Feb. 18, 2010
Date: Feb. 20-21
Location: Tucson, Ariz.
Stadium: Hillenbrand Stadium
Game One: Saturday, Feb. 20 - 1:00 p.m. CT
Game Two: Saturday, Feb. 20 - 3:30 p.m. CT
Game Three: Sunday, Feb. 21 - 1:00 p.m. CT
The No. 6/5 Missouri Tigers softball team will look to build on their strong start when they head to Tucson, Ariz., for a three game series with the No. 2 ranked Arizona Wildcats. Both squads were participants in last year's Women's College World Series. The teams will play two on Saturday, with game one set to begin at 1 p.m. CT (Noon MST) and game two approximately 30 minutes after game one's finish. The third and final game of the series will start at 1 p.m. CT (Noon MST) on Sunday.
Scouting the Wildcats
Arizona was ranked at No. 6 in the USA Today/NFCA and No. 4 in the USA Softball/ESPN.com preseason polls, and have moved up to No. 2 on both lists after their 6-0 start. The Cats opened the season with a split doubleheader - playing Western Michigan in the first game and Purdue in the second. Both contests ended in run-rule fashion as UA clobbered WMU by a 13-0 score, and followed that up by beating Purdue 10-0, both in five innings. Arizona got their first real challenge of the season the next day, taking on No. 21 Northwestern. The Wildcats from Northwestern led 3-1, but Arizona plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh for a dramatic walk-off victory. After shutting out North Dakota State 6-0, Arizona finished off their weekend by defeating Nevada, 10-5, and Cal State Fullerton, 8-1 to improve to 6-0.
The Cats are led by two extremely talented starting pitchers - senior Sarah Akamine and freshman Kenzie Fowler. Fowler has amassed a 4-0 record already this season, earning three wins in three starts while collecting her fourth as a reliever in the team's come-from-behind win against Northwestern. She boasts a 1.25 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 11 walks in 22.1 innings, while allowing opponents to bat just .095 against her. Akamine's record sits at 2-0 after hurling two complete game shutouts during the opening weekend of the season. In 15.2 innings pitched, her ERA sits at 1.34 while collecting 12 strikeouts and walking only three.
The All-Time Series
Missouri and Arizona have faced off 10 times in the past, with the Wildcats dominating the series by winning nine of those contests. In fact, Arizona has taken the last nine meetings between the two programs, with Missouri's lone win coming all the way back in 1984, when the Tigers edged out the Cats by a 1-0 score in their first-ever matchup.
Last Time They Met
The two programs haven't played since the 2007 season, when the Wildcats welcomed MU to Tucson, Ariz., for a three game series. UA swept past the Tigers, winning by margins of 5-4, 8-1 and 8-7. Arizona would later go on to win the Women's College World Series at the end of the season for their second consecutive National Championship.
Mizzou Against Pac-10 Teams
Missouri has struggled against teams from the Pac-10 Conference in the past, facing seven of the league's eight squads while compiling just a 9-36 (.200) record. The Tigers have had more success recently, however, going 3-3 against the conference during last year's WCWS run. Last year, MU first met up with Oregon and pulled out an 8-7, extra inning victory. Mizzou faced off against UCLA four times last season, and while UCLA won the regular season matchup by a 2-1 score, the Tigers got the best of the Bruins in the postseason. After splitting the first two games of the NCAA Super Regional series, Missouri shocked UCLA with a 9-1 run-rule victory, sending the Tigers to the WCWS. Mizzou played one team at the WCWS from the Pac-10, losing 7-3 to Arizona State in the opening game of the championship tournament.
Follow the Games
Live stats and score updates will be provided at www.mutigers.com and at www.arizonawildcats.com. Live radio coverage will also be provided by KCUB 1290 AM, the home of the Arizona Wildcats.
Tiger Softball Ranked No. 6/5 in Week One Polls
Coming off a huge weekend series against then-No. 2 Alabama, the Missouri Tigers softball team was rewarded for their efforts by jumping into the top six of both rankings. Released on Tuesday, Missouri came in at No. 6 in the USA Today/NFCA poll and No. 5 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. Both rankings mark the highest the Tigers have ever been in the respective regular season polls. In 1997, Missouri was ranked seventh in the USA Today/NFCA poll twice over the course of the year. Washington, the defending national champions, was unanimously voted No. 1 in both polls after starting 5-0. In the USA Today/NFCA poll, Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Arizona State rounded out the top five, while Arizona, Michigan and UCLA joined Washington and Mizzou in the ESPN.com/USA Softball's top five. Missouri will face No. 2 Arizona this weekend in a three-game set, marking the third straight series that the Tigers have been on the road for a three-game series against the No. 2 team in the country.
Lucky No. 2?
The No. 2 is looking as if it has become a lucky number for the Missouri program - opponents that are ranked No. 2, that is. In Mizzou's last two three-game sets against the No. 2 team in the country, the Tigers have been able to take two out of three - on the road, no less. Last year, MU took two of three against the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, Calif., at the NCAA Super Regional, advancing Missouri to their fourth Women's College World Series in program history. To open the 2010 season, Missouri took two out of three against the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Ala. On top of that, both of Mizzou's game three victories came at the hands of a five inning mercy rule. The Tigers beat UCLA in game three last year by a 9-1 final, while beating Alabama 9-0 in the rubber match of this year's series.
Mizzou Takes Two of Three From No. 2 Bama
The Missouri Tigers opened the 2010 campaign with one of the top teams in the country, No. 2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Clearly one of the toughest teams in the nation, the Tigers proved to the softball world that they were also deserving of that claim, as the squad took two of the three games. Mizzou opened with a dramatic 2-1 victory in which freshman Nicole Hudson gave the Tigers the victory with her first career home run in the top of the seventh inning, breaking a 1-1 tie. After stumbling in game two and losing 9-0, the Missouri squad bounced back on Sunday with a 9-0 trouncing of their own, run-ruling the Crimson Tide in five innings. The win marked the first time that Bama has ever been run-ruled at the Alabama Softball Complex, which opened in 2000. Sophomore pitcher Chelsea Thomas pitched 12 innings in two starts, giving up just one run and striking out 23. Junior catcher Megan Christopher led the offensive attack with a .500 batting average and four RBI during the weekend set.
What's Next?
Mizzou will conclude the month of February with another big weekend road trip. The team will travel to Columbus, Ga., for the 2010 NFCA Leadoff Classic, held at the South Commons Stadium and Complex from Feb. 26-28. The event brings in 23 teams from across the country, and five of those will be pitted against the Tigers. During the three-day event, the Tigers will take on No. 4 Michigan, Virginia Tech, No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 18 Massachusetts and Radford.