Softball Heads to Bentonville, Ark. For Eight-State Softball Classic

• The Jennies had arguably their most successful season in 2015 with a 49-16 record and MIAA regular season and tournament wins as well as a trip to the NCAA Elite Eight.
• This weekend the Jennies are in Bentonville, Ark. for the Arkansas-Monticello Softball Classic. UCM will face six teams out of the Great American Conference and the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
• Central Missouri started the season last weekend at the Southeastern Oklahoma Regional Invitational. The Jens went 2-4 with wins over Oklahoma Christian and Southwestern Oklahoma.
• The Jennies were off and running last weekend as they stole 16 bases in six games. Ali Jo Rogers was responsible for half of those, swiping eight bags.
• All three Jennies pitchers started two games last weekend including both freshman Jordan Johnson and Emily Robinson.

Last Time Out
DURANT, Okla. – In their final day at the Southeastern Oklahoma Invitational, the Jennies split a pair of games with Southwestern Oklahoma and Arkansas Tech. UCM shutout Southwestern Oklahoma 5-0 in their first game of the day, but suffered a shutout loss to the Golden Suns, 8-0, in game two.
After six games in Durant, Okla. the Jennies stand at 2-4 to open their 2016 season.
Game One: Central Missouri 5, Southwestern Oklahoma 0
The Jennies earned their second shutout win of the weekend, this time against Southwestern Oklahoma, 5-0.
Lauren Mabe and Hailey Crabtree got the scoring started for the Jens in the first. Ali Jo Rogers walked to lead off the game and stole second. She scored on Mabe's single and two batters later, Crabtree scored Mabe with a double.
UCM added on in the third, again utilizing Rogers' speed. She singled and stole second to lead off the frame, then scored on an attempted double-steal.
Katie Giacone added some power to the offense, lifting her first home run of the season in the fourth. UCM capped their scoring with Austin Eickleberry coming around to score an unearned run on a Bulldog throwing error.
Freshman Jordan Johnson earned her first win in a Jennies uniform. She pitched a complete game shutout, allowing seven hits and striking out five while walking three.
Mabe, Crabtree and Giacone all knocked three hits and had an RBI for the Jens. Rogers reached base twice, stole two bases and scored two runs.  
Game Two: Arkansas Tech 8, Central Missouri 0 – 5 inn.
The Jennies were on the other end of a shutout in game number two Sunday afternoon. UCM faced Arkansas Tech for the second time this weekend and again fell short, this time 8-0.
Central Missouri was no hit by Golden Sun starter Jalissa Gum who threw all five innings and struck out 11 batters. Walks by Mabe and Crabtree were the Jennies only baserunners.
The Golden Suns sprinkled 13 hits, 12 singles against Jennies pitching. They scored in four of the five innings, ending the game after five on a two-out bases loaded single from Kambri Hill.
Allison Tonyan got the start for UCM and lasted two innings, allowing five runs, four earned on seven hits while walking one. Robinson threw 2.2 innings in relief and let up three runs on four hits.
Next weekend, Central Missouri travels to Bentonville, Ark. for the Arkansas-Monticello Softball Classic. The Jens will face six teams from the Great American Conference. Game one is against Harding Friday, Feb. 12.

Quick Hits
Anderson vs. the Great American Conference
Jennies coach Susan Anderson is 23-22 all-time against Great American Conference. That includes having gone 1-4 to start this season at the Southeastern Oklahoma Regional Invitational last weekend.

Jennies at a Neutral Site
•    Last season the Jennies played 27 of their 65 games on a neutral field, compiling a 17-10 record, including going 5-1 at the MIAA Tournament. This season they've started 2-3 on neutral sites and are 107-96 in Coach Anderson's history.

Stealing the Show
•    Central Missouri displayed their team speed last weekend, swiping 16 bags on 18 attempts in their six games.
•    Ali Jo Rogers was chief among them stealing eight bases without getting thrown out. Rogers set the all-time singles season record for stolen bases last season with 49 and is the all-time career leader. She needs just two more to reach 100 for her career.
•    Makayla Schoonover was thrown out for the first time in her career last weekend. She had gone 27 straight attempts to start her career without being thrown out. Schoonover still stole four bases last weekend.

Power Outage
•    Whether it was quality pitching or strong winds, the ball was not traveling in Durant, Okla. last weekend. The Jennies and opponents combined to hit just three total home runs in six games. The Jennies lone round-tripper came from sophomore Katie Giacone against Southwestern Oklahoma.

Filling out the Card
•    With a number of new additions to the lineup and pitching staff, Coach Anderson is still working out a regular lineup. The Jennies have trotted out six different lineup configurations in all six games.

Getting Started
•    Though the Jennies have hit just .181 through their first six games, UCM has done a good job of getting on base to lead off innings. Batters leading off innings are hitting .324 (12-for-37) to start the season. Rogers, the team's leadoff hitter for all six games is 4-for-10 when starting an inning.
• Despite a 2-4 record, the Jennies have been able to get off to fast starts. UCM has scored at least one first inning run in four of six games and are outscoring their opponents 6-1 in the opening frame. They also have done well in the second inning, where they are outscoring their opponents 5-2 through six games.

Getting Defensive
•    Central Missouri has played strong defense in the early portion of the season. The team has committed just four errors and sports a .975 fielding percentage. By comparison, UCM opponents have committed 13 errors and have a .924 fielding percentage. The Jens highest team fielding percentage for a full season was .966 in 2002.

Walk This Way
•    Central Missouri has taken a patient approach at the plate thus far, drawing 26 walks or 4.33 per game. Keeping up that pace through 50 games would mean the Jennies would draw 239 walks for the season. The Jennies record for walks in a season is 147 set in 2007. Last season, the Jens drew 143 walks in 69 games or 2.07 per game.


SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Harding:
SERIES HISTORY:  This is the first ever meeting between the two schools.
SCOUTING REPORT: Harding opened their season last weekend at the Ronnie Hawkins Memorial Classic hosted by Ouachita Baptist. They went 1-3 with a win over Mississippi College and three losses to MIAA foes, Northeastern State and two to Missouri Western. The Bisons also played a double header at the end of January, sweeping the Christian Brothers in Memphis, Tenn.

Kimmy Hendricks has been Harding's big bat this season. She's hitting .389 with a home run and 11 RBI. Courtney Derrick and Kinsey Beck lead the team with nine hits apiece. Beck's .450 average tops Harding's roster while Derrick has a team-high five stolen bases.

In the circle Hannah Johnson has pitched to a 0.88 ERA though 16 innings. She's picked up a win in the Bisons season opener. Ashley Smith is 2-2 making two starts and five appearances in six games with a 2.83 earned run average.

Illinois-Springfield
SERIES HISTORY:  2016 marks the third meeting between the two clubs and third straight year facing each other. UIS won the inaugural meeting between the two in 2014, 5-4, but the Jennies evened things up last season with a 6-3 win in Bentonville, Ark.
SCOUTING REPORT: The Prairie Stars finished 2015 with a 32-22 record overall and 16-14 in the GLVC under first year head coach Shannon Nicholson. Then-junior Ashli King was named All-GLVC Third Team and Daktronics Midwest First Team after hitting a team-best .350. She also slugged eight home runs, 11 doubles and drove in 32 runs.

Senior Alexandria Smith also returns in 2016 after starting 24 games and appearing in 34 in 2015. She finished 12-10 on the season with a save and a 3.42 ERA. She also was sixth in the GLVC with 141 strikeouts.

Southeastern Oklahoma
SERIES HISTORY: These two teams also met last week as Southeastern Oklahoma was the host for the Jens opening weekend games. The Savage Storm picked up a come-from-behind win last week and now lead the all-time series 6-3.  
SCOUTING REPORT: Emily Cudd picked up the win for the Savage Storm last week against UCM, pitching three hitless innings of relief and striking out two. She's appeared in four of Southeastern's first six games this season and has a 1-1 record with a 3.50 ERA and eight strikeouts.

At the plate Jessica Simmons is 10 for her first 20 to start the season. She's connected for two doubles and a triple among her first 10 hits and has stolen six bases and scored five runs. SEOSU has slugged four home runs this season, two coming off of the bat of Mykaela Wallace. Wallace also shares the team lead in RBI with Simmons and Courtney Riddle, they all have four.

Arkansas-Monticello
SERIES HISTORY: The Jennies have never lost to the Blossoms in their three-game history. The two teams met every year from 2012-14 with the Jens taking all three. UCM won the last one 7-3 in Arkadelphia back in 2014.
SCOUTING REPORT: Arkansas-Monticello was at the same Ronnie Hawkins Invitational as Harding. The Blossoms went 1-3 to start their season, defeating MIAA rival Missouri Western, but dropped a pair to Northeastern State and one to Mississippi College. Alyson Finnigan got the win in her only appearance this season. She pitched seven innings and allowed four earned runs while striking out three and walking four. Elizabeth Delafield has been a hard-luck starter for UAM. In her two starts she has a 2.00 ERA but no wins to show for it.

At the plate, Holly Wilmarth has three of the Blossoms five home runs. She also shares the team RBI lead with Kali Bolter with five. Wilmarth and McKenzie Rice share the team lead with a .385 batting average - five hits in 13 at bats.

Southern Arkansas
SERIES HISTORY:  This will mark the five ever meeting between the Lady Muleriders and UCM. The Jens have won three of the previous four having last met in 2013. Southern Arkansas lone win was an 8-4 victory in 2011.
SCOUTING REPORT: The Lady Muleriders have started their season 6-0, winning all six by run rules when they hosted the SAU Softball Tournament. SAU has outscored their opponents 53-3 to start the season. Kimmy Beasley and Kaylee Garner are each 3-0 to start the season. Beasley is yet to allow an earned run while Garner has just one. They've both struck out over 20 batters in 15 innings and allowed just 11 combined hits.

The Lady Muleriders got it done with the bats last weekend, mashing 15 home runs and hitting for a team batting average of .385. Darian Harris has four the clubs dingers with 12 RBI and a .571 batting average with eight hits in 14 at bats. Brooke Goad has three home runs for SAU and five starters are hitting better than .400 to start the year.

Henderson State
SERIES HISTORY:  The Reddies and Jennies certainly have developed a rivaly over the last season plus. They met three times last season with the Jennies getting the better of the HSU in both regional games and the Reddies taking the regular season game. HSU got some revenge last weekend, defeating UCM 6-4 in Bentonville, Ark. The win broke a tie in the Reddies favor, who now hold a 6-5 all-time edge.
SCOUTING REPORT: Henderson State faced six different MIAA opponents last weekend and walked away with a 4-2 mark to start the season. Five of the six games were decided by two runs or fewer with many low scoring games. HSU and opponents combined for just 25 runs in the first six games.

The Reddies pitchers performed well with Michelle Sorensen and Madison Calvert each pitching to a 2-1 record. Calvert allowed just two earned runs in 19 innings while Sorensen allowed four in 20. Sorensen also picked up 15 strikeouts and allowed just nine hits.

HSU's offense only scored 13 runs and had a team batting average of .185 through six games. Three Reddies lead the team with four hits while Ashlyn White has made the most of her two hits, driving in three runs. Caroline Cullins has four hits and three runs along with two stolen bases.