WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 27, 2019) - Central Missouri Jennies Softball will be back in action this week for six games in Illinois.
Opponents
Quincy (0-4)
Illinois Springfield (6-6)
Lewis (1-3)
Quincy (0-4)
McKendree (5-7) DH
When
Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 28-March 2
Thursday, Feb. 28 vs. Quincy - 9 a.m.
Thursday, Feb. 28 vs. Illinois-Springfield - 11 a.m.
Friday, March 1 vs. Lewis - 9 a.m.
Friday, March 1 vs. Quincy - 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 2nd at McKendree - 12 p.m. (DH)
Where
Thursday-Friday - Peoria, Ill - Louisville Slugger Indoor Sports Complex
Saturday - Lebanon, Ill.
Leading Off
• Central Missouri wil be on the road for six games this coming weekend.
• First, UCM will be indoors at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Ill. where they'll take on Quincy and Illinois-Springfield Thursday morning, before wrapping up their time in Peoria against Lewis and Quincy once again.
• The Jens will then turn their attentions to McKendree where they'll play a doubleheader in Lebanon against the Bearcats Saturday afternoon.
• The Jennies first home games of the season are currently scheduled for Tuesday, March 5 against Truman State and doubleheaders vs. FHSU & UNK next weekend.
• Central Missouri was picked to finish third in the 2019 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll. The Jennies tallied 141 points in the poll.
• 2019 will mark the 48th season of Jennies softball. It will also be the 13th season under the direction of Head Coach
Susan Anderson.
Quick Hits
Anderson vs. the Competition
• Jennies Coach
Susan Anderson hasn't dealt much with these teams from the GLVC. Only nine total games played against the four teams in 13 years at UCM. She has her best mark of 4-1 against Illinois-Springfield and is 2-1 against Quincy. She has a loss the only time the Jens have faced Lewis and this will be her first matchup against McKendree.
Last Time Out
• Central Missouri dropped both ends of a doubleheader at Rogers State. The Jennies were shut out in game one, 6-0, but finally cracked through in game two. The Jennies held a brief lead, but suffered a 6-5 loss.
Jennies at Neutral Sites
• So far this season, the Jennies are 4-2 in neutral site games
• All-time under Coach Anderson, the Jennies are 131-130 in neutral site games.
Milestones
• Junior pitcher
Alexa Bradley needs two-thirds of an inning to reach 300 pitched.
•
Sarah Brown is closing in on 100 innings in the circle, needing 4.1 more. She also needs five more strikouts for 100.
•
Taylor Dames needs two hits to get to 50.
Worm Killer
• Ground-ball specialist
Alexa Bradley is up to her old tricks. This season, 43 of 65 or 66% of her outs have come on the ground.
MIAA Leaders
• Noone in the MIAA has a higher on base percentage than
Taylor Nickel. She's been on base 17 times in 22 at bats with seven hits, seven walks, two hit-by-pitch and one reach on error.
•
Alexa Bradley sits 10th in the league in ERA at 3.04.
•
Sarah Brown's .231 batting average against has her third among qualifying pitchers.
Three's Company
• With seven triples this season, the Jennies are tied for the team lead in the MIAA.
•
Hailey Crabtree's three also have her tied for the individual lead. Crabtree had three triple in her first three seasons at Central Missouri and she now has three more in her first eight games of 2019.
Leading Off
• Central Missouri is doing a good job starting innings, with the leadoff hitter reaching base in 24 of 52 innings.
Lauryn Deer has reached in 5 of her 11 times leading off an inning and
Makenzie McAtee and
Taylor Nickel are both 3-4 in their opportunities.
Current Streaks
•
Alexis Koop and
Lauryn Deer each lost five-game hitting streaks last week.
Taylor Nickel,
Jessica Sader and
Hailey Crabtree have the longest current hitting streak on the team with four.
• Nickel has also reached base in all seven games she's played, while Crabtree is riding a six-game on-base streak.
Who's Hot
•
Taylor Nickel reached base six times last week against Rogers State going 4-4 with a double and two walks.
•
Hailey Crabtree and
Ashlyn Cook each picked up three hits. Crabtree also drove in two runs.
•
Amolee Hawkins came out of the bullpen and allowed a run on four hits in 2.2 innings.
•
Gentry Wishard also performed well out of the pen last week pitching 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
Up Next
• The Jennies are currently scheduled to play Tuesday, March 5 in their home opener against Truman State.
Scouting the Opposition
Quincy
• This season Quincy has gotten off to an 0-4 start.
• Kylie Powers leads the team offensively with five hits in 11 at bats.
• The Hawks have scored just four runs this season. Their pitching has fared better with a team ERA of 3.23. Alex DeVaney has a 2.21 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 12.2 innings.
Illinois-Springfield
• The Prairie Stars are 6-6 to start the season, but have lost four straight.
• Lakyn Wagoner is the teams' leading hitter with a .486 average. She has seven extra-base hits and shares the club lead with nine RBI.
• Carolyn Franke and Kendra Peifer have also drive in nine runs each.
• In the circle, Jacee Craver sports a 2.55 ERA and 4-3 record with 23 strikeouts in 35.2 innings.
Lewis
• Lewis has also only played four games this season and are 1-3 to start.
• They've scored just 10 runs and have a .255 team batting average. Morgan Weber is hitting .444 while Olivia Magaldi has a team-best four RBI and the Flyers only home run.
• Taylor Boelte has the only win pitching 6 innings allowing just two runs.
McKendree
• McKendree split their last doubleheader and are 5-7 thus far in 2019.
• Their offense has been carrying the team with a .283 average and 59 runs scored.
• Whitney Boschert has been a force with a .472 average and three home runs and 13 RBI.
• In 23.1 innings, Miranda Gajewski is 3-2 with a 5.01 ERA and team-best 30 strikeouts.
