April 17, 2007
Standing second in the league with a 6-1 mark in Big 12 play, the Missouri softball team (30-18) will travel to Lawrence, Kan., for a Wednesday afternoon doubleheader with Kansas (27-16-1, 3-6) beginning at 3 p.m. (CT) at Arrocha Ballpark. Missouri was forced to postpone last Wednesday's home contest with the Jayhawks after rain made University Field unplayable. This marks the first time in four years that the two teams have played both games at a single institution instead of splitting the series between Columbia and Lawrence.
With only seven remaining opportunities to score valuable Midwest Ford Border Showdown points, the Tigers lead Kansas, 16-12, in the annual competition. Each softball game with Kansas will count for 1.5 points. Missouri most recently collected three points in the women's tennis team 4-3 victory over the Jayhawks in Columbia. The last Tiger team to earn a victory in Lawrence was the women's basketball team, Feb. 14, (67-57).
Missouri leads Kansas, 52-42, in the all-time series. One of the Tiger's oldest rivals in softball, Missouri lost two of the three meetings last season, including the first Big 12 tournament pairing between the two programs in seven years.
The Tigers enter game one with the third best batting average in the league (.297) and second highest RBI total (262). Junior Jen Bruck is expected to make her eighth Big 12 start of the campaign. The righty has been credited with all six of the Tigers conference wins, suffering her first Big 12 loss of the year in game two against the second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, April 15.
Senior catcher Kathy Masterson leads the way at the plate for the Tigers with a .364 batting average in seven games of Big 12 play. Two Tigers, junior Amanda Renth and freshman Julie Silver, both owning over a .300 average, has tallied six RBI on the season and stand at third and fourth respectively on the team with their averages. Redshirt junior Micaela Minner has managed two doubles and two home runs since the start of conference play March 24 in Lubbock, Texas and owns a .318 average.
The Tigers are down to their final 10 games of the regular season. Following Missouri's road trip to Kansas, Ehren Earleywine's squad of 20 women will return home and host fifth-ranked Texas A&M in a two-game series beginning Saturday, April 21. Six of Missouri's remaining 10 games will be contested at home, with Nebraska traveling to Columbia for the final home series of the 2007 campaign.