WARRENSBURG, Mo. (April 25, 2018) - Central Missouri Jennies Softball will hit the road and head to Oklahoma City, Okla. for the 2018 MIAA Championship Tournament. The Jennies earned the number two seed this year in the double-elimination tournament which starts Thursday.

Opponent: Game 1 - #7 Lindenwood Lions (28-20, 14-12 MIAA)
                  Game 2 - #3 Central Oklahoma (29-20, 17-9 MIAA) or #6 Northeastern State (29-24, 15-11 MIAA)

When: Thursday-Saturday, April 26-28
            Game 1 - Thursday, April 26 - 5 p.m.
            Game 2 - Thursday, April 26 - 7:30 p.m.

Where: Oklahoma City, Okla. - ASA Hall of Fame Stadium

How to Watch
There will be live stats available for all games of the MIAA Tournament. Games played on the Hall of Fame - OGE Energy Field will have a live video stream.

Leading Off
• Central Missouri finished the regular season with a 30-20 record and 19-7 mark in the MIAA. They earned the No 2 seed in this weekend's MIAA Tournament.
• The Jennies 30 wins are the most since 2015 and the 18th time in school history UCM has reached that win total.
• UCM's first opponent in the MIAA Tournament will also be their most recent. They split with Lindenwood to end the regular season.
• The Jennies will then take on either No. 3 Central Oklahoma or No. 6 Northeastern State. The Jennies swept both teams at home this season.
• 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 
• The Jennies know they will face Lindenwood in game one. Coach Anderson is 7-7 against the Lions as coach of the Jennies, including a split with them this year. UCM will either face Central Oklahoma or Northeastern State in game two. Coach Anderson is 7-12 all time against the Bronchos, that includes a sweep from earlier this year. She is 10-7 against Northeastern State. 

Jennies at Neutral Sites
• Central Missouri went 8-9 in neutral site games this year, mostly at the very beginning of the season. 

Milestones
• Allie Dishinger and Hailey Crabtree each picked up career hit number 100 earlier this season. They are the 50th and 51st members of UCM's 100 hit club. Dishinger also cracked the all-time top-10 list for career home runs, blasting career homer number 17 last weekend.
• Next to get 100 hits will be sophomore Lauryn Deer who is just three hits away. She already has 59 hits this season. She needs five 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 151 career hits which is 23rd all-time in Jennies history. She needs two more to reach 22nd and nine more to crack the top-20. 
• Alexa Bradley and Katie Giacone each have six saves in her career which is the fourth most all-time at UCM. The UCM record is 12, set by Mandee Berg. 

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 178 ground ball outs, while also striking out 47 and getting 56 to fly out. Of her 281 outs this season, 63.3% 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 107 straight games at catcher, breaking the century mark 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 30 wins this season seven have been of the walk-off variety, including a win on a walk-off wild pitch win last Tuesday against Central Oklahoma. 
• While UCM has held onto leads, going 17-0 this season when leading after six innings and 22-0 when leading after four. The Jens are also 7-1 when the game is tied after six innings. 

Too Fast
• The Jennies 85 stolen bases this season are the second most in the MIAA. Lauryn Deer is also third individually with 27. That moves her into sixth palce all-time. 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 5-1 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's MIAA Tournament is back in Oklahoma City, Okla. at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The three day Tournament is set to take place Thursday-Saturday, April 26-28. It is a double elimination tournament. All eight teams in the field will play their first and second games Thursday, April 26 beginning at 5 p.m. 

Scouting the Opposition
Lindenwood Lions (28-20, 14-12 MIAA)
SERIES HISTORY:  Lindenwood has been a bit of a thorn in the Jennies side. They've swept the series two of the last six seasons and split another two, including in the regular season finale. The Jennies lead the all-time series 12-8.  
SCOUTING REPORT: The Lions have been one of the hotter teams in the MIAA of late with wins in nine of their last 10 games. They are finished 14-12 in the MIAA to earn the No. 7 seed and were 28-20 during the regular season. 

The Lions are hitting .316 as a team and have three starters hitting over .370. Stormee Galka bats .384 and Hannah Porter is hitting .382. Galka leads the team with 63 hits and 47 runs scored, Porter's 39 RBI are the most on the club. Sophomore Austin Pauley isn't far behind hitting .372. She also has a team-best seven home runs along with 10 doubles and 10 triples.

Galka pulls double duty as a starting pitcher. She leads the club with 146.2 innings pitched. She has a 15-11 record with a 4.10 ERA. Marina Esparza has a slightly higher ERA at 4.14. She has a record of 11-8 and leads the Lions with 80 strikeouts and opponents are hitting .286 against her. Sam Dean has come out of the bullpen and has three saves in 15 appearances. 

Central Oklahoma Bronchos (29-20, 17-9 MIAA)
SERIES HISTORY:  The Jennies overtook the series lead with the Bronchos with their sweep on senior day. The Jennies lead 18-16, snapping a three game losing streak to UCO.
SCOUTING REPORT: A year after winning the MIAA Championship, the Bronchos finished third in the league standings at 17-9 and were 29-20 overall.

Carrie Abrams and JoBi Heath lead the team in hitting. Abrams is batting .418 and leads the team with 59 hits and five triples. Heath is at the .376 mark and 24 of her 56 hits gone for extra bases. Heath also has batted in a team-high 42 runs. Infielder Morgan Heard has a team-best eight home runs while hitting .351 and a .623 slugging percentage.

Jayden Chestnut has made 22 appearances in the circle, winning 16 of those games. She sports a 2.19 ERA over 124.2 innings pitched. She also leads the team with 116 strikeouts and has five shutouts. Lauren Gibson has gotten the bulk of the remaining starts with 15. She is 9-5 on the year with a 4.72 ERA. She's had control issues and has 40 walks to 35 strikeouts in 114.2 innings pitched. Peyton Walker is 4-9 with a 3.52 ERA.

Northeastern State RiverHawks (29-24, 15-11 MIAA)
SERIES HISTORY: The Jens hold a close 15-10 all-time advantage over the RiverHawks after a sweep this year in Warrensburg, including a walk-off Emily King home run in game two.
SCOUTING REPORT: Northeastern State finished the season with wins in three of their last four games and earned the No. 6 seed in the MIAA Tournament. They finished 15-11 in the league and 29-24 overall.
As a team, the RiverHawks are hitting .288. Jessica Boone leads the team hitting .344 and Paige Gann has a team-best 56 hits, including 11 doubles and 11 home runs. Gann also has 34 RBI, trailing only Jess Schuler's 42 for the team lead Sierra Crick leads the team in stolen bases. She has swiped 13 bags without getting thrown out.

In the circle, Gail Young is 14-13 in 34 appearances, but has the team-low ERA of 2.79 spanning 180.2 innings pitched. She has struck out a team-best 87 batters and recorded four saves. Sydney Balderrama has also made 31 appearances this season and is 14-8 with a 3.67 earned run average.