March 11, 2008
Columbia, Mo. - Riding a 12-game win streak, the Missouri softball team (20-6) will travel to Wichita, Kan., to take on the Shockers in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. (CT) at the C. Howard Wilkins Softball Facility. First pitch of game two is slated for 4 p.m. (CT).
Missouri owns a 16-2 lead in the all-time series with Wichita State and recently collected a 2-0 victory over the Shockers, Feb. 22 in game one of the Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. The two programs first met in 1980 and Missouri walked away with the 2-0 win. Over the past 28 years, Missouri has shut out Wichita State seven times with current Tiger pitcher Jen Bruck (St. Peters, Mo.) earning two of Missouri's last five wins and junior Stacy Delaney (Freeland, Mich.) credited with the 2-0 win in New Mexico.
Wichita State, currently 15-7 on the season, will play two games against Western Illinois Tuesday, March 11, before hosting the Tigers. Entering the two-game series with the Westerwinds, Britnee Barnett owns the highest average of her teammates at .390 having hit three home runs, one triple and four doubles on the season. In addition, Barnett has been credited with 24 RBI. Barnett managed two hits off of Tiger pitcher Delaney in Missouri's last meeting with Wichita State.
In the circle, Ashly Bright owns a 7-5 record and 1.94 ERA, while teammate Brianna Smet is a perfect 6-0 on the year with a 3.31 ERA. Together, the two have combined for 171 strikeouts, 142 hurled by Bright. Bright was credited with the loss in the Shocker's Feb. 22 game with Missouri allowing two runs, both unearned, on four hits. The senior struck out 11 Tiger batters.
Freshman Rhea Taylor stands at the top of the list with her .385 batting average. Five Tigers own above a .300 including Big 12 Player of the Week Lindsey Ubrun (Riverside, Calif.). Ubrun has hit a team-leading 10 home runs on the season to stand at sixth in the Missouri single-season record book. The Tiger junior finished the University of South Florida (USF) Under Armour Invitational with a .500 average and 1.313 slugging percentage.
Delaney owns the best ERA of Missouri's three-person pitching staff at 1.26. The trio of Delaney, sophomore Jana Hainey (Raymore, Mo.) and Bruck own a 1.70 ERA and have held their opponents to a .234 average. Altogether, the three Tigers have struck out 165 batters, with Delaney accounting for 76 strikeouts.
Following Missouri's two-game series with Wichita State, the Tigers will return home for a 10-game homestand that begins Friday, March 14 at the Mizzou Classic. Teams from Wisconsin and North Dakota State will participate in the three-day tournament with a complete schedule available online at www.mutigers.com.
In other news, Head Coach Ehren Earleywine announced today that the Tigers will now play two games against Bradley on Wednesday, March 19. In addition to the originally scheduled 5 p.m. (CT) game on University Field, Missouri will host the Braves at 3 p.m. (CT) making for a doubleheader.