Softball Battles in Three MIAA Doubleheaders This Week

Quick Hits
Anderson vs. the Lions
Head Coach Susan Anderson is 13-6 in her career against Missouri Southern. No team has won back-to-back games since UCM in 2012.

Anderson vs. the Ichabods
Coach Anderson also has a impressive record against Washburn going 15-6 in her career at UCM. The team's have split the season series each of the last four seasons.

Anderson vs. the Lady Hornets
Emporia State has been a thorn UCM's sides during the Coach Anderson era. The Jennies are 2-22 against ESU under Anderson with their last win coming in 2013 in Warrensburg.

Shockingly Good Week
Senior Katie Shockley was lights out last week in three starts. She threw 20 innings (three complete games) and picked up three wins with a 1.05 ERA. She allowed just three earned runs and 15 hits with 16 strikeouts and four walks. She shaved her ERA more than half of a run, lowering it from 3.66 to 3.00.

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 two weeks ago. UCM scored four in the sixth to take a 7-5 lead, but the Vikings came from behind to steal a 9-8 win. They face another top-25 test this week when No. 11 Emporia State come to town.

A Rose By Any Other Name
Call it coincidence, but Jennies pitchers have a 1.64 ERA in the last five games junior Carlie Rose has started behind the plate. Opponents have scored eight runs in 34 innings with her as the backstop.

Rose has also been on a torrid pace in her last 10 games. She's batting .455 over that stretch with 15 hits in 33 at bats, leading the team. Her 14 RBI in that span is also tops on the team and she's slugging .758 with a .514 on base percentage.  

Colossal in the Clutch
In their six games last week, the Jennies came up huge when it mattered most. With runners in scoring position, UCM hit .390 (23-for-59). With runners on base they were even better, hitting .395 (34-for-86). Madison Hood and Jakki Prater were both 3-for-5 with runners in scoring position and Carlie Rose was 4-for-7.

Queen of Thieves
Ali Jo Rogers leads the Jennies with 24 stolen bases.  Her 0.73 stolen bases per game are third in the MIAA and 19th in the NCAA. As a team, the Jennies rank second in the MIAA and 20th in the NCAA with two stolen bases per game.

Two is Better than One
The Jennies ranked 10th in the nation and first in the MIAA in doubles per game. They've hit 61 doubles in 32 games for a 1.93 average doubles per game. Jakki Prater leads the Jens with 13 two-baggers while Lauren Mabe and Ali Jo Rogers each have nine. Prater's 0.43 doubles per game has her ranked 33rd in Division II.

When One Streak Ends, Another Begins
Lindsey Dawson recently had a 21-game (dating back to last year) reached base streak come to an end. Ali Jo Rogers is right on her heels, looking to top it. Rogers currently has reached base in 16 straight games, a career-best.

Dawson fell a game-shy of tying Rachel Adams streak of 22 games back in 2006 for the best since 2003 (when the record was first kept). She was also a game shy of tying Ashlea Bengston's 19 game reached-base streak in 2012, the highest in a single season since Adams.

Jennies at Home
The Jennies are a 7-1 at home this season with MIAA doubleheader sweeps of Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney earlier in March. For her career, Coach Anderson is 84-34 (.719) in home games.

Jennies on the Road
The Jennies are a 4-1 in true road games this season, including a win over No. 15 Rollins and a sweep last weekend in a nonconference doubleheader against Southwest Baptist. For her career, coach Anderson 74-71 (.510) away from Warrensburg.

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.

Scouting the Opposition
Missouri Southern
Series History: The Jennies have hold a 52-39 all-time record against the Lions and have been even better recently. Since 2004, UCM is 22-7 and Coach Anderson is 13-6 against MSSU. The Jennies won four straight over parts of three seasons (2011-13), but the teams have split each of the last three seasons.

Scouting Report: The Lions have a 7-23 record and are 2-6 in the MIAA. They split a doubleheader with Washburn and Nebraska-Kearney for their two conference wins.

The Lion offense has struggled lately, scoring no more than four runs in any of their past five games and just once in their last 13. Abi Corbett is the team's leading hitter with a .302 average. Dru Coleman and Kathryn Goins share the team lead with three home runs each.

In the cirlcle, Ashley Lutz leads the team with 5 wins. Her 4.00 is a hair under Shelby Mitchell's 3.99 for the team lead. Lutz has 54 strikeouts in 77 innings, but has also walked 44 and given up 77 hits.

Washburn
Series History: UCM and coach Susan Anderson have had success over the Ichabods. All-time the Jennies hold a 45-38 advantage while coach Anderson is 15-6 against WU. The two teams have split the last four series, with the Jennies the last to earn a sweep in 2010.

Scouting Report: Washburn comes to Warrensburg 6-6 in conference play, but has dropped three of their last four. Theyre 18-13 overall and 7-5 in their last 12.

The Ichabods have a .321 team batting average with six starters hitting at least .314. Cassidy Merriman leads the team at .381 and a .429 on base percentage. They also have an impressive display of power, mashing 44 home runs, most in the MIAA. Merriman has eight while Lauren Thimmesch leads the way with 10.

Thimmesch is also the Ichabod's top pitcher. Shes tied for the lead in the MIAA with a 1.94 ERA and .212 batting average against. She allowed 27 earned runs in 97.2 innings pitched. She has also struck out 67 batters.

Emporia State
Series History: The Lady Hornets have had the Jennies number, especially lately. ESU leads the all-time series 56-34, but since 2004, UCM has gone just 3-34 against Emporia State. Head Coach Susan Anderson is 2-22 in her career against ESU. The Jennies managed to split the last time ESU came to Warrensburg, back in 2013.

Scouting Report: The No. 11 ranked Lady Hornets sit atop the MIAA with a 9-1 record. They have a 26-8 overall record and have won at least 25 games now in 12 straight seasons.

Stephanie Goodwin paces the ESU offense leading the nation with 51 RBI and carrying a team-best .453 batting average. She also enters the week on an 18 game hitting streak and has five home runs and 16 doubles.

Eryn Stockman is tied for the best ERA in the MIAA at 1.94. Her and Kaitlyn Caston each have a team-best 10 wins and of ESU's 26 wins, nine have come via shut out. The Lady Hornets aren't a big strikeout team with just 103 on the season, but are holding opponents to an MIAA-best .247 batting average.

Last Time Out
WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri Jennies softball battled their opponent and the weather on their way to a sweep of Missouri S&T. The Jennies won game one 9-1 in six innings before a 20 minute delayed start    of game two. The team's only made it to the bottom of the first before lightning caused a much longer delay, this time of 45 minutes. The two teams came back out though, and the Jennies needed to come-from-behind before taking game two, 12-10.
    The wins brought the Jennies to 20-8, tying the fastest they've reached 20 wins since 2009.
    The Jennies jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, scoring two in the first and another in the second. Prater and Lauren Mabe picked up RBI's in the first and the Jennies scored their third run on a Miner fielding error.
    Missouri S&T got on a the board in the fourth, capitalizing on a Jennies miscue to close the gap to 3-1.
    The Jennies broke out in the sith as the first five batters of the inning all reached base. UCM scored six runs on five hits and won via the run rule. Amanda Nally and Carlie Rose picked up RBI hits in the inning.
    UCM picked up game two where they left game one. After a delay of 45 minutes, the Jennies stormed out scoring three in the opening frame. Prater & Rose picked up RBI doubles in the inning.
    The Jennies doubled up, scoring three more in the second. Dawson had the big hit of the inning, crushing her second home run of the season over the left center field fence.
    The 6-0 lead did not last very long as the Miners quickly evened up the score plating six in the top of the third. Miranda Thompson and Lori Badalamenti each had two-RBI hits in the inning.
    Both teams tacked on runs and the Miners held a 10-8 going to the sixth. The Miners retired the first two hitters, but the next five Jennies all reached base as UCM put up a four-run two-out rally to retake the lead.
    The Miners brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but Prater was up to the task retiring the next two batters to seal the win.
    Prater came on in relief and threw four innings allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts. She was also 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs and two RBI.
    Central Missouri Jennies softball split a doubleheader with SBU Friday afternoon. UCM dropped game one 12-2 after the Bearcats scored eight in the seventh. The Jens then came back to win the second, 4-2 behind Katie Shockley in the circle and Jakki Prater's tie-breaking home run.
    Down 2-0, the Jennies came back in the bottom of the fourth, tying the game at two on Carlie Rose's third home run of the season.
    SBU put the game away in the seventh with an eight run frame.
    Prater took the loss for UCM, throwing six inning allowing eight runs (seven earned) on 11 hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
    Rose tallied two of the Jennies hits and both RBI.
    Similar to game one, both teams were held scoreless through two complete innings. The Bearcats again opening the scoring, plating a run on a Jennies fielding error.
    UCM took their first lead in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs on four hits. Keelia Martin produced an RBI double and Lindsey Dawson drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly.
    With the score tied at two, the Jennies went back on top, 3-2, when Prater blasted her fourth home run of the season, deep over the center field fence. They added another run in the sixth.
    Shockley threw a seven-inning complete game allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits. She struck out four and walked two.
    Central Missouri softball completed their home-and-home with Southwest Baptist by sweeping the Bearcats in Bolivar. UCM won a pair of low-scoring affairs, 3-2 and 5-3.
    UCM opened the scoring in the top of the third when Madison Hood cranked her first career home run to right center, a solo shot putting the Jens up 1-0.
    Down 2-1, Katie Shockley kept the Jens in the game, by throwing scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth, but the Jennies offense couldn't get the tying run across the plate.
    In the seventh, with two on and two out, Dawson lifted a double to center, scoring Keelia Martin and Ali Jo Rogers, giving the Jennies a 3-2 lead.
    Shockley shut the door in the seventh to complete the comeback. Shockley picked up her eighth win and fourth in her last four starts. She threw a complete game allowing two runs and just three hits. She also struck out four and walked one.
    The Jennies took a lead in the first inning of game two and never trailed on their way to a 5-3 win and sweep of the Bearcats.
    UCM scored one in the first and two in the third. With two outs in the second, Rose's RBI double put the Jens up 3-0.
    In the circle for UCM, Allison Tonyan saw her first action of 2015. She threw the first four innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two strikeouts to earn her first win in a UCM uniform.
    SBU got to within one, but that was all the scoring as Jessica Wilkes came on in relief to seal the victory. Wilkes threw three innings allowing one run on one hit with three strikeouts.
    Four Jennies picked up multiple hits as they collected 12 as a team. Rose was 3-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base and Rogers had two hits in four at bats with two runs scored and a stolen bag.