March 25, 2003
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The Missouri softball team, which opened up Big 12 Conference play by sweeping Texas Tech last weekend, will travel to Norman, Okla. on Wednesday to take the Sooners. The Tigers are 17-11 on the season and a 0-4 against ranked teams heading into the matchup with fourth ranked OU. The Tigers dropped one game to then-No. 14 Stanford and fell to No. 1 UCLA three times earlier this season. Oklahoma enters Wednesday's games 27-4 on the year and 3-1 in the Big 12 Conference after sweeping Kansas last weekend. Following the doubleheader with Oklahoma, the Tigers will return home to host Texas A&M this weekend.
A LOOK AT THE SOONERS
Oklahoma enters Wednesday's doubleheader with the Tigers with a 27-4 record and a No. 4 ranking.
The Sooners are coming off a sweep of No. 24 Kansas last weekend. OU defeated the Jayhawks 3-1 on Saturday and then 10-0 on Sunday.
Kami Keiter leads the Oklahoma pitching staff, with a 17-1 record and a 0.80 ERA. She has eight shutouts on the season and has struck out 113 batters.
Five Sooners are batting over .300 led by Leah Gulla with a .379 batting average and 32 RBI. She also has six homeruns and seven doubles.
Erin Evans is hitting .354 and Christina Enea posts a .348 mark.
Kelli Braitsch has a team leading eight homeruns, to go along with six doubles and a triple on the year.
Patty Gasso is in her ninth season as the Oklahoma head coach, compiling a 429-130 record with the Sooners.
ON TAP
Following the trip to Oklahoma, Mizzou will return home for a two-game set with Texas A&M this weekend. Game one is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday with the second game at noon on Sunday.
LAST TIME OUT
Mizzou opened up Big 12 Conference play by sweeping Texas Tech last weekend in Lubbock, Texas.
The Tigers opened the series with a 6-4 win over Tech on Saturday. Erin Kalka picked up the victory for MU, her ninth of the season. Ingrid Werner recorded her first save of the year.
Heather Kunkel and Morgan LeCluyse were each 2-for-3 on the day. Daisy Mettlach also added two hits with three RBI for Mizzou. Rachael McGinnis connected for her team leading fifth homerun of the year.
Missouri made it a sweep, by knocking off the Red Raiders 8-0 on Sunday. Seven Tigers had hits in the game. Mettlach hit her third homerun of the season and scored two runs.
Kalka again took the mound for MU, pitching a five-hit shutout, striking out five in the game. She now has five shutouts on the season.
MU improved to 17-11 on the season and 2-0 in Big 12 Conference play with the wins. The Tigers have won seven of their last eight games.
THE MAC ATTACK
Mizzou junior Rachael McGinnis' name can be found among the leaders in the Big 12 Conference statistical categories.
She is currently ninth in the conference in batting with a .345 mark. McGinnis is fifth in on base percentage (.427) and seventh in the Big 12 in slugging percentage (.631).
She is also, 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 hits (29), homeruns (5) and runs scored (19). She is tied for the team lead in doubles (5) and is second on the team in triples (2) and RBI (17). She is also third in stolen bases (6).
RUN AND SHOOT OFFENSE
Ty Singleton has promised that the Tigers will be an aggressive team this season and so far he is following through on that promise.
Missouri has stolen 45 bases on 65 attempts. Its opponents, on the other hand, have only stolen 21 bases on 30 attempts.
Daisy Mettlach and Morgan LeCluyse lead the Tigers with nine steals each. Joanne Loethen and Rachael McGinnis each have six steals.
EXTRA, EXTRA
Of Missouri's 181 hits through 28 games, 54 have gone for extra bases, including 17 homeruns.
Rachael McGinnis leads the team with 12 extra base hits, while Heather Kunkel has nine and Morgan LeCluyse has eight.
McGinnis leads the team in homeruns with five and is tied with Kunkel for the team lead in doubles with five.
Kunkel and Daisy Mettlach each have three homeruns on the year. LeCluyse has connected for two homeruns, three triples and three doubles this season.
TOURNEY TIME
Missouri played in five tournaments to open the Big 12 Conference season.
The Tigers were 13-11 in their five tournaments and reached the championship game at both the Auburn Invitational and the UCLA Tournament.
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.
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.