Kangaroos Continue Road Swing With Tuesday Doubleheader At Creighton
3/24/2008 6:00:00 PM | Softball
The UMKC softball team continues its nine-game road swing this week with a short trip north on I-29 to take on Creighton. The doubleheader between the Kangaroos and Bluejays is slated for a 3 p.m. start on Tuesday, with a live stats feed available for both contests. Check the schedule page at www.umkckangaroos.com for more details.
Quick Hits
? UMKC is on the very short side of the series against Creighton, winning just one of the 44 games between the schools.
? The Kangaroos will take on five of the 10 member schools in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, with Creighton representing the third Valley foe on the slate.
? UMKC shut out the Bluejays in the only victory for the Kangaroos in the series, a 1-0 contest on March 20, 2002.
Scouting the Bluejays
Creighton has put together a solid slate this year, posting a 19-10 record with a 2-0 record in conference action. As a team, the Bluejays have compiled a .249 batting average, with seven regular contributors hitting better than .250. The team is led by T.J. Eadus' .312 average, with the senior posting a team best six home runs and 16 RBI on the year. Five other players have contributed to the Bluejays' home run total of 16 on the year, although the squad has given up 22 dingers on the season.
The pitching staff is led by sophomore Tara Oltman, who has posted better than half of the total decisions on the staff with a 13-4 record, hurling 13 complete games. She has put together a 1.06 ERA on the year in 112.2 innings of work. She has also collected all three saves on the year for Creighton.
Youth Is Served
With just four players returning from last year's squad, it is not unfair to say that the Kangaroos are a young squad. Against Idaho State, UMKC started freshmen in seven of the nine slots in the lineup. Seven of the 10 regular starters for UMKC are underclassmen, with junior Samantha Hurst and seniors Alicia Baker and Monica Canisales representing the elder set.
In A Pinch
Although Alicia Baker was not expected to see time in the circle this year, she was forced to step in during the second game of UMKC's doubleheader against Oakland as Taya Upkes was unable to continue after taking a pitch off her own pitching hand. The senior performed as well as could be expected under the circumstances, working one inning and giving up just one walk. She has continued to pitch solidly, dropping her career ERA by better than a run in just four appearances on the campaign.
Ding, Ding, Ding
UMKC has tallied three home runs on the season, with each representing the first career home run for the respective hitter.
Freshman Julie Hartung found her stroke quickly, cranking a home run in just her seventh collegiate at-bat. The Macon, Mo., native scored one of two UMKC runs against #3 Arizona State on Sunday with a longball off the Sun Devils' Amanda Nesbitt.
Also ringing up the first four-bagger of her career was Samantha Hurst, whose solo shot to right center against South Dakota State came in the midst of a comeback attempt for the Kangaroos.
Carli Slagle also notched her first-ever dinger in the series finale against Centenary, easily clearing the fence in right center at Cleveland Park.
Looking Back To Look Forward
Even though the Kangaroos are a younger squad this year, the squad shows considerable signs of improvement under second year head coach Meredith Smith. Aside from the most obvious difference - the 2007 Kangaroos didn't claim their third win until deep into the season and had posted just one victory through 21 games last year - the team has seen improvements in all aspects of the game.
As a squad, UMKC has improved its batting average by 31 points, hitting at a .208 clip this season. The 2008 group has also struck out 25 fewer times and collected 15 more walks on the year. Baserunning also shows a marked improvement, although more clearly on the defensive side of the ledger. UMKC has been caught stealing just twice in 10 attempts this year - compared to six times in 11 attempts last year - but has yielded just 31 swipes this year to a monstrous 66 last season.
All four returning players have seen their individual stats improve as well, led by Alicia Baker. Through 21 games on the slate, the senior has collected 20 hits, nearly triple her mark of seven last season. She has also knocked in 12 runs this year to just two in 2007.
The Kangaroos have improved in the circle as well, posting a team ERA of 6.11 through 21 games this year to last year's 6.26 mark. UMKC has also struck out 31 more batters and issued 17 fewer walks through the early part of the slate this year.
Most notably, all of this has come against a considerably tougher group of opponents. Through 21 games this season, UMKC has already faced two teams ranked in the national polls (Washington, Arizona St.) and two that were receiving votes (Nevada, Wichita St.) at gametime, whereas Oklahoma marked the only ranked foe among the first 21 games for the Kangaroos last season.
Youth Is Served Too...
As an institution, UMKC has always been willing to take its chances with young coaches, but Meredith Smith is part of a considerable resurgence in that trend. Aged 25 years, 166 days at the time of her appointment, she was the youngest coach among her league counterparts, and with the resignation of former interim Volleyball coach Chrissy Elder, she became the youngest at UMKC. Her reign as youngest head coach at UMKC was truncated with the appointment of Courtney Mahon to head the women's golf team, as Mahon is just 24 years old.
The Kangaroos currently have three head coaches under the age of 30 - Candace White, Smith and Mahon. The youngest head coach ever appointed at UMKC was Angela Garbe, who was tabbed in September 1991 to head the women's tennis team at the tender age of 22 years, 164 days.
Going The (Extra) Distance
UMKC's eight-inning win over Missouri State was the first time that the Kangaroos were forced into extra frames since the 2005 season. UMKC was also victorious in that outing, downing IUPUI 2-1 in 10 innings.
UMKC is 6-13 in extra-inning contests throughout its history, and has twice battled beyond seven innings in both games of a scheduled doubleheader.
Eight Is Enough
Although living in the Midwest brings with it an appreciation for varying weather patterns, the Kangaroos are surely sick of it. So far this season, UMKC has had to endure eight schedule changes due to weather.
The team's doubleheader at Missouri slated for February 22 was originally moved indoors but later rescheduled by agreement between the coaches. UMKC's participation in the All Missouri Cancer Classic was curtailed, as host Southeast Missouri State was forced to postpone Saturday's action - leaving the Kangaroos to take on Missouri State and Saint Louis in Springfield, Mo., before bowing out of the tournament due to NCAA regulations limiting games played in a day.
UMKC twice saw its home opener cancelled owing to unplayable conditions at Cleveland Park. The Kangaroos were forced to cancel the one-off contest against Iowa State originally scheduled for March 6 and changed venues for last Monday's contest against Indiana State, moving an hour-and-a-half west to Lawrence, Kan.
The final game of the Kangaroos' Summit League-opening series against Oakland was canceled due to a wind chill below allowable league levels and this week's series against Centenary was pushed back a day due to thunderstorms pelting the Kansas City area.
Throwing another wrench into the works, this weekend's series against North Dakota State has been moved to the campus of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., as a result of snow on the NDSU competition field.
Injury Bug Bites (Really Bites)
After a recruiting odyssey that saw her bring in 12 new players, head coach Meredith Smith again finds herself battling the injury bug, as UMKC had just 10 players available against Missouri State and Saint Louis. The Kangaroos acquitted themselves well, however, earning a split on the weekend.
Tough Crowd
Although the Kangaroos went winless at the Kajikawa Classic, there were several encouraging signs. Alicia Baker led the team with a .333 batting average through five contests, collecting four hits and two RBI on the weekend. In just 9.0 innings of work, Samantha Hurst collected eight strikeouts, with Taya Upkes and Ashton Kistler each hurling a complete game. All of this against a tough schedule, including two teams ranked in the Top 25 in both the ESPN/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA polls, as well as a team that knocked off the no. 11-ranked team in the nation.
Playing In Honor and Memory
Throughout the 2008 season, the Kangaroos will be playing in memory of UMKC Assistant AD for Compliance Cynthia Joy Gabel, who lost a lengthy battle with cancer before the 2007-08 school year. As part of the continued recognition and commitment to breast cancer awareness, UMKC and South Dakota State have pledged to commit the final game of each season's league set between the two schools to raising money and awareness by playing in commemorative pink jerseys. Fans can purchase and dedicate the jerseys to loved ones who are battling or whom have lost the battle to cancer. Each jersey will bear the name of the person to whom they are dedicated and - after being worn in the game by the respective teams - will be given to the purchaser. Proceeds from this year's contest will go to benefit the Susan G. Komen foundation, with proceeds from next year's return engagement in Kansas City to benefit the Cynthia Joy Gabel Scholarship Fund at UMKC. For more information on this program, contact head coach Meredith Smith at smithmer@umkc.edu or call the UMKC Athletics office at (816) 235-1036.
Reaching For The Summit
This year marks the first season of The Summit League, as the Mid-Continent Conference changed its name following the 2006-07 school year. The league welcomes newcomers North Dakota State, South Dakota State and IPFW for the 2007-08 season as charter member Valparaiso departs for the Horizon League.
Of the three incoming schools, only IPFW will be eligible to qualify for the conference tournament this year, as both Dakota schools are completing the transition process to Division I and are therefore ineligible to compete in the NCAA Tournament.
The name change is part of a larger initiative, called The Summit Plan, launched by the league's President's Council in June 2007. The initiative looks to improve the overall athletic image of the conference and bring a more intense focus to the overall welfare of the student-athletes at the member institutions.
Media Guide Available
The 2008 UMKC Softball Media Guide is available for download at www.umkckangaroos.com, the official website of UMKC Athletics.
