March 11, 2003

After a four tournament, 20-game road trip to open the 2003 season, the Missouri softball team will open its home season on Wednesday with a doubleheader against Pittsburg State. The Tigers are 10-10 after the first four weeks of play and reached the championship games in the Auburn Invitational and the UCLA Tournament. Pittsburg State is 6-6 on the year and is coming off a 5-4 loss to Wichita State on Tuesday. Following Wednesday's doubleheader, Mizzou will head to Houston, Texas for the Houston Tournament. The Tigers will then open up Big 12 Conference play on March 20 when Kansas comes to Columbia for a doubleheader.

A LOOK AT THE GORILLAS
Pittsburg State enters the doubleheader on Wednesday with a 6-7 record. The Gorillas opened the season by winning four of their first five games, but have since dropped five of the last seven. Morgan Overman and Brigette Hull lead PSU in hitting with a .457 and .400 batting average, respectively. Overman also lead the team in RBI (14) and doubles (5). Leading Pittsburg State on the mound is Michelle Martinez, who has six shutouts in eight games and a 0.81 ERA. Emily Brown has a 2-0 record for the Gorillas and has an ERA of 1.47. Jenifer Wells is in her second season as the PSU coach. She was 18-32 last year in her inaugural season. Mizzou is 4-0 all-time against Pittsburg State.

TOURNEY TIME
Missouri opened the 2003 season with a 20-game, four tournament road trip. The Tigers finished that stretch with a 10-10 record. They reached the championship game at both the Auburn Invitational and the UCLA Tournament. Mizzou will participate in its final tournament of the season this weekend at the Houston Tournament. Joining the Tigers in Houston will be Boston University and the host school, the University of Houston. Last season, MU participated in six tournaments, including three at home. The Tigers were 16-16 in tournament play in 2002 and won the Missouri Invitational.

ON TAP
Mizzou will return to tournament play this weekend at the Houston Tournament. The Tigers will face Boston University and the University of Houston each twice. Missouri will open Big 12 Conference play on March 20, when they host Kansas at University Field in Columbia. A LOOK BACK Missouri will take the field on Wednesday for the first time since returning from the UCLA Tournament on March 2. The Tigers went 2-4 in Los Angeles. They were 2-1 against Boston College and 0-3 against No. 1 ranked UCLA. After dropping both contests on the opening day of the tournament (3-0 to BC and 8-0 to UCLA), MU recorded splits on Saturday and Sunday. Erin Kalka was MU's star on Sunday as she pitched back-to-back complete games and gave up no earned runs. She opened the day with a four hit shutout against Boston College and followed that with a complete game two-hitter against No. 1 UCLA.

LET'S PLAY TWO
Erin Kalka took the mound in the first of two games on the final day of the UCLA Tournament, and was still on the mound when the second game ended. Kalka pitched back-to-back complete games, striking out 16 batters and giving up no earned runs in 13 innings of work on the day. She picked up a win in a four hit shutout against Boston College to start the day. Then, against the No. 1 ranked UCLA Bruins, Kalka gave up no earned runs and struck out 10. Kalka is 6-5 on the season and has a 2.13 ERA. She has appeared in 14 of MU's 20 games this season.

HOME RUN DERBY
Mizzou's game against New Mexico State last month turned into a home run derby for MU. Five Tigers connected on homeruns in MU's 17-4 win. Rachael McGinnis got Mizzou on the board with a two-run homerun in the first inning. Then in the second inning, Kendra Power led off with a homer and two batters later, Heather Kunkel hit a solo homerun of her own. In the fifth inning, Daisy Mettlach led of the inning with a homerun to give the Tigers a 7-4 lead. Then in the seventh inning Kristen Burke connected for a three-run homerun as the Tigers scored ten runs in the inning.

TEN SPOT
Mizzou entered the seventh inning against New Mexico State with a 7-4 lead. By the end of the inning, Missouri had a 17-4 lead. In the inning, Kristen Burke had a three run homerun and a triple, driving in four in the inning. Heather Kunkel, Samantha Fleeman and Alisha Nelson each reached on doubles. Three other Tigers had singles as MU sent 13 batters to the plate in the seventh. Mizzou did most of the damage with one out, scoring nine runs in between the first and second outs of the inning.

BATTERS FLEE FROM PLATE
Freshman Samantha Fleeman has quickly stepped into the Tiger pitching rotation and made an immediate impact. In 50 innings pitched this season, Fleeman has struck out 34 batters while only walking 12. Fleeman opened the season by recording two wins at the Auburn Invitational. She picked up a 4-2 win over Mercer and then pitched a complete game shutout against Chattanooga. Fleeman has also served as the Tiger designated player when she is not pitching, recording seven hits and five RBI.

SINGLETON GUIDES MIZZOU
Ty Singleton was named the sixth head coach in Mizzou softball history last June. Singleton spent the last two seasons as the head coach at Northwestern State (La.) University, compiling a 75-45 record with the Demons. He is no stranger to the Big 12 Conference, after spending four season as an assistant coach at the University of Texas. Singleton brings an aggressive approach of softball to Mizzou. His teams have been known for being aggressive at the plate, on the bases and in the field. The first hire that Singleton made at MU was Tom Royder as the Tiger pitching coach. Royder was also an assistant for Singleton at Northwestern State. Karrie Rider completes the Mizzou staff. She was an assistant coach at Harvard last season and serves as the Tigers' fielding coach, as well as assisting in other areas.

EXTRA, EXTRA
Of Missouri's 119 hits in its first 20 games, 37 have gone for extra bases, including 22 doubles. Rachael McGinnis leads the team with nine extra base hits, while Heather Kunkel has had eight hits go for extra bases. Morgan LeCluyse has three doubles, a triple and a homerun for five extra base hits. THE MAC ATTACK Mizzou junior Rachael McGinnis is once again at or near the top of nearly all offensive categories for MU. McGinnis leads the team with a .345 batting average. She also leads MU in triples (2), slugging percentage (.603) hits (20), runs scored (10), and total bases (35). She is tied for the team lead in doubles (5) and homeruns (2). McGinnis is also second in stolen bases (5) and RBI (9).

WELCOME BACK...
Among those returning to the Tigers from last year's squad are the team leaders in nearly all major categories. Rachael McGinnis led MU in hits (67), batting average (.379), slugging percentage (.610), RBI (47), doubles (10), triples (5), homeruns (7), total bases (108) and walks (25). The leading base stealer for the Tigers last year was Sara Vassmer, who stole 20 bases in 31 attempts and returns in 2003. The top two pitchers for the 2002 Tigers are back this season. Erin Kalka led Mizzou in innings pitched (171.2), strikeouts (137), ERA (1.88), wins (14) and appearances (41). Ingrid Werner was the team leader in games started (31) and complete games (11).

...AND WELCOME ABOARD
Joining the Tiger veterans is a strong group of freshman. Several freshman are quickly becoming contributors for Mizzou. On the mound, Samantha Fleeman has started seven games for MU already this season and has two wins. She has struck out 34 batters while only giving up 12 walks. Fleeman's battery mate is another freshman, Morgan Kent. Kent hit a three run homerun against Colorado State. She has also thrown out four base runners attempting to steal. Joanne Loethen has started every game at first base this season and is hitting .267 for the year. Kendra Power has stepped into the second base position and has six hits and five RBI, including a homerun in MU's win over New Mexico State.