WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Mar. 9, 2020) - Central Missouri Softball is set to host the Panthers of Drury in their first home doubleheader of the 2020 season.
Opponent:
Drury Panthers (9-9, 0-0 GLVC)
When:
Tuesday, March 10 at 3 p.m.
Where:
UCM South Recreation Complex - Warrensburg, Mo.
Leading off:
• The Jennies opened MIAA play last weekend with two doubleheaders on the road.
• Central Missouri swept Fort Hays State in their MIAA opener, then split with Nebraska-Kearney the next day.
• The Panthers have played two games in the last 10 days while the Jennies have played six.
• Central Missouri's .343 team batting average currently leads the MIAA.
• Freshman first baseman
Sydney Wellshear leads UCM's offense with a .458 batting average which also ranks in the top-five in the league. Wellshear's .519 on base percentage also ranks in the top-three in the MIAA.
•
Ashlyn Cook's .453 batting average ranks sixth in the MIAA. She leads UCM in runs batting in with 20.
• Freshman pitcher
Paige Petefish leads the Jens in the circle so far this season. In 53.2 innings Petefish has allowed 55 hits and 18 earned runs while leading the Jens in strikeouts with 41 to post a 2.35 ERA.
• Senior center fielder
Lauryn Deer leads the Jennies in runs scored with 22 and is 11-11 in stolen base attempts.
Who's Hot:
• Right fielder Cook led the UCM offense last week hitting .435 in six games. Cook finished 10-23 while driving in five runs. All five of Cook's RBIs were with two outs.
• Wellshear is the only Jennies to have reached on base in all 15 games so far this season.
• Petefish totaled 17 strikeouts last week while giving up just four walks and four earned runs.
Scouting the Competition:
Drury Panthers (9-9, 0-0 GLVC)
• Drury travels to Warrensburg on a three-game losing streak after getting swept by Missouri Western (4-5, 1-10) in a doubleheader on Sunday.
• Offensively, Drury's team batting average of .288 currently ranks fifth in the GLVC while their pitching ranks at the top of the league with a 2.15 ERA.
• 2019 Second-Team All-GLVC selection Kasey Cazares leads the pitching staff with 51.2 innings pitched. The senior posts a record of 4-4 and has allowed 47 hits, 29 walks and 13 earned runs scored.
• Junior outfielder Abbey McAteer currently leads Drury's offense with a .405 batting average.
• Another junior outfielder Abby Tiemann leads the Panthers with 19 hits and 16 runs scored while Kinzy Mathis and Grace King have each batting in 10 runs.
• The Panthers matched a program record last year with 36 wins going 36-23, and they won their first postseason games in team history going 2-2 in the GLVC tournament.
• Drury was selected seventh in the 2020 GLVC Coaches Preseason Poll. They returned seven starters and 13 letter winners, including All-Midwest Region selections Jacy Ummel, and Megan Holmes.
Previously against the Panthers:
• Central Missouri leads the all-time series against Drury 6-4.
• The Jennies have won all four match ups against the Panthers while playing in Warrensburg.
• The teams last met for a doubleheader last season in Springfield. Drury won both games against the Jennies, 2-0 and 11-3 in five innings.
Last Time Out:
KEARNEY, Neb. (Mar. 7, 2020) - Central Missouri Softball faced 30-40 mhp winds in their MIAA doubleheader against the Lopers. After earning the first MIAA sweep of the season last night against Fort Hays State, the Jennies split with Nebraska-Kearney on the road Saturday afternoon.
• Alexa Bradly started the first 2.2 innings in the Jennies 7-5 win over UNK in game two. Bradley and the UCM defense allowed five Loper runs to score off five hits and five walks.
•
Gentry Wishard came in to throw the final 4.1 innings. Wishard allowed just three hits while walking two batters and striking out four.
• The designated player
Makenzie McAtee led the offense in game two going 2-3 with two RBI.
•
Ashlyn Cook also finished with two hits while finishing with one RBI and one run scored.
• The shortstop
Abbey Fischer also drove in two runs.
• The Jennies out hit the Lopers 9-8 and only left a total of four runners on base compared to UNK's 12.
Milestones:
•
Alexa Bradley ranks fifth in career appearances on the mound with 104 and seventh in career innings pitched with 435.
•
Lauryn Deer is five hits away from reaching 200 in her career. Deer also ranks fifth in career stolen bases with 75.
Do it with Two:
• In the 2019 season, the Jennies have drove in 89 two-out RBI's this season. Cook lead the team with 18 while
Jessica Sader had 14.
• So far this season, 39 of UCM's 74 total RBI's have been with two outs.
• Wellshear, Cook and McAtee are the Jennies you want up with two outs. McAtee is hitting .500 with two outs while Cook is 12-25 and Wellshear is 7-15.
Jennies Notes:
• Central Missouri finished the 2019 regular season with a 34-21 record and 17-9 mark in league competition, earning the No. 4 seed in the 2019 MIAA Tournament.
• UCM was picked to finish third in the 2020 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll. The Jennies tallied 136 points in the poll.
• The Jennies 34 wins were the most since 2015 and ties for the 10th most wins in school history UCM has reached the 30-win win total.
• 2020 marks the 49th season of Jennies softball. It will also be the 14th season under the direction of Head Coach
Susan Anderson.
