WARRENSBURG, Mo. (March 15, 2017) - Central Missouri Jennies Softball plays their final regular season tournament of the 2017 this weekend at the Missouri Western Regional Crossover. Over a three-day span, the Jens will play six games against teams from the Northern Sun.
When: Friday-Sunday, March 17-19
Where: St. Joseph, Mo. - Griffon Softball Field and Heritage Park Softball Complex
Opponents: Wayne State (Neb.) - Friday, March 17, 10 a.m.
Upper Iowa - Friday, March 17, 4 p.m.
Sioux Falls - Saturday, March 18, 12 p.m.
Northern State - Saturday, March 18, 4 p.m.
Augustana (S.D.) - Sunday, March 19, 11 a.m.
Minnesota-Duluth - Sunday, March 19, 1 p.m.
How to Watch
Live stats are available for select and can be found at UCMathletics.com
Leading Off
• Central Missouri will play six games this week in St. Joseph, Mo. for the annual Apple Market Classic hosted by Missouri Western where they will play teams from the Northern Sun March 17-19.
• The Jennies opened up MIAA play last week at home against Southwest Baptist. Both games were five inning, 8-0 finals with SBU taking game 2 & the Jens game 2.
• Central Missouri went 3-2 at the 2016 Apple Market Classic with their final game postponed due to weather. Central Missouri will face off against six different teams this year than they were scheduled to face last year. • Central Missouri was picked to finish fifth in the 2017 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll. The Jennies tallied 105 points in the poll.
• 2017 will mark the 46th season of Jennies softball. It will also be the 11th season under the direction of Head Coach
Susan Anderson.
Quick Hits
Anderson vs. the Northern Sun
• Under Coach
Susan Anderson, the Jennies have gone 37-21 against the Northern Sun. They are 18-10 with Anderson in their dugout against the six teams they are facing this weekend at the Apple Market Classic.
Jennies at a Neutral Site
• This year, Central Missouri is 5-11 in neutral site games after their three earlier tournaments in the month of February.
Milestones
• Senior
Lauren Mabe became just the fifth Jennie to ever reach 200 earlier this season. She laced an RBI double in her first at bat against Illinois-Springfield for her 200th. Mabe is now chasing both Beth Savage and Jakki Prater who hold the UCM record with 222 hits, needing just five hits to tie, six to break the record.
• In the dugout, coach
Susan Anderson won the 500th game of her career in the Jennies 8-0 win against Southwest Baptist. 318 of Coach Anderson's wins has come at the helm of Central Missouri, second-most in school history.
Crossing the Plate
• The Jennies were in a severe run-scoring drought before breaking out against Southwest Baptist. The Jennies scoring five runs in the fourth inning against the Bearcats, but had gone 23 straight innings without scoring a run before that.
Three-Run Rule
• Three seems to be the magic number for the Jens so far this season. When Central Missouri reaches three runs in a game, they are 5-2. However they have scored two runs or fewer in 14 of their 21 games and are 2-12 in those contests.
Bradley's Big Game
• Jennies freshman
Alexa Bradley pitched the best game of her first year with UCM in their home-opener. She threw a five inning complete-game shutout, needing just 80 pitches to get through the Bearcat lineup, striking out a career five. Part of Bradley's success this seaon has been in her ability to keep the ball on the ground. Of the 167 batters retired, 104 have come on ground balls, 63% of her recorded outs.
Bases Juiced
• The Jennies are getting out-hit this season with runners in scoring position, but are making the most of their opportunities with the bases loaded. With three ducks on the pond, Central Missouri is battng .318. Hitters are batting just .214 against
Katie Giacone with runners on base, which is keeping her from giving up big innings.
• Five different Jennies have hits with the bases loaded -
Hailey Crabtree,
Allie Dishinger,
Jordan Johnson,
Alex Leonhart and
Lauren Mabe. Crabtree picked up two bases loaded hit last weekend against the Bearcats and is 3-3 this season with the bags full.
Balls in Play
• Over their last two doubleheaders, the Jennies have been getting their bats on the ball more. Over the first 17 games, UCM had struck out in 25% of their at bats. In the last four games, the Jens have brought that number down to 18%.
On the Bases
• The Jennies haven't been the most prolific baserunning team this year.
Hailey Crabtree is tied for eighth in the league with six and
Makayla Schoonover is third in most successful steals without being caught with five.
In the MIAA
• Jennies pitching is sixth in the MIAA this season with a 3.35 ERA.
Jordan Johnson and
Alexa Bradley are 10th and 11th in the league posting a 3.07 and 3.08 ERA, respectively.
Scouting the Opposition
Wayne State (Neb.) Wildcats
SERIES HISTORY: The Jennies and Wildcats have met in each of the previous three seasons with Wayne State going 2-1 over that time. The two first met in 1983. The Jens hold a 7-6 all-time edge and are 7-5 on neutral sites.
SCOUTING REPORT: The Wildcats have gotten off to a slow start with a 4-14 record. They just recently finished playing eight games in Florida. They have won three of their last five games however after losing 10 straight. Wayne State have played five games against MIAA competition, dropping all five, including a doubleheader in Hays, Kan.
The Wildcats have struggled scoring runs this season, averaging 2.6 per game. Their team batting average is .237, 100 points lower than their opponents. Wayne State has hit just three home runs on the season and have driven in just 39 runs. Katelyn Wobken is the only Wildcat batting over .300 this season. She's hitting .310 with nine extra base hits - five doubles, three triples and a home run. She also shares the team lead with six RBI and has six of the team's 10 stolen bases.
All four wins for the Wildcats belong to Nataliah Hopkins. She has a 4-7 record with a 3.45 ERA. Wildcat pitchers have struggled with walks, giving up 46 base on balls and striking out just 38. Hopkins has 27 strikeouts and 34 walks.
Upper Iowa Peacocks
SERIES HISTORY: The Jennies lost their first ever game against the Peacocks in 2006. Since they, they have won six straight. Their last meeting came in 2015, where they won 14-4 in five innings.
SCOUTING REPORT: The Peacocks put together a terrific season in 2016 with a 41-18 record and a trip to the Central Region Tournament. Upper Iowa went 2-2 in the regional, losing 1-0 in the finals to Arkansas Tech. This year, Upper Iowa is off to a 4-10 start, losing eight of their first nine games. They have since gone 3-2 over their last five.
Two Peacock's, Sammy Garrett and Tara Walls lead the team with 15 hits. Garrett is batting .349 and shares the team lead with eight RBI and four stolen bases, while Wall's 21 total bases are a team-best. Upper Iowa has drawn few walks, just 23 on the season. Of the Peacock's seven home runs, three have come off the bat of Julia Buffington. She also has eight runs batted in with a .588 slugging percentage.
Upper Iowa's pitching staff has pitched to a 5.35 ERA this season. Emily Kisch and Courtney Clayberg each have two wins on the season. The Peacocks have allowed 17 home runs in 87.2 innings. Kisch has a 4.40 ERA and 2-6 record.
Sioux Falls Cougars
SERIES HISTORY: The only time these two teams met came in 2015. They played a doubleheader in Florida with the Jennies winning both, 4-3 and 6-1.
SCOUTING REPORT: Sioux Falls is 12-7 this season and 5-2 in their last seven games. They are coming off of a 5-3 trip to Clermont, Fla. They played two earlier in the season against Emporia State, splitting the doubleheader in St. Cloud.
The Cougars power has come from Kerrigan Hoshaw and Jasmine Ragusi. They have a combined seven home runs and 23 RBI, Hoshaw four and 12 and Ragusi three and 11. They are two of four Cougars with more than 10 RBI. Emma Schifferle also has 11 RBI and Kenna Heath has 10 in just 24 at bats.
Sioux Falls is a prolific stolen base team with 24 in 26 attempts. Britni Broussard is 7-7 and Heath is 6-6.
Hoshaw has also been the Cougars top starter. She is 5-1 this season with a 3.38 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 50.2 innings pitched. Courtney Mathews has four wins this season and a 4-5 record. She has a 3.56 ERA and 31 strikeouts with 10 walks.
Northern State Wolves
SERIES HISTORY: The Wolves and Jennies have met only three times previously with the Jennies winning all three. They last met in 2015 with the Jennies winning 8-0.
SCOUTING REPORT: Northern State has started out the year 13-5. They had won nine straight games in Clermont, Fla. before losing two of their last three.
The Wolves offense and pitching staff have both been tremendous this year. They are hitting a combined .325 as a team with 19 home runs and 110 RBI. Their homeruns per game rank 18th in the NCAA.
Kennady Thompson leads the team batting .417 for the season. Katie Dawson is the team's primary power source with five home runs and 20 RBI. Four Wolves have more than 10 RBI this season. Jenna Helgeson has 15, Thompson has 14 and Katelynn Dilts 10. The Wolves have scored 112 runs, 6.22 per game which is 35th in the NCAA.
Their pitchers have been led by Jamie Fisher. She has a 5-2 record with a 2.00 ERA. She has 28 strikeouts and 12 walks, allowing eight runs in 36 innings. Missy Elkins leads the Wolves with eight starts and has a 4-3 record. She's pitched to a 3.83 ERA with 23 strikeouts. In 112.1 innings, Wolves pitchers have given up just 14 extra base hits. Rachel Albright also has a 3-0 record with a 2.45 ERA with hitters batting .181. She has a problem with walks, giving up 16 in 29.1 innings with only eight strikeouts.
Augustana Vikings
SERIES HISTORY: The Jennies have won four straight games in this series over the last two years. The Jens swept Augustana in the Super Regional in Sioux Falls in 2015 and picked up a 1-0 win against then the 20th-ranked Augie in St. Cloud.
SCOUTING REPORT: Augustana is off to a 7-6 start with two more games left in Clermont, Fla. March 15. Augie started the year 1-4 before winning six of their last eight games.
The Vikings have been winning of late despite the loss of Maggie Kadrlik who was batting .520 with nine RBI in the first nine games of the season. Augustana still has two started batting higher than .400 with Kaylea Schorr hitting .441 and Sarah Kennedy hitting .439. Kennedy has two home runs and 10 RBI. Christina Pickett also has a pair of homers and leads the team with 13 RBI. She only has nine hits on the season, but six have gone for extra bases. The Vikings two doubles per game rank ninth in the NCAA.
In the circle, Lexy Pederson has a 4-3 record and a 1.73 ERA. She has allowed just eight runs in 32.1 innings with 24 strikeouts and 17 walks. Olivia Wolters has the most starts on the staff with seven. She's thrown 33.2 innings this season and sports a 3-2 record with a 2.70 ERA with a team-high 28 strikeouts.
Minnesota State-Duluth
SERIES HISTORY: Central Missouri and Minnesota-Duluth have only met twice previously, both with Coach
Susan Anderson in the Jennies dugout. UCM is 0-2 against the Bulldogs, but their last meeting came back in 2009.
SCOUTING REPORT: The Bulldogs will be the fourth straight winning team the Jennies face this weekend. They enter the tournament with a record of 11-7. Over a five day span, the Bulldogs played 10 games in Clermont, Fla. at the PFX Spring Games where they went 8-2. They are also 3-3 against MIAA teams this season, with two wins over Emporia State and one over Nebraska-Kearney.
The Bulldogs have played in a number of tight games this season. Twelve of their 18 have been decided by two runs or less. Five Bulldogs in the starting lineup and batting over .300 for the season, however noone else is batting above .200. That adds up to a team batting average of .258. Becky Smith is the team leader with 21 hits, a .368 average and 15 runs batted in. Laurent Oberle is hitting .314 with a team-best five home runs. Minnesota-Duluth has stolen 18 bases with 11 coming from Hannah Schmoll who's 11-14 on stolen base attempts.
The Bulldogs arent a strikeout team in the circle, just 59 in 120.0 innings. Sam Hartmann has six wins and 35 strikeouts. Ashley Taipale has a 1.64 ERA and 2-1 record with two saves in 22 innings.
