April 26, 2007
Closing in on the end of the regular season, the No. 21 Missouri softball team will host Iowa State in its final mid-week series of the season, Thursday April 26, beginning at 3 p.m. (CT) on University Field. Game two will begin at approximately 5 p.m. Live stats and all-access will be provided for both games.
With only six games remaining before the start of the Big 12 Championships (May 10-12), the Tigers are looking to regain their No. 1 standing in the league with a pair of wins over the Cyclones. Not since 1997, has a Tiger softball team claimed regular season conference honors.
Leading the all-time series, 43-28, Missouri has swept the Cyclones in two of the last three series contested on University Field. The tradition of a doubleheader with Iowa State dates back to the 1992 season, when the Tigers hosted the Cyclones in a Saturday afternoon series. Missouri swept Iowa State for the first of 16 back-to-back meetings between the two teams and enters the Wednesday series with a 14-5 advantage (since the formation of the Big 12 Conference) at home (only one game was played in 1996).
Ranked nationally for the first time of the 2007 campaign, the Tigers jumped to No. 21 in the weekly ESPN.com/USA Softball national poll. Prior to their top-25 ranking, the Tigers had been receiving votes for the previous two weeks. Missouri's sweep of Kansas in addition to a 5-0 shutout of then fifth-ranked Texas A&M helped pave the way for Missouri's national recognition.
Before entering Big 12 conference play, Missouri held a meager 1-13 record against ranked opponents, but since starting league action, has managed a sweep of then No. 9 Texas in addition to two-game splits with second-ranked Oklahoma and fifth-ranked Texas A&M. The Tigers managed their most recent victory over a top-five opponent April 21 when they shutout the Aggies, who entered the game having outscoried their previous seven opponents, 37-1.
Scouting Iowa State
Entering the two-game series with Missouri on a five game losing streak, the Iowa State Cyclones are 22-35 overall and 1-11 in the Big 12. ISU's only win over a league opponent came April 14, when the Cyclones blanked Texas Tech, 3-0 in Ames.
Iowa State, led by Missouri graduate Stacy Gemeinhardt-Cesler, owns a .225 batting average with its staff of five pitchers combining for a 3.35 ERA.
Freshman Alex Johnson, leads her team with a .313 average. A consistent three-hole hitter, Johnson has scored 16 runs and has been credited with 23 RBI.
In the circle, senior righty Alyssa Ransom has seen the most action for the Cyclones, throwing 157.1 innings of work. Owning a 10-15 record, Randsom has struckout 123 batters, but allowed 62 earned runs on 174 hits.
In the Polls
After two weeks of receiving votes in the national ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, the Tigers jumped to 21st on April 24. Standing ahead of Big 12 rival Texas, the Tigers continue to trail third-ranked Oklahoma, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 8 Baylor. Missouri has played eight of the top-20 teams including three of the top five, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Arizona and No. 5 LSU.