May 6, 2011
Black Out University Field | Complete Notes 
LEADING OFF
-The No. 8 Missouri softball team hosts a crucial series with No. 3 Texas this weekend, with the fate of the Big 12 Championship on the line. Mizzou enters the game at 42-6 overall and 11-2 in the Big 12, one game back behind the Longhorns who are 44-6 and 13-2 in league play. Saturday's contest starts at 2 p.m. CT, while Sunday's game - nationally televised on ESPN - starts at Noon. Cara Capuano and Jessica Mendoza will have the call.
-Fans are encouraged to arrive early, as record-setting crowds are expected. Gates open an hour prior to first pitch. Fans are also requested to wear black all weekend long as we try to Black Out University Field. The overall University Field record for attendance is 1,765, set last year during game one of the NCAA Super Regionals with Oregon. The regular season record is 1,712, set this year against Oklahoma. We're hoping to pack over 2,000 fans into University Field on each day this weekend as Missouri looks to take control of the Big 12.
-There will be numerous contests and promotions running through the weekend. Saturday will feature a slogan contest for the team's playoff run and many Enter to Win prizes. On Sunday, there will be a few Mother's Day activities, and kids eighth grade and under can run the bases after the game. All moms will receive free admission with the purchase of a youth ticket, while everyone else can get in for $3 if they are wearing black. The first 1,000 fans into the game on Sunday will receive black poms. New Missouri men's basketball head coach Frank Haith will be throwing out the first pitch prior to Sunday's contest.
-In the rankings this week, Missouri jumped back in the top-10 of the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, moving up from 12th to ninth. It's the first time since the Feb. 15 poll that the Tigers have been in the top-10. The Tigers held strong at No. 8 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. Missouri still sits in fifth in the latest RPI poll, released last Wednesday. The Tigers are 17-5 this year against team's in the top-50 in RPI.
-This weekend's series will feature the two best pitching staffs in the nation, according to earned run average. The Tigers lead all of NCAA Division I Softball with a 1.24 team ERA, while Texas is right behind them in second with a 1.27 earned run average as a squad.
-Missouri coasted to a two-game sweep over Western Illinois on Wednesday, closing out their non-conference schedule with victories of 7-2 and 5-0. Kristin Nottelmann got the win in game one, allowed two unearned runs and striking out seven to move to 14-1 on the year. Rhea Taylor had three hits and two runs, while Nicole Hudson collected two hits and an RBI. Chelsea Thomas improved to 24-4 with a complete game shutout in game two, striking out eight, walking none and allowing just two hits. Princess Krebs went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Kathryn Poet hit her first home run of the season. The Tigers extended their home winning streak to 35 straight games, best in the nation. Missouri is 20-0 at home this season.
-With her fourth strikeout of game two on Wednesday, Chelsea Thomas set a new single-season record for most strikeouts with 287. She finished the game with eight, giving her 291 on the year. She broke Erin Kalka's record of 286, set in 2004. Thomas now has 52 wins on the year, eighth-most all-time. She's also now tied for 10th-most complete games in a career with 45. Her 530 career strikeouts are sixth-most ever at Mizzou, and she's just five shy from moving into fifth. She's now tied with four others for most wins in a single season (24), and is seventh all-time with 24 career shutouts.
-With a career high 48 RBI, Ashley Fleming is tied for 10th with teammate Marla Schweisberger for most runs batted in in a single season. Last year she drove home 44, and now has the 10th-most all-time at Missouri with 107 in her career. She's also tied for the Big 12 lead with 15 doubles, tied for fourth-most in a single season at Missouri and five shy of setting the record.
-Jenna Marston has drawn 32 walks this season, tying her for fifth-most in a season. Marston is just four walks away from moving into second place. Missouri has had eight players in program history draw 30 or more walks in a single season, and three have come in the past two years. Jen Bruck's total of 43 walks in 2008 is the current record.
-Abby Vock continued her career-year with yet another home run two weekends ago, delivering the first run of the game in Saturday's 4-1 victory of the Cornhuskers. Entering the season with just two career home runs and a .208 batting average, Vock is hitting an astounding .322 this year with four home runs and 12 RBI. Her on base percentage is more than .100 points higher than her best season at .449, and her slugging percentage is more than .150 points higher than her best year ever at .506. After having just eight hits last season and 20 the year before, Vock has matched that total this year alone with 28.
-Rhea Taylor is just three hits away from 300 in her career, which would make her just the second Big 12 player ever to reach that milestone. She also swiped three bags on Wednesday, putting her in the top-10 for most stolen bases in a single season for the fourth time in her career.
-The Tigers have 18 shutouts on the year, 12 of which came in the month of March. They are walking just 1.58 batters per seven innings, the best in the conference. The staff's .166 opponent batting average is best amongst Big 12 teams. The team is second in the league in strikeouts per seven innings, as they average 9.37, and is tops in the conference with a 1.24 earned run average. The team's 1.04 ERA during conference play is the best in the league.
SCOUTING TEXAS
Ranked No. 3 in the latest NFCA/USA Today poll and No. 4 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll, the Texas Longhorns come into this crucial series with a 44-6 record and a 13-2 record in the Big 12. They are currently at No. 2 in the latest NCAA Division I RPI ratings. They've won 10 of their last 12 overall, but have been dropped twice in their last three games. They split last weekend with Oklahoma, falling 5-2 in the opener before bouncing back with a 5-3 win on Sunday. This past Wednesday, Texas A&M defeated the Longhorns by a 5-1 final in College Station, Texas.
Texas has the fourth-highest batting average in all of Division I softball at .344, and seven of their regulars are hitting over .320. Lexy Bennett leads the way with a .455 average, ninth-highest in the country, but she has not played in several weeks after getting hit in the forearm with a pitch. Three Horns hitters have more than 10 home runs, with Taylor Hoagland's 13 leading the squad. They've swiped 107 bases in 130 chances as a team, and average 2.16 per game which is seventh-highest in the NCAA. They've also got the second-best fielding percentage in Division I softball at .982.
With a 1.27 team ERA, the Longhorns sit just behind Missouri (1.24) with the second-best ERA in the nation. Their ace is Blaire Luna, who is 26-4 on the year with a 1.18 ERA. She has 14 shutouts on the season and has struck out 284 batters to 73 walks in 195.0 innings pitched. Opponents hit .155 off her. Their other pitcher, Rachel Fox, is 18-1 with a 1.10 ERA, appearing 23 times and getting 20 starts. She's struck out 120 batters in 121.1 innings pitched.
Missouri leads the all-time series with Texas with a 16-14 edge. Last season, the Longhorns swept Mizzou down in Austin, winning 5-2 and 10-2. The Tigers got revenge at the Big 12 Championship, beating the top-seeded Horns by an 11-5 final.
FOLLOW LIVE
Live stats and play-by-play will be available via GameTracker, found on the Softball schedule page at mutigers.com. Fans can also follow @MIZLive on Twitter to get updates. Sunday's game will air live on ESPN and at ESPN3.com. Mizzou All-Access subscribers can watch live video at www.mutigers.tv.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Entering the final week of the season, the Tigers will head back down to Stillwater, Okla., on Wednesday for a makeup game of last weekend's rainout. The rescheduled game will start at 1 p.m. CT. Missouri will return home for the weekend as they close out the regular season with Iowa State.
FOLLOW MIZZOU SOFTBALL ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK
Tiger softball fans can follow along with the season through many of the program's social media options. On Twitter, Mizzou fans can follow the entire athletic department at twitter.com/mutigersdotcom. Assistant Coach Pete D'Amour is also on Twitter at twitter.com/MizzouSBcoach. On Facebook, fans can search "University of Missouri Softball Team" to track down the team's official page.
MIZZOU'S HOME WINNING STREAK LONGEST IN NATION
With their quick 10-0 victory over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Wednesday, the Tigers pushed their home winning streak to 33 straight games dating back to last season. Here's a look at the top-five active home winning streaks in Division I softball.
1. Missouri - 35
2. Hofstra - 25
3. Alabama - 20
South Dakota - 20
Texas A&M - 20
Playing at University Field has been a major advantage for the Tigers since head coach Ehren Earleywine took over in 2007. In 121 games played at home under Earleywine, the Tigers have won 104 of them for an .860 winning percentage on their home field. Of their 17 losses, 13 of them came in two combined seasons. In Earleywine's first year the Tigers went 17-7 at home, and in 2009 they went 17-6. In 2008, Mizzou finished 22-1 at home while last year they went 31-3, winning their last 15 home games of the season. So far this year the Tigers are 17-0.
TWO TIGERS EARN ACADEMIC HONORS
Two Missouri softball players were selected to the Capital One Academic All-District 7 first team, as announced Thursday afternoon by the College of Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA). Junior Ashley Fleming and sophomore Jenna Marston were named to the district team for the first time in their career. The last time Missouri had two All-District members was in 2007, when Leanne Bowers and Kathy Masterson were each placed on the team. The Tigers' two first team selections this year ties them for second-most amongst Big 12 schools.
MAKEUP DATE WITH OSU ANNOUNCED
The series finale between Missouri and Oklahoma State, which was rained out last Sunday, has been rescheduled. The Tigers and Cowgirls will play next Wednesday, May 11 at 1 p.m. CT down in Stillwater, Okla. The Tigers won game one by a 5-0 final before Sunday's contest was washed out.
THOMAS BREAKS SEASON STRIKEOUT RECORD
Redshirt sophomore Chelsea Thomas set the new school record for most strikeouts in a single season in the fourth inning of the second game againts Western Illinois on Wednesday. Her 287th career strikeout moved her passed Erin Kalka, who struck out 286 batters during the 2004 season.
NO. 8 TIGERS SWEEP LEATHERNECKS
The No. 8 Missouri softball squad closed out the non-conference portion of their regular season with a sweep over the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Wednesday, taking game one by a 7-2 score before winning 5-0 in the finale.
Kristin Nottelmann got the win in game one, allowed two runs - none earned - while walking two and striking out sreven in seven innings of work. She improved to 14-1 on the season. Rhea Taylor went 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, while Nicole Hudson picked up two hits and drove in one.
Chelsea Thomas moved to 24-4 with a complete game shutout in game two, as she gave up just two hits and struck out eight without walking a batter. Princess Krebs finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI, while Kathryn Poet hit her first home run in two years in the bottom of the fourth inning.