March 25, 2014
| Opponent | Location | Day/Time (CT) | Media |
|---|---|---|---|
| vs. Illinois | St. Charles, Mo. (Lindenwood) | Wed./3 p.m. | Live Stats | Twitter |
| vs. Illinois | St. Charles, Mo. (Lindenwood) | Wed./5 p.m. | Live Stats | Twitter |
|
Game Notes: Mizzou |
TIGER TALES- No. 18 Mizzou Softball (22-7, 2-4 SEC) put together a perfect 6-0 record over the last week, first sweeping a home doubleheader vs. Illinois State (4-2, 5-0) on March 19, before besting the field in the Mizzou Tournament (March 21-23) with four wins. The Tigers defeated Ball State (11-3 in six innings), North Dakota State (11-2 in five innings), Oklahoma State (2-1) and UMKC (14-0 in five innings).
• Head coach Ehren Earleywine's squad swept the Mizzou Tournament (March 21-23) at University Field with a multitude of standout performances. Both redshirt sophomore OF Taylor Gadbois and senior OF Mackenzie Sykes hit 3-for-4 in the victory over Ball State (March 21), with Sykes hitting two doubles to power her way to a career-best five RBI. Sykes followed that up with Mizzou's second grand slam of the season in the win vs. North Dakota State (March 22).
• Mizzou's most exciting win of the weekend came against Big 12 Conference foe Oklahoma State during the second day of the tournament. Freshman P Tori Finucane held the Cowgirls to one run and just three hits while matching her season-best with nine strikeouts in the 2-1 victory. Her final three strikeouts may have been the most impressive, with the Tiger hurler recording the three whiffs consecutively in the top of the seventh with Oklahoma State runners at first base and second base.
• Runs flew onto the scoreboard in the Tigers' 14-0 win over UMKC to finish off the Mizzou Tournament. Big performances came from redshirt sophomore SS Sami Fagan and freshman P/1B/OF Casey Stangel. Fagan batted 2-for-3 with a double and matched her career-best with three RBI. Stangel was perfect at the plate, also doubling in a 3-for-3 day with a career-high four RBI and three runs scored.
• The Tigers were powered to the opening win (4-2) over Illinois State by redshirt sophomore 2B Ashtin Stephens, who batted 3-for-3 with a career-best four RBI. The second game shutout (5-0) was pitched by Stangel, with standout hitting coming from junior IF Corrin Genovese (3-for-3) and freshman 3B/2B Natalie Fleming (2-for-3). Fleming hit her first collegiate home run in the win.
• The story of the Kentucky series (March 14-16) may have been Gadbois recording a hit in all three games to extend her hitting streak to 19 games, topping Three-time All-American Rhea Taylor's program-best 18-game hitting streak from 2010. Gadbois has continued her streak to 25 games, producing a multi-hit game in 13 of the 25 games. Fagan was recently halted at an impressive 14-game hitting streak, coming up short of a hit in the initial game of the Illinois State doubleheader. Building her own worthy streak is sophomore 2B Emily Crane, who has an 11-game run ongoing.
• Speed. Mizzou is showing plenty of it through the team's first 29 games, totaling 59 stolen bases for a clip of 2.03 successful steals per game. It's a stark improvement from last season in which Earleywine's group averaged 1.1 steals per game (59 SB, 52 games). The major contributor, of course, is Gadbois' 25 steals, which currently ranks at the No. 1 mark in the SEC. Crane has been more aggressive, as well, going 11-for-12 in steal attempts thus far. Crane finished her freshman season in 2013 with 13 steals in 52 games. Behind Gadbois and Crane is Fagan's 8-for-9 stolen base rate.
• Earleywine is in his eighth season leading Mizzou and 11th season as a head softball coach with a major milestone within reach. The former Georgia Tech head coach (2004-06) went 146-55 in Atlanta before returning to his home state to lead the Tigers, winning 348 games to run his career total to 494.
• Earleywine's crew was given preseason rankings of 14th and 17th by the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 polls, respectively, marking the fifth-consecutive season that the Tigers begin their season ranked in the Top 15. Mizzou is currently 18th and 20th in the two polls.
THE OPPOSITION - ILLINOIS- Illinois (15-9) is led at the plate by Alex Booker, who holds a .440 batting average coming to the Tiger-Fighting Illini doubleheader. She is joined by three other Illinois batters in the .300 range - Allie Bauch (.337), Ruby Rivera (.333) and Jess Perkins (.300). Perkins is tied for the team-lead in home runs with four, while Booker leads in RBI (21).
• Illinois head coach Terri Sullivan's pitching department is led by Brandi Needham, who has compiled a 1.69 ERA in 95.1 innings pitched for a 10-4 record. Needham is holding opposing batters to a .214 average. The Fighting Illini's No. 2 in the circle is Shelese Arnold, who sports a 3.38 ERA after 58.0 innings of work for a 4-4 record.
• The starkest difference between the two teams meeting on Wednesday is their respective aggressiveness on the base paths. Illinois has 28 steals in 35 attempts, which is doubled up by Mizzou's 59 stolen bases out of 68 tries.
• "Hey, sister!" Freshman IF/OF Kelli Schkade's older sister, Jami, is a junior infielder for Illinois. Unfortunately, Jami Schkade sustained an offseason injury and is sitting out the 2014 season.