April 15, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The Tigers will face two in-state rivals in back-to-back doubleheaders this week in Columbia. UMKC will visit University Field on Tuesday and Saint Louis University will face Mizzou on Wednesday. Games on both nights begin at 5 p.m. Missouri enters the week with a 24-15 record and is looking to stop a two-game skid after being swept by Oklahoma State last weekend. UMKC is 10-24 on the season and has lost three of their last four. Saint Louis enters Wednesday's doubleheader 14-12 on the year. Mizzou will return to Big 12 play this weekend, as it travels to Baylor for a two-game series beginning on Friday.
A LOOK AT THE KANGAROOS
UMKC has a record of 10-24 heading into Tuesday's doubleheader with MU.
The Kangaroos lost 18 of their first 21 games, but have since won seven of the last 12.
They are coming off a four-game series with Oakland last weekend in which they won one of the four games.
Jessica Clarke leads UMKC with a .236 average . Three Kangaroo players have over 20 RBI on the season led by Kari Thurman with 29.
Thurman leads UMKC in hits with 22 on the year and also has UMKC's only home run of the season.
Lindsey Davis leads UMKC's pitching staff with eight wins and a 1.78 ERA. She has 129.2 innings pitched, with 106 strikeouts and 44 walks.
Carla Marchetti has a record of 51-61 in her three years as the Kangaroo head coach. She has an overall record of 68-87 in four seasons as a head coach.
Missouri has won 38 of the 39 meetings between the two teams, including a sweep of last year's doubleheader in Kansas City.
A LOOK AT THE BILLIKENS
Saint Louis enters Wednesday's doubleheader 14-12 on the season and is coming off a three-game series with Louisville in which it dropped two of three.
The Billikens opened the year with five straight losses, but rebounded to win the next seven games. They are currently 7-10 in Conference USA.
Nicole Bohnestie leads SLU at the plate. She is hitting .286 with six doubles, five home runs and 17 RBI. She has all five of Saint Louis' home runs on the season.
Melissa Quest leads the team in stolen bases, with nine steals in 13 attempts. Adrienne May is 8-for-9 in stolen base attempts this year.
Bohnestie also leads the team in the pitcher's circle. She has an 11-7 record and a 1.12 ERA.
She has five shut outs on the year and 17 complete games. Bohnestie has struck out 155 batters and walked just 13 in 125.1 innings of work.
Jim Molloy is in his seventh season as the Billiken head coach. He has a record of 82-247 with SLU.
Mizzou leads the all-time series with Saint Louis 47-2. Last year the two teams split a doubleheader in Columbia.
ON TAP
MU will travel to Baylor this weekend for a two-game series with the Bears.
The Tigers also have a doubleheader at Kansas left on the schedule, as well as a home series with Nebraska.
The Big 12 Tournament is May 1-4 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
LAST TIME OUT
The Tigers took a six-game winning streak into Stillwater, Okla. last weekend and came out of the weekend with a two-game losing streak.
OSU pitcher Lauren Bay held Mizzou at bay in both games between the Tigers and Cowgirls.
Oklahoma State took game one on Saturday 8-0 in five innings. Missouri rebounded Sunday with a gritty performance on Sunday, but still fell 2-1.
Bay struck out 13 in game one, allowing only one hit, a double by Kristen Burke. The Tigers had a little more success off Bay on Sunday, but could only connect for three hits as she struck out 11.
Erin Kalka started both games of the series. After a tough game one, she responded with a complete game five-hitter on Sunday.
NO RUNS FOR YOU
When Oklahoma State scored in the bottom of the second inning in last Saturday's game, it was the first runs MU had allowed in the month of April.
The Tigers had a string of 38 innings in which they did not allow a run. They had five consecutive shutouts, defeating Iowa State twice, Southeast Missouri State twice and Texas once.
KALKA RECEIVES BIG 12 HONOR
Erin Kalka was selected as the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week on April 8 after she led Mizzou to a 1-0 win over No. 5 Texas on April 5.
The shutout was her seventh of the season as she struck out eight and allowed just three singles to the Longhorns.
The win marked the second three-hit shutout over a ranked opponent for Kalka in a span of two weeks. On March 26, she recorded a three-hit shutout over No. 4 Oklahoma.
She recorded two more wins and two more shutouts on April 10. Kalka pitched 15 scoreless innings and struck out eleven while allowing only four hits in the two games against Iowa State
For the season, Kalka is 14-9 with a 2.02 ERA. She has struck out 162 batters in 152.2 innings pitched.
Opposing batters are hitting just .197 off Kalka, and she leads MU with 17 complete games and nine shutouts this season.
THE MAC ATTACK
Mizzou junior Rachael McGinnis' name can be found among the leaders in the Big 12 Conference statistical categories.
She is currently tied for third in the conference in batting with a .362 mark. McGinnis is fourth in on base percentage (.435) and second in the Big 12 in slugging percentage (.690).
McGinnis leads the team with a .362 batting average. She also leads MU in hits (42), home runs (9), RBI (27) and runs scored (27). She is tied for the team lead in triples (3) and is second in stolen bases (7) and tied for third in doubles (5).
THE VOTES ARE IN
Missouri received votes in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and the USA Today/NFCA poll.
The Tigers received 15 votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, placing it 27th in the nation.
Mizzou is ranked 33rd in the USA Today/NFCA poll, receiving four votes in this weeks poll.
TO BE THE BEST,YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BEST
With its 1-0 win over No. 5 Texas last Saturday, MU has now won its last three games against ranked opponents.
The Tigers defeated No. 4 Oklahoma by a score of 2-0 on March 26 in Norman, Okla.
The following weekend, MU took a game from No. 20 Texas A&M, defeating the Aggies 6-5 in 10 innings in the second game of a two-game series.
Missouri is 3-6 against Top 25 teams and 2-3 against teams in the Top 10.
Oklahoma State is ranked in the top 20 in each of the two polls.
FLEE BATTERS, FLEE
Samantha Fleeman struck out ten batters as she no-hit Southeast Missouri State in the opening game of a doubleheader On April 2.
Fleeman picked up her fifth victory of the season with the win. She walked four, which were the only base runner to reach base for the Otakians.
The last no-hitter at MU was thrown by Ingrid Werner last season. Werner actually recorded a perfect game against Rhode Island on Feb. 17, 2002.
After winning in her first two starts of her collegiate career, Fleeman did not pick up win number three until she had a complete game one hitter against Pittsburg State on March 12, striking out ten in that game also.
For the season, Fleeman has two shutouts and has struck out 59 batters while walking just 21.
GONE FISHING
Well actually Melaine Fisher was not gone fishing for the first 30 games of the season.
Fisher, also a member the Mizzou women's basketball team, did not join the Tigers softball team until the basketball season concluded on March 27.
She averaged 5.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game with the basketball team helping the Tigers reach the quarterfinals of the WNIT.
Fisher joined the softball Tigers in time for their series with Texas A&M and saw action in both of the games against the Aggies.
She picked up her first hit in a big way as she connected for a two-run home run in the top of the second inning in the opening game of the doubleheader against Southeast Missouri State.
Fisher finished 4-for-6 with one home run, two RBI, two runs scored in the two games against SEMO.
UNLUCKY 13 FOR LECLUYSE
MU junior Morgan LeCluyse's double in the Tigers' first games against Southeast Missouri on April 2, extended her hitting streak to 13 games.
Unfortunately 13 turned out to be unlucky. LeCluyse had to leave the game after she dove back to the third base bag on a pick-off attempt and jammed her hand into the base.
For the season, LeCluyse had been hitting .337, which is ninth best in the Big 12 Conference, and has four home runs and 18 RBI.
LET'S PLAY TWO
Erin Kalka has taken Ernie Banks' famous quote, "Let's play two" to heart.
Three times this season Kalka has stepped into the pitcher's circle in back-to-back games against some of the best teams in the nation.
Kalka took the ball in the first of two games on the final day of the UCLA Tournament, and was still in the circle 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 again took the start in both games of a doubleheader, this time against No. 4 Oklahoma. Like she did in Los Angeles, on March 26.
Kalka was 1-1, pitching a three-hit shutout in the first game, as she struck out six Sooners and walked only one.
She then held OU to only four hits and one run through four innings in the nightcap, before OU's Leah Gulla connected on a three-run home run, the first big hit for Oklahoma on the day against Kalka.
Kalka recorded another shutout over a top five team last Saturday as she pitched a three-hit shutout against No. 5 Texas.
She threw 15 innings of shutout ball against Iowa State on Thursday. She pitched two shutout wins allowing just hits in the two games.