April 16, 2010
Complete Game Notes 
WHO: No. 11 Missouri Tigers vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
WHEN: Saturday, April 17 - 2 p.m. CT | Sunday, April 18 - Noon CT
WHERE: University Field - Columbia, Mo.
LIVE STATS: Game One | Game Two
LIVE VIDEO: Mizzou All-Access
LIVE AUDIO: KCOU 88.1 FM or Online
Following a 3-2 road trip, the No. 11/15 ranked Missouri softball team returns home to open up a six-game stand, the longest remaining of the season, with Big 12 action against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Mizzou looks to get back to .500 in Big 12 play with game one against the Red Raiders beginning Saturday at 2 p.m., while game two will be played at Noon CT on Sunday.
SCOUTING THE RED RAIDERS
The Texas Tech Red Raiders are having one of their finest seasons in recent memory, as they enter this series boasting a 31-10 record. They've struggled a bit against some of the Big 12 competition so far, as their conference record stands at just 3-6, but they are coming off a dramatic split with No. 12 Oklahoma this past Thursday. In game one, the Red Raiders fell after holding a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the seventh, as a walk-off grand slam lifted the Sooners to a 9-7 victory. However, Texas Tech exacted revenge in game two, as they crushed a grand slam of their own to overcome a 5-2 deficit and win 7-6 in nine innings. Texas Tech is guided by first year head coach Shanon Hays. He is joined by assistants Aly Sartini and Kristie Fox.
Texas Tech currently boasts the second-best team batting average (.310) and third-best team ERA (2.10) in the Big 12 this season. Freshman Mikey Kenney is having a breakout first season with TTU, as she's hitting .339 to go with her 13 home runs and 35 RBI, both of which lead the team. Her .713 slugging percentage is third-best in the conference. Sophomore Emily Bledsoe has put together a .375 average this season, and has also belted seven home runs, 14 doubles, driven in 33 and has stolen eight bases.
Senior Ashly Jacobs leads the way for the Red Raiders in the circle, as she enters the series with the third-lowest ERA in the Big 12 at 1.29. She's 11-4 on the season in 25 appearances, has started 20 games, and has thrown six complete games and three shutouts. She has struck out 97 batters in 108.2 innings. Joining her in the circle are Ashley Brokeshoulder, a freshman, and sophomore Karli Merlich. Brokeshoulder has a 2.19 ERA in her first collegiate season, as she has put together a record of 7-5. Merlich's reecord stands at 9-1, as her ERA is 2.71.
MIZZOU VS. TEXAS TECH
In the all-time series between these two schools, Missouri holds a 24-14 edge over the Red Raiders. In the first meeting between the two, the Tigers took a 4-2 victory in a game back in 1981, the first year of Red Raider softball. Under head coach Ehren Earleywine, the Tigers have put together a 5-1 record against Texas Tech, with the Red Raiders' lone win coming in the 2008 Big 12 Tournament. Last season, Mizzou swept the two-game series in Lubbock, Texas, rolling past the Red Raiders by scores of 12-0 in five innings and 10-3. Megan Christopher racked up three hits and three RBI in game one, while Marla Schweisberger homered and drove in two. In game two, Rhea Taylor put together a 3-for-4 day while Gina Schneider hit two home runs and plated three.
FOLLOW THE GAMES
Live stats will be provided for both games at mutigers.com. Live radio is available via KCOU at 88.1 FM, and can also be accessed online at www.kcou.fm. A live video feed of both games will be available for paid subscribers of Mizzou All-Access.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Tigers host a pair of midweek doubleheaders to finish off this homestand, beginning Wednesday, April 21, with a split doubleheader with Evansville and Missouri S&T. The game against Evansville will take place at 3 p.m. CT, with the Missouri S&T game tentatively scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. CT. On Thursday, Missouri will host in-state foe Central Methodist for a twin-bill, beginning at 2 p.m. CT.
TIGERS TAKE DOWN SIU SCHOOLS
Playing two games with SIUE and a single game with SIU-Carbondale in back-to-back days, the Tigers busted out of a team-wide offensive slump by outscoring the two teams by a 26-3 margin in the three games.
On Tuesday, the Tigers swept a doubleheader against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, winning game one by run-rule, 11-1, and shutting the Cougars out 6-0 in game two.
In game one, the Tigers connected on a season-high 14 hits while scoring 11 times. Junior Rhea Taylor and freshman Lindsey Muller each went 3-for-3 with three runs batted in. Freshman Jenna Marston also collected three RBI on a 1-for-3 day, extending her team-leading RBI total to 34 on the season. Juniors Catherine Lee and Marla Schweisberger and senior Gina Schneider all collected two hits apiece. Senior Jana Hainey went the distance for her first complete game of the season, pitching all five innings while allowing just four hits and one run. She walked one and struck out one as she advanced to 4-0 on the season.
In game two, the Tigers pushed across six runs on nine hits, as they shutout the Cougars by a 6-0 total. Sophomore Kristin Nottelmann snapped a two-game skid, as she went all seven innings while allowing no runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking none to improve her record to 9-6 on the season. The complete game was Nottelmann's sixth of the season.
On Wednesday, Mizzou rolled by the Salukis of SIU for a 9-2 victory, the team's 30th win of the season. Freshman Nicole Hudson went 2-for-3 on the game with a home run and four RBI. The home run was her fifth of the season, tying her with junior Marla Schweisberger and sophomore Ashley Fleming for the team lead. Sophomore Kristin Nottelmann pitched 3.1 innings out of the pen to earn her 10th victory of the season, giving her back-to-back seasons with at least 10 victories. Nottelmann allowed just one hit and struck out three while allowing no walks and no runs.
ANOTHER 30 WIN SEASON FOR THE TIGERS
For the fourth straight season under head coach Ehren Earleywine, the Missouri softball team has once again won 30 games during the season. Mizzou's current 30-8 record gives Earleywine a career record of 167-61 (.732) as Tiger head coach. Missouri has also won at least 30 games in 20 of the past 23 seasons, dating back to 1988, which includes 14 straight 30-plus win seasons from 1988-2001.
HOME RUN HITTERS BATTLING FOR TOP SPOT
There's a battle brewing amongst a trio of Tiger sluggers, all of whom are looking to take the lead as the top home run hitter on the team this season. Junior Marla Schweisberger, sophomore Ashley Fleming and freshman Nicole Hudson. Schweisberger reached five first, as she belted her fifth in Mizzou's win over Northwestern back on March 21. Fleming joined her last weekend, when she ripped a home run in game one against Texas for her fifth of the season. Hudson joined Fleming and Schweisberger when she crushed a two-run bomb in Mizzou's win over SIU on April 14.
NOTTELMANN WINS 10, AGAIN
With her win in relief on April 14 against the Southern Illinois Salukis, Nottelmann has now won at least ten games in each of the first two seasons of her career. Last season, the righty put together an 11-2 record with her conference-leading 1.25 ERA, earning her All-Big 12 Second Team honors. With her win over SIU, Nottelmann has now won 21 games in 46 career appearances.
TAYLOR ON BRINK OF ANOTHER TOP-10 LIST
With a one-out, RBI triple against SIU on April 14, junior Rhea Taylor closed in on another all-time top-10 list as a Tiger. Now with nine career triples, the Buford, Ga., native is just one shy of joining the top-10. There is currently a five-way tie for 10th all-time with 10 triples apiece, while Karen Persinger owns the school record with 26. Taylor is already in the top-10 of several other categories, including stolen bases in a season and a career, career batting average, and hits in a season, amongst others.
TIGERS DROP FROM TOP 10
It might be an unfamiliar sight, but for the first time since May of last year, the Missouri Tigers find themselves out of the top-10 in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball polls. Following their two losses at the hands of Texas, Missouri dropped from No. 7 to No. 11 in the NFCA rankings and No. 8 to No. 14 in the ESPN.com poll. After finishing last season at No. 8 in each poll and entering the preseason as No. 9 this year, Mizzou had been in the top-10 in each of the last 10 polls, reaching as high as No. 3. However, a couple of tough weeks have seen the Tigers fall to just outside the top-10.
MIZZOU STUMBLES AGAINST LONGHORNS
The Missouri softball once again struggled offensively while Texas showed why they are one of the top offensive teams in the nation as the Tigers drop both games of a two-game set, losing 5-2 and 10-2.
Freshman Jenna Marston finished 4-for-6 on the weekend, accounting for four of Missouri's seven hits in the two games. Sophomore Ashley Fleming added her fifth home run of the year in game one. Sophomore Kristin Nottelmann took the loss in both games, falling to 8-6 this season.
The pair of losses dropped Mizzou's record to 27-8 and 3-5 in the Big 12, while Texas improved to 7-1 in league play and 36-7 overall.
TIGERS SWEEP JAYHAWKS
The No. 7 Missouri Tigers used a come-from-behind, walk-off victory over Kansas in a game one before pummeling the Jayhawks by a 10-2 final in six innings in game two. The wins improved Missouri's record to 27-6 on the season, and evened up their conference record at 3-3. Kansas fell to 16-21 on the campaign, and 0-6 in Big 12 play.
After struggling offensively for the past several games, the Tigers found themselves in a 4-2 hole in the bottom of the seventh inning. Junior Rhea Taylor got the inning started with a leadoff single through the right side. She would advance to second on a wild pitch before sophomore Ashley Fleming walked, putting runners on first and second with no outs. With a 1-2 count, freshman Jenna Marston crushed an opposite field home run deep over the left field wall, giving the Tigers the 5-4 win in dramatic walk-off fashion. Sophomore Kristin Nottelmann picked up her eighth win of the season, throwing a complete game with five strikeouts.
The dramatic game one victory seemed to light a fire under the Tigers, as they belted out 10 runs on nine hits in the second game. In the fourth, freshman Nicole Hudson got the offense going with a leadoff double. After Hudson was pinch-run for by freshman Princess Krebs, junior Shana White reached on a sac bunt and an error by the third baseman, advancing Krebs to third. Junior Lisa Simmons was called in to pinch hit, and she blasted her first career home run to deep right-center field to put the Tigers up 4-2. Simmons finished 2-for-3 with the four RBI and a run scored. Fleming and Hudson also collected two hits each, with Fleming driving in one run and Hudson two. Senior Jana Hainey (3-0) pitched four innings of relief, allowing just one run while striking out and walking one.
TIGERS ON TV
The Missouri softball program is currently scheduled to appear twice on major television networks in the upcoming weeks. Both Big 12 Conference matchups, two Tiger road games will be televised. The first, being shown on ESPN, pits the Tigers up against the Texas A&M Aggies in the second and final game of the weekend series. The second televised game is the series opener between Missouri and the Cornhuskers of Nebraska, scheduled to appear on FSN.
Missouri @ Texas A&M
Sat., April 24 | 1 p.m. CT | ESPN
Missouri @ Nebraska
Sat., May 8 | Noon CT | FSN
TAYLOR FINALIST FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Junior Rhea Taylor has been selected as one of 25 finalists for the 2010 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, as announced Tuesday by the American Softball Association (ASA) of America.
The award, considered the most prestigious honor in all of Division I women's softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country.
This season, Taylor is hitting .425, the third best in the Big 12, with two home runs and 14 runs batted in this season. She's also scored 26 runs, has ripped seven doubles, tripled once, and has stolen 18 bases in 19 attempts. Earlier this season, Taylor stole her 111th career base to set a new school record, breaking Julie Link's record that stood since 1989. Taylor is the first Top 25 finalist from Mizzou since Amanda Renth was selected back in 2007.
SOFTBALL ADDS GAME WITH MISSOURI S&T
The Missouri softball team announced another addition to their 2010 regular season schedule Tuesday, as they'll play Missouri S&T on Wednesday, April 21 at 5 p.m. CT at University Field.
The game will be the second game of a doubleheader that day, as the Tigers will take on Evansville at 3 p.m. CT that day. Last month, Mizzou added a doubleheader with Central Methodist on April 22, 2010, beginning at 2 p.m. CT.
HOME DOUBLEHEADER ADDED
The Missouri softball team has added two non-conference games to their 2010 regular season schedule, as announced Tuesday.
The Tigers will welcome in-state opponent Central Methodist to University Field on Thursday, April 22 for a double header. Game one will begin at 2 p.m. CT, with game two starting at approximately 4 p.m. CT.