Softball Wraps Up Regular Season with Pink Out Game and Senior Day

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri softball wraps up the regular season with a pair of special dates. First, the Jennies will host their Pink Out game, Thursday, April 23 at 4 p.m. against Lincoln. In the regular season finale, Saturday, April 25, at 1 p.m. against Lindenwood, UCM will honor it's seniors with a senior day recognition between games. 

Quick Hits
Anderson vs. the Blue Tigers
Head Coach Susan Anderson is 8-2 in her career against Lincoln. UCM has won four of the last five meetings, and have allowed no more than one run in the last three.

Anderson vs. the Lady Lions
Coach Anderson has a 2-4 career record against the Lady Lions. UCM snapped a three game losing streak to Lindenwood with an 8-0 win in game two last year.

UCM in the Polls
The Jennies have made three straight appearances in he receiving votes portion of the NFCA Coaches Poll. This week they've received their most votes, nine and are the 32nd ranked team in the nation

UCM also remained at No. 3 in the Central Region poll. The top two team's will both host the opening round regional matchups. 

200 Hits/40 Home Run Club
Senior Jakki Prater slugged a two-run home run for her 200th career hit in game two of the Jennies doubleheader at Northeastern. Prater becomes the fourth member of the 200 hit club and third in as many years. Prater also stands at 39 career home runs. She became the all-time home run leader last season and with one home run will be the first Jennie to ever collect 200 hits and 40 home runs. 

Shockley's Winning Streak
Senior Katie Shockley's winning streak ended at 10 apperances after pitching in relief last Wednesday in Pittsburg. But she is still rolling along with wins in 12 straight starts. During that stretch, she's gone 12-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 79 innings and completed every game.

The only other Jennies pitcher (since 2003 when this record was first kept) with a streak of 12 or more wins in consecutive starts is Megan Leonard in 2009. Leonard had a streak of wins in 14 consecutive starts.

Mabe's Quest for .400
Sophomore Lauren Mabe is attempting to do what only six others have done in UCM history. Mabe leads the Jennies with a .431 batting average, which if she maintains will be the second-best single-season average in team history. Only six times has a Jennie batted at least .400, with the last coming from Courtney Opich in 2010. The single-season record for batting average is .457, set by Rachel Adams in 2007.  

Jennies Running Wild
Junior Ali Jo Rogers set a new single-season stolen base record two weeks ago against Central Oklahoma. Rogers swiped her 30th bag of the season, breaking a 20-year old UCM record. Rogers now stands at 73 stolen bases in her three-year career, becomming just the third Jennie to ever reach 70 stolen bases. She currently eight stolen bases off of Heather Whitcomb's team record of 81 set back in 2007. 

Aided by Rogers' 32 stolen bases, the Jennies have swiped 87 on the season. The team record for stolen bases in a single season is within grasp at 97. In addition to Rogers, Makayla Schoonover (15) and Carlie Rose (12) both have double-digit steals. Schoonover is a perfect 15-for-15 on attempts this season, which if it stands would be the third most steals without being caught in team history.

Pink Out
Thursday, April 23 the Jennies will host their annual Pink Out game. The team will wear pink uniforms and pink t-shirts (and black with pink lettering) will be on sale for $15, with proceeds going to the Johnson County Cancer Foundation. 
 
Senior Day
Saturday, April 25 will be Senior Day. UCM will be honoring Amanda Nally, Jakki Prater, Katie Shockley, Jessica Wilkes and graduate assistant coach Kelli Kurka with a presentation between games.

Jennies at Home
The Jennies are a 10-2 at home this season. For her career, Coach Anderson is 87-35 (.713) in home games.

Jennies on the Road
The Jennies are a 11-4 in true road games this season. For her career, coach Anderson is 81-74 (.523) away from Warrensburg.

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
Lincoln
Series History: The Jennies and Blue Tigers series has dated back to 1983 where UCM has held a distinct advantage. Of the 57 games played, the Jennies have won 54. Two of the Blue Tigers wins though have come in the last three years, as the two teams split the season series in 2012 and 2013.

Scouting Report: The Blue Tigers come to Warrensburg on a 22 game losing streak. Their last win was more than a month ago, March 21 against Nebraska-Kearney. 

Two of the Blue Tigers wins belong to Macie Kinsey. Shes 2-13 on the season with a 7.98 ERA. Lincoln pitchers have struggled to keep the ball in the yard, surrendering 52 home runs. Lincoln is also being outscored 415 to 97.

At the plate Sam Kircher has been the Blue Tigers best hitter. She's put together a .368/.460/.564 slash line on the season and leads the club in most offensive categories. She's picked up 43 hits with eight doubles and five home runs and has driven in 19 runs while scoring 20. She ranks fifth in the MIAA in on-base percentage while her batting average is good for 10th in the conference.

Lindenwood
Series History: Lindenwood and UCM first met in 1995 on a neutral site. Since then, the teams have squared off 11 more times, most recently with Lindenwood joining the MIAA in 2012. The Jennies snapped a three-game losing streak to LWU in game two of a doubleheader last season, but Lindenwood is 4-2 against the Jens since joining the conference.

Scouting Report: The Lady Lions enter the weekend riding high after winning 10 of their last 11 games. Last week against McKendree, senior pitcher Kendall Ryndak threw a no-hitter striking out six. 

Ryndak has been the Lions best pitcher this season, compiling a 9-12 record with a 4.66 ERA. She's struck out 184 in a 146.2 innings pitched, good for second in the conference. 

The Lady Lions have three batters hitting over .300 on the season led by Alexandria Newcomb at .358. She also shares the team lead with three home runs and is second with 20 RBI. 

Last Time Out
JOPLIN, Mo. - Central Missouri softball wrapped up their longest road swing of the season going 9-3 after a sweep of Missouri Southern (11-33, 4-16 MIAA). The wins push the conference-leading Jennies to 35-13 overall and 17-5 in the MIAA. Both 35 overall and 17 MIAA wins are the most since the 2009 season.
Game One: UCM 6, MSSU 4
The Jennies jumped out to an early lead, spotting starting pitcher Katie Shockley to a 3-0 lead before she took to the circle. UCM got the first four batters to all reach base and score three runs in the frame. Lauren Mabe, Alex Leonhart and Carlie Rose picked up back-to-back-to-back RBI's.
The Lions roared back to take the lead scoring two in both the second and third innings.
The score remained 4-3 until the Jennies final turn at bat in the seventh. Makayla Schoonover led things off with a walk and stole second to put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. After she moved to third on a ground-out Lindsey Dawson brought her in with a double down the left field line. Dawson scored to give the Jennies the lead on Mabe's RBI single and UCM added an insurance run, taking a 6-4 on a Lions fielding error.
Shockley struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the comeback. With the comeback, Shockley notched her 16th win of the season and 12th in a row. She threw all seven innings allowing four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts.
At the dish, Dawson was one of four Jennies with multiple hits. She led the team with three to go along with two runs scored and an RBI. Mabe, Rose and Madison Hood each finished with two hits apiece. Mabe also collected two RBI.
Game Two: UCM 11, MSSU 0 - 5 Innings
Just like game one, UCM jumped out to a 3-0 in the top of the first. Ali Jo Rogers started things after being awarded first base on a hit by pitch and stealing second, her 32nd stolen base of the season. She scored the Jennies first run on Dawson's RBI single. UCM scored their next two, taking advantage of some Lion's miscues. Dawson came around to score on a wild pitch and Mabe scored the Jennies third run when Lions starter Ashley Lutz was called for an illegal pitch.
The Jens added four more in third, the first two on Leonhart's second home run of the season. The homer made it 5-0 UCM and back-to-back doubles from Hood and Katie Giacone put the Jennies up six. UCM capped the inning on Dawson's second RBI single of the game.
UCM kept pouring it on as Mabe connected for her sixth home run of the season to lead off the fourth, putting the Jens up 8-0. Dishinger made it 9-0 with a two-out RBI single. It's her first RBI since March 20 against Wayne State. Prater hit the Jennies third home run of the game in the fifth with a two-run shot, bringing the Jens to their 11-0 final score.
The Jennies finished with 16 hits. Dawson collected six on the afternoon, getting three more in game two. She also scored two runs and drove in two more. Mabe also went 3-for-4 and scored three runs. Austin Eickleberry collected the first hit of her career with a single in the fifth. 
Prater collected her second shutout of the season throwing all five innings and allowing just four baserunners. She improves to 13-7 on the season. 
The Jennies return home for the first time since the beginning of the month, April 4. They will host their Pink Out game Thursday, April 23 against Lincoln. The team will wear their pink uniforms and will be selling pink t-shirts with proceeds going to the Johnson County Cancer Foundation. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.