WARRENSBURG, Mo. (April 19, 2018) - Central Missouri Jennies Softball will finish up the regular season this weekend. They have a chance to do something only one other team in UCM history has done, win 20 MIAA games.

Opponents: Lincoln Blue Tigers (5-39, 0-22 MIAA)
                    Lindenwood Lions (25-19, 11-11 MIAA)

When: Friday, Saturday - April 20-21
            Friday, April 20 - at Lincoln
            Saturday, April 21 - at Lindenwood

Where: Friday vs. Lincoln - Jefferson City, Mo. - LU Softball Field
              Saturday vs. Lindenwood - St. Charles, Mo. - Lou Brock Softball Complex 

Leading Off
• Central Missouri won their first two games this weekend defeating Central Oklahoma 4-3 (8) and 5-0 on senior day.
• At 16-6 in the MIAA, the Jennies are tied for second place in the MIAA standings with four games left to play. 
• This is the final week of the MIAA regular season. The Jennies finish up on the road at Lincoln and Lindenwood April 20-21. Next week is the MIAA Tournament held in Oklahoma City April 26-28. The All-MIAA team will also be announced before the first game of the Tournament. 
• Central Missouri was picked to finish fourth in the 2017 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll. The Jennies tallied 133 points in the poll.
• 2018 will mark the 47th season of Jennies softball. It will also be the 12th season under the direction of Head Coach Susan Anderson.

Quick Hits
Anderson vs. the Opposition 
• Two of the Blue Tigers three all-time wins against UCM has been with Susan Anderson as coach. She is 13-2 against Lincoln. Not the same story against Lindenwood. The Jennies swept the Lions last year to push Coach Anderson to an even 6-6 all-time against Lindenwood.

Jennies on the Road
• Central Missouri has not been the same team on the road as they are at home. The Jennies are 6-9 this season in road games compared to going 13-1 in Warrensburg. UCM was 1-3 on their last road trip. 

Milestones
• Allie Dishinger and Hailey Crabtree each picked up career hit number 100 last week. They are the 50th and 51st members of UCM's 100 hit club. 
• Next to get 100 hits will be sophomore Lauryn Deer who is just five hits away. She already has 57 hits this season. She needs seven more to crack the single-season top-10 hits list. 
• Emily King, who has already surpassed 100 career hits, is also two home runs away from joining the all-time top-10 list with 15. Emily has 148 career hits which is 23rd all-time in Jennies history. She needs five more to reach 22nd and 12 more to crack the top-20. 
• Alexa Bradley has six saves in her career which is the fourth most all-time at UCM. The UCM record is 12, set by Mandee Berg. Katie Giacone is right behind Bradley with five saves. 

Worm Killer
• One thing that has not changed in two seasons is that Alexa Bradley is a ground ball machine. In 84.1 innings this season, Bradley has induced 161 ground ball outs, while also striking out 41 and getting 50 to fly out. Of her 252 outs this season, 63.8% have come on ground balls.

Model of Consistency 
• Only one Jennie has started a game this season at catcher, that's Allie Dishinger. That's a trend that has continued for a while. Dishinger was the only Jennie that started at catcher last year as well, starting in 55 games. Dating back to 2016, Dishinger has started in 103 straight games at catcher, breaking the century mark last weekend at Emporia State. 

Late Game Heroics
• Make sure to stay to the end of games this season as the Jennies have made a habit of winning in their final at bat. Of the Jens 27 wins this season seven have been of the walk-off variety, including a win on a walk-off wild pitch Tuesday against Central Oklahoma. 
• It isn't just at home either. The Jennies are pulling off thrilling wins on the road as well. In the Jennies win at Washburn last week they tied the game in the fourth inning, before winning in extras, 2-1, thanks to Courtni Smith's two-out RBI single. 

Too Fast
• The Jennies 77 stolen bases this season are the second most in the MIAA. Lauryn Deer is also second individually with 26. That moves her to a tie for sixth place all-time with teammate Makayla Schoonover. She needs just four more stolen bases to reach 30, something only one other Jennies has done. Ali Jo Rogers stole more than 30 bases in a season twice, in 2015 and 2016. 

Close Calls
• Part of the Jennies success has been their ability to win close games. This season, Central Missouri is 13-3 in one run games and 4-1 in two-run games. While UCM has been terrific late in games, outscoring opponents 54-35 in the sixth inning on. They've had problems starting games though, where opponents have scored 40 runs in the first inning in 46 games played. However when the Jennies do score in the opening inning, they are 12-5 this season.

MIAA Tournament
• This weekend marks the end of the regular season for the Jennies. Next week is the MIAA Tournament held in Oklahoma City, Okla. At 16-6 in the MIAA, the Jennies are in a tie for second place in the conference standings. Last year the Jennies earned the No. 3 seed by finishing 17-9. If the Jennies win all four games this weekend, it'll be just the second time in team history that they have won 20 conference games in a single season. 

Scouting the Opposition
Lincoln Blue Tigers (5-39, 0-22 MIAA)
SERIES HISTORY:  It's been a one-sided affiar with the Jennies winning 60 of the 63 games against Lincoln. The Blue Tigers last win over UCM came back in 2013. 
SCOUTING REPORT: The Blue Tigers need a win in their last four games to avoid a winless MIAA season. They are 0-22 in the conference and just 5-39 overall. They also finished with just five wins last season.

Lincoln's best hitter is Jordan Lawson. She's hittin .366 and has 17 doubles on the season. She also leads the team with 28 RBI and 48 total hits Of Lincoln's seven home runs, three have come from Chelsey Kerr. As a team, Lincoln is batting .255 with a .313 on base percentage. They are being outscored 362-167.

In the circle the Blue Tigers have a team ERA of 7.96. Opposing hitters are batting .386 against them. Delayne Patton has thrown the most innings at 103.0. She has a team-high 13 wins and an 8.50 ERA. Madison Rager has two wins in 19 appearances. She leads the team with 41 strikeouts and carries a 7.87 ERA into the weekend. 

Lindenwood Lions (25-19, 11-11 MIAA)
SERIES HISTORY:  Lindenwood has been a bit of a thorn in the Jennies side. They've swept the series two of the last five seasons and split another. The Jennies lead the all-time series 11-7.  
SCOUTING REPORT: The Lions have been one of the hotter teams in the MIAA of late with seven straight wins. They are 11-11 in the MIAA and 25-19, already four more wins than all of last year. 

The Lions are hitting .323 as a team and have two strarters hitting over .400. Hanna Porter bats .411 and Stormee Galka is hitting .409. Galka leads the team with 61 hits and 45 runs scored, Porter's 38 RBI are the most on the club. Sophomore Austin Pauley isn't far behind hitting .393. She also has a team-best seven home runs and was last week's MIAA Hitter of the Week.

Galka pulls double duty as a starting pitcher. She leads the club with 134 innings pitched. She has a 13-11 record with a 4.44 ERA. Marina Esparza has a slightly lower ERA at 4.39. She has a record of 10-7 and leads the Lions with 69 strikeouts and opponents are hitting .291 against her. Sam Dean has come out of the bullpen and has three saves in 13 appearances.