March 2, 2000

Taking the Field

This weekend the Tigers travel to Fullerton, Calif. to play in the Easton Showcase, their final regular season road tournament. Missouri will face No. 7 California (19-1) at 10 a.m. and Pacific (6-4) at 2 p.m. Friday, San Jose State (3-4) at noon and No. 11 Cal State-Fullerton (16-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday, and Colorado State (5-6) at 9 a.m. and No. 25 Oregon (9-7) at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Missouri didn't have the best weekend in Arkansas, but it also could have been much worse. The Tigers' play did further emphasize things they had already discovered in the first two weekends of play: they need to concentrate on defense, avoid leaving runners on base, and it is not possible to win games without your bats. The Tigers have already left 107 runners stranded in their first 16 games. They have also been bitten by the error bug, tallying 26 errors for the season.

There are several positives as well. Most of them come from individual performances. Being challenged by an underclassman seems to have lit a fire under senior catcher Amy Farmer. Having batted just above .200 in her three previous seasons, Farmer is currently one of the Tigers top hitters. She owns a .371 average with four doubles on the season. She leads the team in doubles.

The other seniors are faring almost as well. Stacy Gemeinhardt owns a .320 average and leads the team in runs scored, walks and stolen bases. Linda Swarts leads the team in at bats, home runs and RBI. Christy Skouby leads the team in sacrifices, including a game winning sacrifice in the bottom of the tenth inning against Notre Dame.

The freshman class also provides some highlights for the Tigers. Sara Vassmer is the team's leading hitter with a .386 average she has 17 hits in 44 at bats. Dara Throneburg is tied with Gemeinhardt for the lead in triples with three. She also has one home run on the season. Ingrid Werner has been the Tigers star on the mound this year. She didn't perform as well in Arkansas as she did the previous two weekends. She currently has a 1.40 ERA. In 50 innings she has given up only 39 hits, only four of those being extra base hits.

The Low Down on the Opposition

Missouri will face California, Pacific, San Jose State, Cal State-Fullerton, Colorado State and Oregon at the Easton Showcase Tournament. The Tigers have a 6-8 all-time record against Easton Showcase opponents. The only team in the tournament Missouri has never faced is Oregon. California is 19-1. They are lead by Veronica Nelson. Nelson owns a .487 average with 19 hits in 39 at bats. She has recorded eight home runs and three doubles on the season. Cal's leading pitcher is Nicole DiSalvio who has a 0.93 ERA in 45.1 innings. She has a also 5-0 record. Jocelyn Forest is also a factor on the mound for the Bears. She has a 1.15 ERA and a 10-1 record in 12 appearances.

Pacific has a 6-4 record. Their last game was a 2-1 loss to UNLV at the UNLV Tri-Tournament. The Tigers are lead by Natalie Farmer with a .355 average with 11 hits in 31 at bats. Liz Niadna is the Tigers top pitcher. She has a 4-2 record and a 0.88 ERA in 40.0 innings.

San Jose State is 4-8. They have lost their last five games in a row. The Spartans are lead by Veronica Ramos. Ramos has a .405 average in 12 games. She leads the team in hits and doubles. The Spartans' best pitcher is Brooke Reed. She has a 2.21 ERA and a 2-2 record in five appearances.

The host school, Cal State-Fullerton, is 16-2. The Titans have won their last four straight. Their only losses have been to Oklahoma and Arizona State. The Titans are led by Gina Oaks. Oaks is hitting .471 with five doubles and a home run on the season. The Titans top pitcher is Jodie Cox. Cox owns a 0.72 ERA and a 7-0 record in eight appearances. She has struck out 36 batters in 38.2 innings.

Colorado State has not played since the GTE Aggie Invitational in College Station, Texas on February 18-20. They are led by Holly Schmillen who has a .541 average. She has 20 hits in 37 at bats with two doubles, six triples and three home runs. Their top pitcher is Kyla Kiester. She has a 3-3 record with a 1.91 ERA.

Oregon holds a 9-7 record. They have lost two of their last three games. Their win was over Texas Tech on Feb. 26. The Ducks are lead by Triawn Custer, who is batting .500 in their first 16 games. The Ducks have been sharing pitching duties between two main players, neither really stands out. Connie McMurren has a 2.94 ERA and a 3-5 record in 10 appearances. Andrea Vidlund also has a 2.94 record and a 5-2 record in 9 appearances. Both have seven starts and four complete games. They are even in nearly every other category as well, except McMurren has pitched 52.1 innings compared to Vidlund's 35.2.

All-Tournament

Freshman short stop Dara Throneburg, junior pitcher Stephanie Falk and senior centerfielder Stacy Gemeinhardt were named to the Morning News/ Lady Back Invitational All-Tournament Team. Junior right fielder Karen Williams and freshman pitcher Ingrid Werner were named to the Metrodome Classic all-tournament team. Williams also made the all-tournament team her freshman season

Tigers' Record When...

Overall: 9-7
Conference: 0-0
Non-Conference: 9-7
Home: 4-0
Away: 0-1
Neutral: 5-6
Day: 7-6
Night: 2 -1
vs. left-handed pitchers:3-1
vs. right-handed pitchers: 6-6
1-Run games: 3-3
2-Runs games: 4-0
5+ Run games: 1-2
Extra Innings: 1-1
Shutouts: 2-0
Scoring first run:6-3
Getting first hit:4-2

Pulling Rank

Missouri is no longer ranked but is still receiving votes in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll. Twelve 2000 Missouri opponents are currently ranked or receiving votes.

The Tigers were ranked No. 24 in the NFCA preseason poll. Missouri's final 1999 opponent and 1999 WCWS Champion, UCLA, was picked for the top spot. Fourteen of Missouri's 2000 opponents were either ranked or receiving votes. Three Big 12 teams----Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas-were ranked above Missouri. Oklahoma and Nebraska were picked to finish above the Tigers in Big 12 play by the league's coaches. Oklahoma received all the first-place votes.