March 13, 2003

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The Mizzou softball team will take to the road this weekend for its final tournament until postseason play, as it participates in Houston Classic. The Tigers are 12-10 over all this year and 10-10 in tournament games. They opened the season at the Auburn Invitational, going 4-1 and advancing to the championship game. MU then took part in the Stanford Invitational, the Troy Cox Invitational and the UCLA Tournament. Mizzou again reached the championship game at the UCLA Tournament, falling to No. 1 UCLA in the final. Missouri is coming off a doubleheader sweep of Pittsburg State in its home opener on Wednesday. The Tigers will open up Big 12 Conference play next Thursday when Kansas visits Columbia.

A LOOK AT THE OPPOSITION
The University of Houston is the host team for this weekend's tournament and enters with an 18-10 record. The Cougars have won eight straight and nine of their last 12. They swept a three game series against Saint Louis earlier this week. Jamie Falco has an 8-3 record and a 1.24 ERA for Houston, while Jenny Johnson has a 5-4 record and a 1.53 ERA. Jeanie Davie and Kristen Glovacz lead the Cougars with .393 and .354 batting averages, respectively. Boston University is just 1-6, picking up its lone victory by spliting a doubleheader with Sam Houston State on Wednesday. Two BU players are hitting over .400, as Julie Heneke has a .440 batting average, while Jamie Hass has a .435 mark. Mizzou has never faced Houston or Boston in its history. The Cougars and Terriors are two of the six schools MU will face for the first time this year.

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 Classic. 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
Missouri will open Big 12 Conference play next Thursday, when it host Kansas at 5 p.m. at University Field in Columbia.

A LOOK BACK
The Tigers recorded a doubleheader sweep of Pittsburg State (6-2, 8-0) on Wednesday in their home opener. MU pitchers Samantha Fleeman and Erin Kalka each struck out 10 batters and gave up no earned runs in complete game performances. Morgan LeCluyse had four hits in the doubleheader, including a homerun and two triples. Joanne Loethen was 2-for-3 in each of the two games. Rachael McGinnis and Daisy Mettlach had three hits a piece and each had a homerun in the game two. The Tigers ended the second game with three homers in the bottom of the sixth making the lead 8-0 and invoking the eight-run rule.

A PERFECT 10
In 12 starts for Mizzou, Erin Kalka has struck out 10 batters four times. Her first double-digit strike out game came against Kentucky in the Stanford Invitational on Feb. 15. She then struck out 10 against the No. 1 team in the nation, UCLA, on March 2. That outing came on the final day of the UCLA Tournament, when Kalka pitched two complete games, with the 10-strikeout performance coming in game two of the day for her.

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 .359 batting average. She also leads MU in hits (23) and homeruns (3), and is tied for the team lead in doubles (5) and runs scored (12). She is second on the team in triples (3) and RBI (11) and third in stolen bases (5).

RUN AND SHOOT OFFENSE
Ty Singleton has promised that the Tigers will be an aggressive team this season and following the first two weekends of play, he is following through on that promise. After three tournaments, Missouri has stolen 32 bases on 51 attempts. Its opponents, on the other hand, have only stolen 19 bases on 27 attempts. Daisy Mettlach leads MU in both steal attempts and stolen bases, swiping seven bases on 11 attempts. Joanne Loethen is 6-for-8 in stolen base attempts this year. Rachael McGinnis has five stolen bases and Morgan LeCluyse has four.

BATTERS FLEE FROM PLATE
Freshman Samantha Fleeman has quickly stepped into the Tiger pitching rotation and made an immediate impact. In 57 innings pitched this season, Fleeman has struck out 44 batters while only walking 13. 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. She had her first double digit strikeout performance of her career on Wednesday as she sat down 10 Pittsburg State batters.

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.

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.

TEN SPOT
Mizzou entered the seventh inning against New Mexico State on Feb. 22 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.