Kangaroos Set To Finish Out Road Swing Against North Dakota State In Omaha
3/28/2008 5:00:00 PM | Softball
As the UMKC softball team wraps up its nine-game road swing with a three-game series against North Dakota State. The first game of Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start, with Sunday's single-game series wrap slated for an 11 a.m. first pitch. The games will be held at Claussen-Westgate Field on the University of Nebraska-Omaha campus.
Quick Hits
? UMKC has posted an 0-8 overall record against the Bison.
? The Kangaroos and Bison have each been the home team in four games of the series, with UMKC hosting North Dakota State in doubleheaders in 2005 and 2006 before traveling to Fargo in 2007. The teams also battled in the Lady ?Back Invitational in 2006.
? The schools kicked off their series with a pair of extra-inning games, with the Bison prevailing in eight innings in each half of a 2005 doubleheader.
Scouting the Bison
Although North Dakota State has yet to play a game in The Summit League this season - the season-opening series at IUPUI was scratched due to rain - but has assembled an impressive 23-11 overall record.
Offensively, Melissa Chmielewski leads the Bison, posting a .433 batting average on the campaign, with her team-best eight home runs pushing her slugging percentage to a stout .731. Laurel Pipkin and Aimee Enzler are also above the .300 line for NDSU, hitting .355 and .308 respectively. Kelly Cantrell is the other power hitter for NDSU, collecting six of the Bison's 18 home runs on the year. As a team, the Bison have a .293 batting average, with 139 strikeouts to 109 walks on the campaign.
Allison Bakke is the ace of the pitching staff for North Dakota State, posting a 2.02 ERA in 107.1 innings pitched, and assembling a 15-5 record. She has hurled 11 complete games for NDSU and has also collected a save in her 24 appearances. She has struck out 102 and given up just 31 walks on the year. Bekki Rasmussen and Andi Padilla round out the staff for the Bison.
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.
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 23 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 .202 clip this season. The 2008 group has also struck out 22 fewer times and collected 19 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 11 attempts this year - compared to six times in 11 attempts last year - but has yielded just 33 swipes this year to a monstrous 72 last season. The Kangaroos have gunned down eight baserunners this season - one in every five attempts - to just six last season - one in 13.
All four returning players have seen their individual stats improve as well, led by Alicia Baker. Through 23 games on the slate, the senior has collected 21 hits, 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, although the team ERA took a slight hit against Creighton. UMKC has struck out 25 more batters and issued 18 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 23 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 23 games for the Kangaroos last season.
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
Three players have collected their first career home run for UMKC this season. 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. She added a solo shot against Creighton in Tuesday's doubleheader.
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.
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.
Perfection Is Perfected
In the Kangaroos' second game against South Dakota State in the Shocker Invitational, senior Alicia Baker was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate, driving in three runs on the afternoon.
Have Another
UMKC has seen 15 players pick up multiple hit outings this season. Megan Ussary and Alicia Baekr lead the team with four multi-hit games each, while Julie Hartung is breathing down their neck with three. The Kangaroos have seen five three-hit outings and one four-hit afternoon on the campaign.
Baker also leads the squad with four multiple RBI games on the year, half of the squads' total. Hartung is the only other player besides Baker to have driven in three runs in a game this season, accomplishing the feat against Wichita State.
When A Bell Rings...
In UMKC's 7-6 loss to Southern Utah earlier this year, Alicia Baker finished just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. She started off the game with a single, collected an RBI triple in the fifth and doubled home Monica Canisales in the sixth. She reached base safely in all four appearances on the afternoon, with an error by the third baseman helping her reach in the third.
Nine Times? Nine Times....
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 nine schedule changes due to weather. Originally moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., owing to snow on the NDSU competition field, this weekend's league series with North Dakota State saw another venue change on Wednesday. The games will now be played at Claussen-Westgate Field on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, while the UNO Mavericks host a tournament elsewhere in the city.
The Kangaroos' 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.
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.
