 14-5 in her career at UCM. Last season, the two teams split four games and each went 1-1 at home.

Prater's Dominance
In her last five games in the circle, senior Jakki Prater has been nearly untouchable. She's thrown 41 innings (including two 10 inning appearances) and allowed just eight earned runs for a 1.37 ERA. Over that time, she's also struck out 19 batters while walking only nine as the Jennies won four of those five.

Queens of Leon(hart)
Sophomore Alex Leonhart has been on a tear of late. In her last seven games (six starts), she is batting .571 (12-for-21) with five RBI and three run scored. She now leads the team in batting average hitting .435 for the season.

Regional Play
The Jennies finished the season 3-3 against the Northern Sun this season. UCM went 3-2 this past weekend at the Missouri Western Crossover and were 2-3 in February at the Kelly Laas Memorial Tournament.

History in the Making
The Jennies 18-8 start is the longest they have been above .500 since 2009. That season, the third under Coach Anderson, the Jennies went 36-14.

Every Games a Different Story
The 2015 Jennies have been sharing the spotlight all season long. Whether it's the pitching staff or the lineup, it seems the team rotates who plays hero. Against Upper Iowa, UCM broke out for 14 runs and 18 hits, both season highs. Carlie Rose drove in a career-high five RBI in the game. Later that same afternoon, senior Katie Shockley tossed her best game of the season: a complete game shutout of Northern State striking out four and letting up just three hits.

Wins Over Ranked Opponents
Central Missouri's win over No. 15 Rollins was the team's first win over a ranked opponent since Feb. 17, 2007 against No. 12 Arkansas-Monticello. The Jennies nearly doubled up against No. 24 Augustana last weekend. UCM scored four in the sixth to take a 7-5 lead, but the Vikings came from behind to steal a 9-8 win.

All Good Streaks Come to an End
Lindsey Dawson's 18 game on base streak (21 dating back to the end of 2014) came to an end against Wayne State. She started another shortly thereafter, getting a hit in all four games that followed.

Moving Along
One reason for the Jennies sizzling start has been their ability to extend innings. UCM has 53 two-out RBI and is hitting .316 with two outs. They're also getting hits when it counts, batting .327 as a team with runners in scoring position.

The Early Bird Gets the Win
It isn't a stretch to say scoring early is beneficial and the Jennies are no exception. UCM is 16-4 this season when ahead or tied after the first inning and 2-4 when trailing. Interestingly, the Jennies are only outscoring their opponents 18-15 in the oppening frame, despite the disparity in winning percentage when taking an early lead.

The inning with the largest run disparity is the third. The Jens have scored 21 runs in the third inning and allowed only five in 26 games. That includes a three-run third from Concordia St. Paul earlier in the season, a game the Jennies won 8-7. In their 26 games played, they've allowed a run in the third inning just three times.

Preseason Ranking
The Jennies were picked to finish fourth in the MIAA Preseason Poll. In 2014, they finished fifth overall and had eight All-MIAA student-athletes.

Jennies in the Postseason
UCM went back to the MIAA Championships in 2014 and have been in 20 of the last 21 conference championship tournaments. The Jennies have won
seven MIAA Championships in their history, most recently in 2009 and have made 10 NCAA tournament appearances.

Jennies at Home
The Jennies are a perfect 4-0 at home this season with MIAA doubleheader sweeps of Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney earlier in March. For her career, Coach Anderson is 81-33 (.711) in home games.

Scouting the Opposition
Missouri S&T
Series History: The Jennies hold a distinct all-time advantage with the Missouri S&T (formerly Missouri-Rolla). UCM is 49-21 against the Miners and 23-7 at home. These two schools first met all the way back in 1982. The Jens have swept the last two doubleheaders from Missouri S&T and Coach Anderson is 9-4 all-time against the Miners.

Scouting Report: The Miners come in with just a 1-12 record on the season and haven't won in over a month. Their only victory came aginst Findlay back on Feb. 21.

Becca Strope has been the team's best pitcher through 19.2 innings. She has a 1.78 ERA allowing just five earned runs and 13 hits. Kati Viets leads the squad with 10 appearances and has their only win. She has a 5.97 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 38.2 innings pitched.

The Miners offense is led by Andi Davis. She has a .372 batting average with 16 hits in 43 at bats. Shelby Michaelis is tops in RBI with eight and home runs with two. Of her 15 hits, seven have gone for extra bases and she's swiped four bags.

Southwest Baptist
Series History: All-time, the Jennies have one of their better conference winning percentages against SBU. UCM is 75-18 all time and 23-12 at home. The teams first met back in 1976, four years after the program's first season. The two-teams split four games last season, but Coach Anderson is 14-5 against SBU in her eight years at UCM.

Scouting Report: The Bearcats come to Warrensburg with a 8-15 record and are 2-8 in conference play. Their MIAA wins came in splits with Nebraska-Kearney and Northwest Missouri State earlier in March.

Kacey Ayes has made 10 starts for SBU. She has a 5-7 record and 3.15 ERA with 53 strikeouts to lead the staff. Kyra Parker has also picked up three wins in the circle. She's struck out 30 in 54.1 innings and has pitched to a 5.02 ERA.

In the batter's box, Brittanie Halquist leads all hitters with a .343 average. She also gets on base at a .446 clip and has a team-best 17 RBI. When it comes to power, the Bearcats turn to her and Dana Graves. Graves leads with four home runs while Halquist has three. Graves also leads in slugging percentage with a .623 mark.

Last Time Out
    ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - The Jennies just finished up the Missouri Western Regional Crossover, going 3-2 with wins over Wayne St, Upper Iowa and Northern State.
    Wayne St. defeated the Jennies back in February before UCM got their revenge.
    The Jennies put across four runs in the first two innings and Jakki Prater did the rest. Prater threw her eighth complete game of the season allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out four and issuing just one walk.
    UCM scattered eight hits in the game, getting two apiece from Nally and Schoonover.
    Game two was a wild affair. Like Wayne State, the Jennies were looking to avenge an early season loss at the hands of No. 24 Augustana.
    The Jennies grabbed themselves a 3-0 lead before Augustana even came to bat. The first four batters all reached base against the Vikings. Lindsey Dawson singled home Rogers for the game's first run, and Alex Leonhart drove in a pair with a double to center.
    The Vikings grabbed their first lead in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs on a solo home run from Carly Peterson and a two-RBI double from Caitlin Nichol. They added an unearned run in the fifth, taking a two-run advantage, 5-3.
    Down to their final at bat, the Jennies started a rally in the seventh getting the first two runners in scoring positon with nobody out. After a strikeout, Rose evened things up with a single to right to score Keelia Martin tying the game. The Jennies had the go-ahead run on third base with one out, but couldn't bring her in, leaving two runners on base heading to the bottom of the seventh.
    UCM got a pair of flyouts to start the inning, but the Vikings collected three straight singles, scoring the winning run on Nichols' RBI base hit to right to earn the 9-8 win.
    Leonhart had a big day at the plate going 2-for-3 with two RBI, a run scored and a walk. Hood and Rose also had a pair of RBIs each. Rogers was 2-for-5 with a run scored and two stolen bases.
    The Jennies came out swinging Saturday afternoon against Upper Iowa. UCM scored in the first four innings and never trailed on their way to a 14-4 win in five innings.
    Jakki Prater got the offensive surge going, hitting a solo home run, her third of the season in the first. The Jens then scored six in the second, pushing their lead to 7-1.
    The Jennies knocked a season-best 18 hits, getting three apiece from Prater, Rogers and
Leonhart. Rose finished 2-for-3 with a team-high five RBI, Prater and Rogers both had three RBI.
    Jessica Wilkes picked up the win in the circle, her fifth of the season. She allowed four runs, three earned in five innings, striking out three and surrendering nine hits.
    Katie Shockley hurled a three-hit shutout and the Jennies offense continued to roll, putting up eight runs in an 8-0 win over Northern State.
    The game was scoreless through two, but Lindsey Dawson changed that with an RBI single to score Makayla Schoonover.
    UCM unloaded for four runs in the fifth, bringing their lead to 5-0. Four straight batters drove in runs for the Jens as all nine batters took a turn in the box in the inning.
    That was more than enough for Shockley who dominated the Wolves. In seven innings of work, she allowed three hits and struck out four batters.
    Six different Jennies earned an RBI. Dawson was the only one to finish with two. Rose led the team with three hits in four at bats. She had an RBI and also scored a run.
    Amanda Nally and Schoonover each picked up a pair of hits and scored two runs. Schoonover also swiped two bases.
    The Jennies held Minnesota State-Mankato scoreless through five innings and held a two-run lead into the seventh, but couldn't hold on, eventually falling 6-4 to the Mavericks in 10 innings. The loss is the second this season to MSU and puts the Jens record at 18-8.
    The two teams were mired in a pitching dual after that as Prater and Mavericks starter Libby Bemis kept throwing up zeroes. The Jennies threatened in the third, loading the bases with nobody out, but the big hit eluded them as the Mavericks escaped the jam.
    UCM added to their lead in the fifth, as Lindsey Dawson scored on an RBI ground out and Alex Leonhart singled home Prater, putting the Jennies up 3-0 after five complete innings.
    After Prater struck out the first two batters in the seventh, the Mavericks were down to their final at bat. A single extended the inning and a home run to left center to tied the game at three.
    With tournament rules placing a runner on second base starting in the eighth inning, the Mavericks plated a run without the benefit of a hit. A ground out moved the runner to third and MSU took their first lead, 4-3, on a sacrifice fly.
    The Jennies answered in the bottom of the frame also scoring without collecting a hit. Amanda Nally moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch, tying the game at four apiece.
    Both teams were scoreless in the ninth inning before the Mavericks broke out for two in the 10th, scoring on an RBI single and a Jennies error.
    UCM put the tying run on base with nobody out, but the Mavericks retired all three batters that followed, completing the comeback with a 6-4 win in 10.
    Prater threw all 10 innings for the Jennies for the second time this season. She allowed six runs (three earned) on only six hits with two strikeouts. Prater was also 2-for-5 at the plate with a run and an RBI.
    UCM totaled seven hits in the game, two coming from Leonhart. She also collected an RBI and is batting .520 (13-for-25) in her last eight games.