WARRENSBURG, Mo. (May 6, 2021) - No. 2 seeded Central Missouri Softball is making its 35th appearance in the MIAA Tournament. The Jennies hosts No. 7 seed Washburn in a best-of-three series for the opening rounds of the 2021 MIAA Softball Tournament.
Opponent:
Washburn Ichabods (31-11, 20-6 MIAA)
When:
Friday, May 7th - 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
If necessary - Saturday, May 8th - 2:00 p.m.
Where:
South Recreation Complex -
Jennies Field - Warrensburg, Mo.
Fan Information:
• The MIAA has made a change to the 2021 Championship Softball Tournament after a unanimous vote from the conference's athletic directors and SWAs. This year's format will include a best-of-three game quarterfinal series starting the weekend of May 7-8. The advancing four teams will play in a double-elimination tournament at the University of Central Oklahoma the following week, beginning on Thursday, May 13. The quarterfinal round weekend will feature games at the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds from the regular season. Those teams will host seeds No. 5-8, with the winners advancing to the semifinal round in Edmond, Okla., the following weekend.
• Live stats will be provided and can be found at ucmathletics.com.
• The games will also be broadcast on radio with Greg Hassler on the call. The games can heard on both 107.9 FM and 1450 KOKO AM.
Leading Off:
• Central Missouri completed the regular season with an overall record of 31-11 and went 20-6 in league contest to clinch the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament.
• The Jennies concluded regular season play this past Monday with their final MIAA doubleheader against Washburn. The Ichabods took game one 3-2 while the Jennies won the second 3-1.
• Central Missouri will have another shot at sweeping Washburn this week. With an MIAA record of 13-14, the Ichabods tabbed the No. 7 seed in the tournament and will travel to Warrensburg to take on the No. 2 seeded Jennies.
• Central Oklahoma earned the MIAA Championship title and the No.1 seed in the tournament with a league record of 21-5. The Bronchos will host the No. 8 seed Northwest Missouri. Missouri Southern in the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 seeded Missouri Western. Rogers State earned the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 seeded Fort Hays State.
Jennie Notes:
• Six Jennies were recently honored as All-MIAA selections. Central Missouri had three first-team honorees with
Paige Petefish being named an All-MIAA First-Team Pitcher while
Ashlyn Cook and
Bailey Fowler were named All-MIAA First-Team Outfielders.
Abbey Fischer was the Jennies only second team selection, and honorable mention honors went to
Sadie Parks and
Makenzie McAtee.
• Central Missouri has the top offense in the MIAA with a .312 team batting average. The Jennies also post the second-best slugging percentage in the league at .501 and own the third-most hits with a total of 346.
• Through 42 games the Jennies offense has recorded 346 hits, 215 runs, 189 RBI and 100 walks.
• The Jennies also have one of the top pitching staff's in the MIAA. Central Missouri's team ERA of 2.33 ranks second in the league. The Jennies have thrown the least amount of walks in the league to rank first in the MIAA and sixth in Division II with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.70.
• Central Missouri's offense is lead by first-team center fielder
Bailey Fowler. Fowler current batting average of .374 leads UCM and ranks sixth in the MIAA. She also leads UCM with a .453 on-base percentage and posts a team-high 36 runs scored, 31 RBI, 21 walks, and 18 doubles. Fowler's 18 doubles leads the MIAA and ranks third in Division II.
• Right fielder
Ashlyn Cook ranks seventh in the league with a .371 batting average and leads the Jennies with a .610 slugging percentage. She also shares the team-high seven home runs with third baseman
Jessica Sader.
• Jennies shortstop and leadoff hitter
Abbey Fischer posts the team-high 50 hits and leads UCM with 20 stolen bases to rank in the MIAA's top-10 in both categories.
• Pagie Petefish and
Sadie Parks ranks second and third in the MIAA's top-10 pitching. Honorable mention selection Parks posts a team-best ERA of 1.93 which to rank second while first-team selection Petefish ranks third with a 1.94 ERA.
• Sophomore Petefish also ranks second in the league with a team-best .211 opposing batting average. She also posts a team-high 97 strikeouts to rank sixth n the MIAA. In a team-high 101 innings pitched, Petefish as allowed 81 hits and 28 earned runs while giving up just 17 walks.
• Freshman Parks has allowed the least amount of walks in the MIAA with just seven in 326 at-bats. She ranks fourth individually in Division II with a 11.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• Central Missouri also post one of the top-25 team fielding percentages in Division II and ranks third in the MIAA with a .971 fielding percentage.
• Cook leads the Jennies defense as the only Jennie who has started every game this season and doesn't have an error. While playing right field, she's been responsible for 56 outs and two assists with a 1.000 fielding percentage.
Scouting the Opposition:
WASHBURN ICHABODS (27-16, 13-13 MIAA)
• The Washburn Ichabod softball team place five squad members on the All-MIAA softball team as Marrit Mead, Ashton Friend and Jaycee Ginter were named first team all-MIAA. Bri Francis and Hadley Kerschen were named honorable mention team and Mead also added MIAA Freshman of the Year honors.
• The Ichabods team batting average of .328 ranks behind the Jennies in second in MIAA while their 354 total hits leads the league and ranks 24th in Division II.
• Washburn's offense is led by the MIAA Freshman of the Year Mead whose .473 batting average ranks second in the league and 27th in Division II. Mead leads the MIAA and is tied for first in Division II with 70 hits this season. Mead's 41 runs scored and .504 on-base percentage also ranks second in the league.
• Mead also posts a team-high 22 stolen bases which ranks third in the MIAA. She has yet to be thrown out this season.
• The Ichabods designated player Ashton Friend also ranks in the league's top-10 offensively with a .366 batting average. Friend has driven in a team-high 46 runs which leads the MIAA and ranks 11th in Division II. She also leads the Ichabods in extra base hits with 11 doubles and 11 home runs.
• Washburn's pitching staff ranks seventh in the MIAA with a team ERA of 3.36.
• Jaycee Ginter each lead the Ichabods with a 3.09 ERA while Reagen Hamm posts a team-high 14 wins with a 3.21 ERA.
• In a team-high 126.2 innings pitched, Hamm has allowed 120 hits, 58 earned runs, 55 walks and has struck out a team-high 101 batters. She currently posts the team-best opposing batting average at .244.
• In 115.2 innings pitched, Ginter has also allowed 120 hits, has given up 51 earned runs, and thrown 43 walks with 96 strikeouts.
• Washburn's defense ranks fourth in the MIAA with a .973 team fielding percentage.
• The Ichabods post a record of 7-9 while playing on the road this season and have compiled a 33-49 record in the MIAA Tournament dating back to the 1991 season.
Previously vs. the Icahbods
• Friday will mark the 96th and 97th meetings between the Jennies and the Ichabods with UCM leading the all-time series by five wins, 50-45.
• The Jennies and Ichabods split in their league doubleheader this season with Washburn winning game one 3-2 and UCM winning the second 3-1.
• Head Coach
Susan Anderson is 20-13 overall against the Ichabods.
Individual Milestones:
• Junior first baseman
Makenzie McAtee is just two hits away from her career 100th.
• Sophomore
Paige Petefish recorded her 100th career strikeout against No. 3 Augustana. She is now just three strikeouts away from having 100 on the season.
• Sophomore right fielder
Ashlyn Cook and junior third baseman
Jessica Sader recorded their 100th career hits and 100th career putouts earlier this season.
• Head Coach
Susan Anderson recorded her 600th career win in the Jennies 3-1 extra innings victory over Truman State in UCM's fourth game of the season.
Jennies In the MIAA Tournament:
• Central Missouri has complied a record of 73-58 in the MIAA Tournament dating back to 1982.
• The Jennies have qualified for the MIAA Tournament for the last six consecutive seasons.
• In UCM's last MIAA Tournament appearance in 2019, the fourth-seeded Jennies defeated No. 5 seed Lindenwood in the first-round before suffered back-to-back losses to No. 1 seed Central Oklahoma and No. 6 seed Emporia State.
• The last time UCM won the MIAA Tournament was in the 2015 season. That year the Jennies went on to win the Central Region Tournament and the Super Region Tournament, making it all the way to the NCAA Elite Eight.
Last Time Out:
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 3, 2021) - Jennies Softball split with Washburn in their final league doubleheader of the regular season to clinch the No. 2 seed in the 2021 MIAA Conference Tournament. With Washburn claiming the No. 7 seed in the tournament, UCM will host the Ichabods in a best-of-three series on Friday, May 7th for the opening round of the MIAA Tournament.
GAME 1 - Central Missouri 2, Washburn Ichabods 3
• The Jennies were the first to score in game one with a single run scored in the opening inning against the Ichabods.
• Center Fielder
Bailey Fowler walked for UCM's first base runner of the day. Fowler advanced to second during a ground out, then found her way home during an Ichabod throwing error for the 1-0 lead.
•
Kyleigh Lay and the Jennies defense held Washburn to just three hits and two runners left on base in the Ichabods first 15 at-bats while UCM recorded just one hit in the first four innings.
• With no outs and no runners on base, a solo Ichabod homerun in the top of the fourth tied the game 1-1. The shot over left field was the only hit UCM allowed in Washburn's four at-bat inning.
• The Ichabods took the lead in the following inning with two runs off three hits. Lay gave up another solo homer for Washburn's second run, which would bring
Paige Petefish into the circle for the Jennies. Petefish and the UCM defense gave up a double and a single for the Ichabods to lead 3-1 moving into the sixth inning.
• The Jennies were able to get one score back in the top of the sixth as Fowler and
Makenzie McAtee recorded back-to-back doubles which scored Fowler for the second time in the game.
• Both the Jennies and the Ichabods went 0-3 in their final at-bats of the game
• Washburn out-hit UCM 6-4. Four different Jennies accounted for UCM's total hits.
• Central Missouri struck out a game-high seven times which is the third-most strikeouts by the Jennies offense this season.
GAME 2 - Central Missouri 3, Washburn 1
• The first six innings of game two saw just one run scored by the Jennies.
• Designated player
Sydney Wellshear plated UCM's first run of the game, unearned, in the top of the second. A fielding error by the Ichabods on
Taylor Nickel's hit allowed Wellshear to score from second.
•
Sadie Parks and the Jennies defense held Washburn without a hit in the first three innings and continued to hold the Ichabods without a run through six complete innings.
• The seventh inning latest almost as long as the previous six innings did. The final inning saw a total of three hits and three runs, let by the Jennies with two each.
• With two outs and runners on first and third, a triple by Jennies shortstop
Abbey Fischer scored both
Jessica Sader and
Aubrie McRoberts for a 3-0 UCM lead.
• Another solo Washburn home run put the Ichabods on the board in the bottom of the seventh.
Paige Petefish came in to relieve Parks to record all three outs as the Jennies defeated the Ichabods 3-1.
• Central Missouri was out-hit again in game two as the Ichabods totaled three hits to the Jennies two.
• Washburn's defense tied its season-high three errors in game two.
Season Notes:
• Jennies left field
Makenzie Cooper experienced a season-ending injury in UCM's 13th game of the season. Prior to her injury, Cooper was leading the Jennies offense with a .567 batting average, a 1.133 slugging percentage, and a .629 on-base percentage.
• Central Missouri was able to squeeze 17 games in before the NCAA's cancelation of the remaining spring sport season in March 2020. The Jennies went 11-6 overall and 3-1 in MIAA competition.
• The Jennies were selected fourth in the 2021 MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll with 138 total points.
• A total of 15 Jennies return from last year's squad which includes eight position starters. Central Missouri graduated four seniors last spring, including center fielder
Lauryn Deer who led the Jennies with 24 runs scored and 12 stolen bases last season.
• Central Missouri welcomed six newcomers to the 2021 Jennies softball team.
• The 2021 season marks Head Coach
Susan Anderson's 15th season leading Jennies Softball. She posts a 415-305 record at UCM and a 596-477 overall record in her 23rd year as a head coach.
