WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri Jennies softball (20-14, 9-3) concludes their season-long six game road trip this weekend when they head to Washburn and Emporia State for a pair of MIAA doubleheaders Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2.

Leading Off
• UCM has won a season-high six games in a row after sweeping Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist last week. Their 20-14 record has then a season-high six games over .500.
• Central Missouri is in the midst of a season-long six game road trip. The Jens are 7-2 away from home this season and started out their road trip by sweeping Southwest Baptist last Friday.  
• Now that the Jennies are finished with early season tournaments, UCM has one nonconference opponent left, at William Jewell on April 13.
• Central Missouri is 9-3 in their first 12 MIAA games of 2016. They went 21-5 last year on their way to the MIAA regular season and tournament crowns.
• 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.

Quick Hits
Anderson vs. the Ichabods
• During her tenure as coach of the Jennies, Susan Anderson has gone 16-7 against Washburn. The two teams have split the regular season series each of the last five seasons.

Anderson vs. the Hornets
• Before last season, the Hornets have gotten the better of Coach Anderson's Jennies. Despite a sweep in 2015, UCM is just 4-22 under Anderson against the Hornets. Prior to the sweep last season, the Jennies had lost 16 of 17 to Emporia State.

Jennies on the Road
• Central Missouri is currently playing out their season-long six game road trip. UCM has done well away from Warrensburg with a 7-2 mark in true road games and are 5-1 on the road in MIAA contests. Last season, the Jennies went 15-4 in away games.

Player of the Week
• For the second time this season, Jennies freshman Emily Robinson has been named the MIAA Player of the Week. Robinson took home Hitter of the Week honors after going 7-12 with a 64.3 on base percentage in four games last week, knocking at least one hit in each game. She was also named the MIAA Pitcher of the Week earlier in the season, becoming the first MIAA player since 2013 to be named both Hitter and Pitcher of the Week in the same season.

Getting Started
• The Jennies have hit .272 through their first 34 games and a part of that has to do with how well they are leading off innings. Leadoff hitters are hitting .413 (92-223) this season. Ali Jo Rogers, the team's leadoff hitter for all 34 games is 23-55 (.418) when starting an inning. She also has led off two games with home runs. In a small sample sizes Madison Hood is batting .583 (7-12) and Lauren Mabe is hitting .571 (8-14) leading off an inning.
• The Jennies are also doing a good job of getting on the board early in games. UCM has 25 first inning runs and 30 in the second inning, their most in any frame. When leading after one inning UCM is 11-3 and 11-1 when leading after two. However the Jens are also just 2-6 when trailing after one and 1-9 when trailing after two. UCM scored a first inning run in both wins of last weekend's doubleheader sweep of Southwest Baptist.

Heating Up
• After a 10-0 loss to Winona State, the Jennies saw their team batting average drop to .243 for the season. In the eight games since, UCM is batting .356 and has seen their team average rise 29 points to its current spot of .272. Alex Leonhart has gone 13-26 in those eight games, helping the Jens raise their average.

Little Alex is Still a Big Hit
• Standing at five feet, one inch there's no wonder why teammates call her "Little" Alex Leonhart. There's been nothing "little" about her bat though this season. It actually started in 2015 when Leonhart would routinely come up with timely hits, including two walk-off singles and a game-winning home run to clinch the MIAA regular season. This season, Leonhart may be the shortest cleanup hitter in the NCAA after having been placed their the last 14 games. She leads the Jennies with 22 RBI and nine of her 25 hits have gone for extra bases. She connected for a pair of doubles in last Fridays 5-0 win over SBU.

Tuns of Fun
• In her last six outings, senior Allison Tonyan has gone 5-0 allowing just six earned runs in 32.2 innings. She threw back-to-back complete game shutouts against Minnesota State-Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul and allowed just one run on two hits against SBU last weekend. Tonyan has seen her ERA drop by more than three full runs from 6.63 on Feb. 20 to it's current 3.25.

Goose Eggs
• Through the Jennies first 34 games, 13 have ended via shut out. Central Missouri is 7-6 in games where one team doesn't score including having won three in a row. All of last season, the Jennies had seven shutouts, with UCM going 6-1. Emily Robinson tossed the last UCM shutout, a 5-0 affair over SBU.

Streaks Ahead
• Emily King is the latest Jennie to have a 10-game on base streak this season, currently standing at 14, a season-high for the Jennies. Ali Jo Rogers' had a season-high 11 game on-base streak earlier and Alex Leonhart also had a 10-game streak this season. Leonhart is currently working on an eight-game reached-base streak, as is Lauren Mabe. The Jennies record (in existence since 2003) is 22 games set by Rogers last season and Rachel Adams in 2007. King is also on a current seven game hitting streak. She's hitting .341 during her 14 game reached base streak with a .440 on base percentage.

Glove is Love
Over their last 13 games UCM has turned up the defense committing only nine errors for a .976 fielding percentage. The teams fielding was at .947 before the current 13 game stretch, which has coincided with the Jens going 9-4.

Scouting the Opposition
Washburn
Series History:  Central Missouri and Washburn have a long history, having previously met 85 times. The Jennies hold a slight edge in the all-time series, 46-39. The two teams have split the regular season series each of the last five years. The last regular season sweep came back in 2010, with UCM coming out on top in both regular season games and an MIAA Tournament game.
Scouting Report: The Ichabods have lost three of their last four games and were swept in their last series against Pittsburg State. At 4-8, Washburn is currently in 11th place in the MIAA.

Despite being 11th in the standings, Washburn is in the upper half of the league with a .296 team batting average and 3.51 team ERA. Six starters in their lineup are hitting better than .300, led by Taylor Zimmerman's .348 average. Zimmerman and Cassidy Merriman are the two sluggers in the lineup, having combined for 13 of the team's 23 home runs and 45 RBI. Merriman's 25 are the most on the club while Zimmerman leads the way with seven home runs.

The Ichabods don't do much running on the basepaths having only stolen 11 stolen bases in 16 attempts, both next to last in the MIAA.

Washburn has relied on a pair of starting pitchers, Samantha Carson and Ashley Wills. Carson has a team-low 2.51 ERA with 56 strikeouts and two shutouts thrown with a 7-7 record. Wills is 6-7 this season with a 4.03 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 81.2 innings pitched.

Emporia State
Series History:  Emporia State is one of only two MIAA schools with a winning all-time record against the Jennies. In 92 previous games, the Hornets have a 20-game lead on UCM, 56-36. Before sweeping ESU last season, the Jennies had dropped 16 of 17 to ESU.
Scouting Report: The Hornets are mired in a six game losing streak and have dropped their last five MIAA games after getting swept last weekend by Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern.

One thing the Hornets do better than any team in the MIAA is steal bases. Their 78 stolen bases are tops in the conference. The team is led by Morgan Swisher who has swiped 22, but Sarah Glass (16) and Caitlin VanVleck (18) are also in double digits. Swisher also leads the team with a .340 batting average and 26 runs scored. Danielle Sprinkle's six home runs are a team-high and she shares the RBI lead with Glass, they each have 28.

In the circle, Emporia State has ridden the arm of Eryn Stockman who sports a 10-8 record and 3.03 ERA. She's also struck out 71 batters in 120 innings and has completed 16 of her 17 starts. Holly Hinkel and Hannah Wright have also each started for ESU to mixed results. Combined the duo has allowed 121 runs (84 earned) in 102.2 innings pitched.

The Hornet defense has been a problem as well with a .949 fielding percentage and 54 errors committed, both in the bottom half of the league this season.