March 6, 2009
Mizzou softball will travel to Springfield, Mo., for the All-Missouri Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament beginning Friday, March 6. The three day tournament features teams from around the state of Missouri and has the Tigers squaring off with UMKC beginning at 2 p.m. (CT) Friday afternoon.
The 12th-ranked Tigers have started off hot on both sides of the ball posting a 14-3 record with the team batting average at .324 and team era of 0.93. Leading the Tigers offensively is redshirt junior infielder Gina Schneider with a .471 batting average, four doubles, and eight RBI. Also helping offensively is senior Micaela Minner, the designated player, who is hitting .289, has four doubles, a homerun, and 16 RBI. Leading the way for the Tigers on the mound is freshman hurler Chelsea Thomas with a 6-2 and 0.95 ERA.
Missouri will play a single game Friday, a 2 p.m. (CT) game against SEMO on Saturday, March 7 and two games Sunday March 8, beginning with an 11 a.m. contest with Saint Louis followed by a 1 p.m. game against host school Missouri State.
UMKC The UMKC Kangaroos come into the tournament at 5-11 after a 1-1 showing at the Blues City Classic last weekend in Memphis, Tenn. The `Roos beat Memphis 9-4 to start the tournament, then fell 5-4 to North Dakota on Saturday before the final two games of the tournament were cancelled. After starting the season 0-6, UMKC has gone 5-5 in three tournaments since. The `Roos have been led mostly by freshmen and sophomores, as there are only four upper-classmen on the roster. Freshman infielder Chelsea Hartwig has been the biggest offensive spark for UMKC. She has started all 16 games, batting .396, and leads the team in hits (21), home runs (4), and RBI (15). Junior Nichole Ellis has been the Kangaroos most effective pitcher, posting a 3-1 record and a 3.00 ERA in 32 2/3 innings pitched.
SLU Saint Louis is 3-9 on the season, with two of those losses coming to tournament foes Missouri earlier this season. The Billikens dropped consecutive games 12-0, 7-2 to the Tigers in late February. Senior C/1B Katie Johns leads the team with a .429 batting average in 11 games and boasts a .600 on-base percentage. Junior C/OF Nicki Jost is second on the team in batting average (.333), RBI (7), and total bases (22).
Missouri State The Missouri State Bears come into the tournament with a 7-5 record, having won five of their last six games, including two extra-inning wins. Three of MSU's five losses have also come by one run. The Bears opened up the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn. with wins over Valparaiso and Tennessee Tech over the weekend before the rest of the tournament was cancelled. Junior P Lauren McGinley was named Missouri Valley Conference's Co-Pitcher of the week after she threw 9 2/3 scoreless innings in the Bears wins in Tennessee, improving her record to 4-1 on the year. Freshman P Natalie Rose has also been effective on the mound, and leads the team with 36 strikeouts in only 31 innings pitched. The Bears have two players hitting over .450 on the season. Senior IF Jessie Smith leads the team in most offensive categories, hitting .500 with three home runs and 31 total bases. Sophomore IF Jenna Schwark is batting .452 and leads the team with nine RBI.
SEMO Sitting at 4-4 on the season, the SEMO Redhawks are coming off of back-to-back losses to No. 18 SIU Carbondale. The Redhawks began the season with wins over Jackson State and Louisiana Monroe, then went 2-2 in the Mardi Gras Tournament in Monroe, La. over the weekend of February 15. Freshman pitcher Giana Zimmerman has provided a spark from the mound for SEMO, posting a 3-1 record in five appearances, including complete games in her three starts. She also brings in a 1.40 ERA and a 23-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 25 innings pitched. Junior outfielder Elise Sperakos leads the team in hits, runs, and total bases, while posting a ..500 slugging percentage through eight games. The Redhawks are 3-2 as the away team this season.