Jennies Host SBU in Final Home Game of 2016

WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Central Missouri Softball (23-23, 11-11 MIAA) hosts Southwest Baptist Tuesday, April 19 in their final regular season game of 2016. The Jennies will also be playing a "Gold Game" in honor of former Mules Basketball assistant Brad Loos' daughter Rhyan, and pediatric cancer. Gold t-shirts will be made available with proceeds going to the Loos family.

Leading Off
• The Jennies were off this weekend and last played Wednesday, April 13 at William Jewell, splitting the nonconference doubleheader.
• Tuesday's game vs. SBU will be the final home game for UCM in 2016.
• Though playing MIAA foe SBU, this doubleheader will not count towards conference standings. Their DH in March will be the only games to count as conference games.
• The Jennies wrap up MIAA play this weekend with doubleheaders at Lincoln and at Lindenwood Friday and Saturday, April 22-23.
• Central Missouri is 11-11 in their first 22 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 Bearcats
• During her tenure as coach of the Jennies, Susan Anderson has gone 19-6 against Southwest Baptist. That includes a 3-1 mark last season and 2-0 earlier this season. UCM's last season sweep of SBU came in 2013.

Jennies at Home
• These will be the final home games for the Jennies in 2016. They are currently 7-7 this season in Warrensburg.

Opening Acts
• Jennies leadoff hitters are hitting .372(124-309) this season. Ali Jo Rogers, the team's leadoff hitter for all 40 games is 32-76 (.421) 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) leading off an inning.
• The Jennies are also doing a good job of getting on the board early in games. UCM has 39 first inning runs, their most in any inning. When leading after one inning UCM is 13-5 and 13-3 when leading after two. The Jennies needed to come from behind in game one against William Jewell after falling behind 3-0.

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. She leads the Jennies with 29 RBI and 12 of her 35 hits have gone for extra bases. She hit her first home run of the season last week at William Jewell.

Queen of Steals
• Ali Jo Rogers continues to step on the gas when she gets on base. She's second in the MIAA lead with 35 this season. She set the Jennies single-season record last season with 49 and is the career leader, currently with 125. Christen Belcher from Truman State is the MIAA all-time stolen base leader with 153 steals from 2005-08.

Glove is Love
• Over their last 23 games UCM has turned up the defense committing only 17 errors for a .977 fielding percentage. The teams fielding was at .947 before the current stretch. One of the biggest improvements has come from Alexis Koop, who has just one error over that span and a .988 fielding percentage.

Flirting with Disaster
• Central Missouri pitching has done a great job of bearing down with the bases loaded, holding opposing teams to a .175 batting average with the bags full.  For all the good the Jennies have done getting out of those jams, opponents have had 80 at bats with the bases loaded this season, almost two per game. All of last season, in 65 games, opponents had just 56 at bats with three ducks on the pond.

Crossover Pitching
• Jennies starters Emily Robinson and Allison Tonyan have both had success this season pitching to left-handed batters. Lefties are hitting just .227 off of Robinson (27-119), while Tonyan has fared even better, allowing just a .178 batting average (13-73).

Going Streaking
• Emily Robinson is the latest Jennie to have a double-digit reached-base streak this season. The freshman is in the midst of a season-high 10 game streak while Ali Jo Rogers has an eight game run of her own. The Jennies record (in existence since 2003) is 22 games set by Rogers last season and Rachel Adams in 2007. Over her last 10 games, Robinson is hitting .382 with 13 hits in 34 at bats and seven RBI.

Career Records
A handful of Jennies are closing in on some career milestones:
• Emily King and Alex Leonhart are inching closer to 100 career hits. King is at 95 hits while Leonhart stands at 93. The Jennies have had 47 student-athletes reach the 100 hit milestone.
• Lauren Mabe is also climbing up the Jennies all-time leaderboards. At 170 hits, Mabe is already in the top-15 all-time. She is also third all-time in home runs with 26 and is looking to become the third Jennie to ever hit 30 in a career. Finally, Mabe is just two doubles shy of cracking the top-10. She currently has 31 two-baggers while at UCM.
• Ali Jo Rogers hit 200 career games played last weekend, becoming the 11th Jennie to hit that mark. Now with 202, Rogers is 10th all-time and will move into ninth with two more games played.

Scouting the Opposition
Southwest Baptist
Series History:  Central Missouri holds a distinct edge in the all-time series, 80-19. UCM swept the Bearcats earlier this season in Bolivar with 3-1 and 5-0 wins.
Scouting Report: Since being swept by the Jennies, SBU has gone 5-7. The Bearcats were also off last weekend and last played a week ago, April 12, splitting with Drury. SBU has been better on the road than at home, with an 8-9 record away from Bolivar.

Rachel Ray leads SBU with a .373 batting average. Dana Graves is close behind at .338 and has seven home runs and 38 RBI, both team highs. The free-swinging Bearcats have also drawn the fewest walks in the MIAA with 81 this season. They've also struck out 220 times as a team, second-most in the MIAA.

Kacey Ayers is the ace of the Bearcat staff with a 12-15 record and 3.11 ERA and 112 strikeouts. Hunter Middleton has made 24 starts and is 6-15 with a 5.53 ERA.