March 22, 2013
TIME CHANGE
• Mizzou's initial two games against Georgia Tech on Saturday, March 23, have been moved up to Noon and 2 p.m. starts.
FOLLOW THE ACTION VS. GEORGIA TECH
• Mizzou's series vs. Georgia Tech will covered live by the Mizzou Network and made available for its subscribers at MizzouNetwork.com. The games will have continual updates to the official Twitter of Mizzou Softball, @MizzouSoftball. Live statistics will be available at mutigers.com.
TIGERS VS. YELLOW JACKETS
Game One: Saturday, March 23 - Noon
Game Two: Saturday, March 23 - 2 p.m.
Game Three: Sunday, March 24 - Noon
MIZZOU MEDIA NOTES
| GEORGIA TECH MEDIA NOTES
LEADING OFF
• No. 7/7 Mizzou (15-2) is set to host Georgia Tech for a three-game series beginning Saturday, March 23, with a doubleheader (Noon & 2 p.m.) and concluding Sunday with a noon start. The Tigers hold a 2-1 all-time record against the Yellow Jackets, who enter the series with a 14-15 mark.
RECENT SWINGS
• Seventh-year head coach Ehren Earleywine led Mizzou to a series sweep of its first Southeastern Conference road games, defeating Ole Miss by scores of 11-0 (5), 6-1 and 12-0 (5). The Tigers batted .338 as a team against the Rebels, including a .588 slugging percentage. Freshman 2B Emily Crane and senior catcher Jenna Marston both recorded four hits over the three games, with three of Crane's hits going for doubles.
• Senior pitcher Chelsea Thomas started all three games against Ole Miss, notching a 2-0 record while allowing one earned run and striking out 12 batters in 11.0 innings pitched. Thomas earned her third SEC Pitcher of the Week recognition for her efforts, which included 10 strikeouts in a 3-1 win in the first game of the Evansville doubleheader (March 13). Fellow seniors Nicole Hudson and Lindsey Muller also logged time in the circle vs. Ole Miss, with 4.0 and 2.0 innings pitched, respectively. Hudson continued her hot hitting with three hits in the three games: two doubles and one home run. The long ball pushed Hudson's 2013 season total of eighth past her mark of seven from last season.
• Senior catcher Jenna Marston earned her seventh walk of the season in the fifth inning of the five-inning, 12-0 win over Ole Miss on Sunday, March 17. The walk moved her into sole possession of No. 1 all-time at Mizzou in the category. The St. Louis, Mo., has recorded 116 in her career, with former Mizzou standout Jen Bruck (2005-08) having compiled 115. Teammate Hudson follows closely behind with 114.
• Sophomore 1B Kelsea Roth homered for the fourth time in seven games in the Tigers' third win of the series against the Rebels. Roth's two-run shot was her eighth long ball of the season, surpassing her 2012 total of seven.
• Crane and Hudson each batted .500 against Evansville, helping Mizzou to 3-1 and 4-3 wins in the March 13 doubleheader. Crane hit 3-for-6, including a double. Hudson hit her seventh home run to start the scoring in Mizzou's 3-1 win in game one. She batted 2-for-4 overall with three RBI.
TIGERS VS. YELLOW JACKETS
• Mizzou holds a 2-1 all-time record against Georgia Tech, with the results coming by way of a three-game series in 2006. The 2006 Yellow Jackets, ranked 24th nationally at the time, were led by current Tiger head coach Ehren Earleywine.
• Earleywine previously coached the Yellow Jackets for three seasons (2004-06), leading them to a 146-55 overall record and three NCAA tournament berths. The 2005 Georgia Tech squad won Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament titles. Earleywine arrived at GT as the head assistant coach in 2002 before assuming head coaching duties in 2004.
SCOUTING GEORGIA TECH
• Georgia Tech (14-15) visits Mizzou having dropped four of its last seven games, including a pair of setbacks (2-1, 1-0) at SIU-Edwardsville on Tuesday, March 19. The Yellow Jackets have faced one common opponent to the Tigers in Florida, who GT also played at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calf., from Feb. 22-24. Georgia Tech dropped a tightly contested 5-3 game to the fifth-ranked Gators on Feb. 23. In its most recent action, Georgia Tech turned away Southeast Missouri, 9-4, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Wednesday, March 20.
• In total, the Yellow Jackets are 0-5 against ranked teams so far in 2013. The squad additionally fell to No. 8 Cal by a score of 8-0 in six innings on Feb. 22 in Palm Springs. At the Citrus Classic in Orlanda, Fla., from March 1-3, Georgia Tech took losses from No. 14 Michigan (6-1) and No. 15 Louisville (6-3). GT has faced an additional SEC foe in No. 25 Georgia, falling by a 14-1 score on March 13.
• The GT team scored a season-high 24 runs in its second game of the season (Feb. 8), a five-inning, 24-4 defeat of Butler at its home stadium, Mewborn Field. The Yellow Jackets, conversely, have shut out three times in 2013, with the most recent coming in a 1-0 blanking at SIU-Edwardsville on Tuesday, March 19.
• The Yellow Jackets are led by junior outfielder Hayley Downs with her .404 batting average. Junior shortstop Ashley Thomas leads GT in hits with 39. Three other Tech batters currently swing for average in freshman catcher/third baseman Alysha Rudnik (.384), senior pitcher Hope Rush (.307) and sophomore outfielder Katie Johnsky (.307). Rush leads GT with 10 home runs thus far in 2013.
• Rush has received the bulk of the work out of the Yellow Jackets' pitching staff, throwing 97.1 innings with 53 strikeouts, 38 walks and an ERA of 3.81. She has compiled a 7-9 record in 19 appearances and 13 starts. Freshman Ashley Clifton has worked 45.1 innings with a 5.40 ERA, striking out 28 and walking 27. Sophomore Kylie Kleinschmidt follows with a 5.89 ERA in 38.0 innings of work, walking 29 batters over 20 strikeouts. The Yellow Jackets have a team ERA of 4.63.
ON DECK
Mizzou will host Creighton for a mid-week doubleheader on Tuesday, March 26 with start times of 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The first game of the doubleheader will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Midwest and Metro Sports KC, with the second game on tape delay on Metro Sports KC. The Tigers then welcome SEC opponent South Carolina from Friday, March 29-Saturday, March 30. Mizzou and the Gamecocks begin with a 7 p.m. Friday game, televised by Fox Sports South, before finishing with a doubleheader on Saturday (4 p.m. & 6 p.m.).
BOMBS AWAY
Senior 3B Nicole Hudson currently leads the Southeastern Conference with a 1.093 slugging percentage in 17 games played. She ranks in a tie for sixth in the conference with eight home runs along with teammate Kelsea Roth. The sophomore 1B follows Hudson at No. 2 in the league with her 1.054 slugging percentage. Hudson ranks second in the league in on-base percentage (.583) and third in batting average (.465).
DOUBLES? WE'VE GOT YOUR DOUBLES
In Mizzou's 6-1 victory at Ole Miss on March 16, the Tigers smacked six doubles as a team. It was the squad's best double-hitting performance in more than one year, with Mizzou hitting six against Alcorn State on March 9, 2012.
NO WALKS? NO PROBLEM!
• Senior pitcher Chelsea Thomas threw a complete game, two-hit performance to lead Mizzou to a 3-1 win over Evansville in game one of its doubleheader on March 13. Thomas additionally issued zero walks in the outing, along with zero walks in all three of her starts at Ole Miss (March 15-17). For her career, she's completed this feat 34 times out of 121 career starts. Mizzou holds an outstanding 31-3 record in those starts, holding its opponents to less than one run per game (0.91). Thomas is pitching "zero-walk starts" in roughly one out of every four starts in her career.
• For her efforts, Thomas earned her third SEC Pitcher of the Week honor (March 11-17). In her four starts, she struck out 1.22 batters per inning for a total of 22 strikeouts over 18.0 innings pitched. Thomas finished the week with a 0.78 ERA.
COMBINED NO-HITTERS
• Two-time All-American pitcher Chelsea Thomas received a helping hand from fellow seniors Nicole Hudson and Lindsey Muller to complete two combined no-hitters in Mizzou's first and third wins of the Ole Miss series, both five-inning affairs. In the 11-0 win on March 15, Thomas threw 2.0 innings and struck out four Rebels to start the game, with Hudson pitching 3.0 innings for the win, fanning four. To close the series on March 17, Thomas completed 3.0 innings of work for the win, again striking out four. Muller finished the Rebels off with 2.0 innings pitched and three strikeouts.
• The two combined efforts were Thomas' 12th and 13th no-hitters of her career. The two results were the 36th and 37th no-hitters in Mizzou history.
SKY IS THE LIMIT
As previously mentioned, both Nicole Hudson and Kelsea Roth have hit eight home runs so far in Mizzou's 2013 campaign. The two big swingers have already surpassed their 2012 (61 games) totals in long balls, during which both recorded seven apiece. Hudson has blasted 38 four-baggers in her career, while Roth has hit 15.
ANOTHER STRONG PERFORMANCE FOR THOMAS
Senior pitcher Chelsea Thomas notched a one-hitter performance in Mizzou's 2-0 win over No. 7 Texas A&M on Friday, March 8. The Pleasantville, Iowa, native struck out 11 batters in the win, her second complete-game shutout of the season. The number of games that Thomas has struck out 10+ batters has risen to 42 games out of 130 career appearances, essentially once every three times Thomas steps into the circle.
MARSTON AND SYKES DIAL IN TO DUMEZICH
Senior catcher Jenna Marston and junior utility player Mackenzie Sykes both batted 3-for-6 (.500) against standout Texas A&M pitcher Mel Dumezich in the rain-shortened, two-game series against the Aggies (March 8-9). Marston's two-hit performance in the second game of the series was her second of the series, with her other two-hit outing coming in the recent 7-0 win at Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 23). Sykes emerged with her three hits over two contests after only tallying four hits in her previous seven appearances in 2013. One such hit was her second home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning in Texas A&M's 11-3 result.
CAN YOU BE PERFECT?
• Senior 3B Nicole Hudson batted 2-for-2 against Ole Miss in the 11-0 win on March 15, also drawing two walks to reach base in every plate appearance. Hudson hit a double and home run against the Rebels. She also ripped off a perfect 3-for-3 performance in the Tigers' 5-4 setback in the initial game of their doubleheader at Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 23). She hit her sixth home run of the season, along with two singles to score two runs and record one RBI.
• Sophomore 3B Angela Randazzo hit 2-for-2 in Mizzou's 11-0 win over Ole Miss, hitting a double and triple to record four RBI (matching a career-high). She was hit by an Ole Miss pitch in between her hits, reaching base in every plate appearance.
• Freshman 2B Emily Crane posted a 2-for-2 performance with a double and a single in Mizzou's five-inning, 12-0 victory over Ole Miss on March 17. She also drew a walk.
• Senior catcher Jenna Marston batted 2-for-2 in Mizzou's 3-1 win over Evansville in game one of the teams' doubleheader on March 13. The St. Louis native ripped a first inning single and a leadoff double in the third inning before getting hit by a pitch in the fifth inning.
• Senior 1B Lindsey Muller batted a pristine 4-for-4 in Mizzou's 12-1 win over UCSB on Feb. 17, hitting three singles and blasting a two-run home run. The four hits set a new career-high for the Tiger. Muller finished the game with three RBI.
THOMAS STRIKES OUT 19 GATORS
Senior Chelsea Thomas threw the complete game (12.0 IP) in Mizzou's 4-3 extra innings victory over No. 5 Florida on Feb. 22 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., recording a career-best 19 strikeouts and allowing zero earned runs. The performance edges past her previous best of 19 Ks in 12.2 innings of work vs. Baylor (June 4, 2011) in the Women's College World Series. Thomas earned SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 25 for her second-straight conference recognition.
FIRST LONG BOMBS FOR FRESHMEN TIGERS
Mizzou's two first-year collegiate players hit the initial home runs of their Tiger careers during the squad's California trip. Freshman OF Sarah Moore smoked a solo-run long ball out over the right center field wall in the third inning of Mizzou's 12-inning, 4-3 win over No. 5 Florida (Feb. 22). Freshman 2B Emily Crane followed in the initial game of Missouri's doubleheader at Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 23), hitting a three-run blast in the fourth inning.
GOOD EYE!
The Mizzou squad set a school record by drawing 12 walks from Maryland's pitching staff in the team's 13-1 (5) win over Maryland on Feb. 21 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. Freshman OF Sarah Moore led the way for the Tigers by earning three walks. Senior 3B Nicole Hudson drew two base on balls.
CLEAR THE BASES
Sophomore 1B Kelsea Roth hit Mizzou's first grand slam of the 2013 season in the five-inning, 13-1 victory over Maryland (Feb. 21). The four-run shot helped power a nine-run second inning that distanced the Tigers from the Terrapins. Coincidentally, Roth was previously the last Mizzou player to hit a grand slam. Her second-to-last long ball of her seven-home run freshman campaign cleared the bases at Iowa State on April 28.