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UMKC Wraps Up Non-League Schedule With Tuesday Doubleheader At Drake
4/28/2008 2:00:00 PM | Softball
UMKC puts the wraps on the non-league portion of its schedule Tuesday, heading up I-35 to take on Missouri Valley Conference foe Drake in a doubleheader. The first pitch from Buel Field is slated to be tossed at 3 p.m.
Quick Hits
? UMKC is 2-28 all-time against the Bulldogs
? The first game in the series between the teams saw an epic 14-inning battle, with the Bulldogs prevailing by a 4-1 scoreline in Kansas City
? It will be a homecoming of sorts for Kangaroo senior Alicia Baker, who claims Des Moines as her hometown and graduated from Hoover High School
Scouting the Bulldogs
Drake has battled to a 22-23 overall record this season, with a 11-9 mark in conference play. As a team, the Bulldogs have posted a .230 batting average, allowing a .244 mark for their opponents on the campaign.
Seniors lead the way in the majority of offensive categories for Drake, with Marilyn Buss topping the team with a .305 batting average. Susan Slycord leads the squad with 25 RBI on the year while Jaci Faidley has belted a team-best 11 home runs on the year and leads Drake with a .534 slugging percentage. Elena Leon is the sole underclassman among the leaders, posting a .265 batting average on the season and collecting eight doubles - one of three players at the mark for Drake.
From the circle, Brynne Dordel has seen the lion's share of time for Drake, hurling 163.0 innings on the campaign. The freshman from Chanhassen, Minn., has pitched 12 complete games, picking up seven shutouts en route to a 15-9 record and a 1.80 ERA. The freshman has recorded 183 strikeouts and issued just 71 walks. The remainder of the staff isn't as quite as noteworthy, however, with a team ERA of 3.19 on the campaign.
Playing In Honor and Memory
Throughout the 2008 season, the Kangaroos have been 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 an added commitment to breast cancer awareness, UMKC and South Dakota State have pledged to commit the final game of each season's league series to raising money and awareness to this cause. Although the entire series was lost due to the wintry conditions in Brookings, the teams combined to raise better than $2,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, as UMKC outfitted their entire travel party in pink. The Kangaroos will deliver on their promise of game-worn jerseys, however, donning the commemorative strip for Tuesday's doubleheader at Drake.
Proceeds from next season's return engagement to benefit the Cynthia Joy Gabel Scholarship Fund at UMKC, with the Kangaroos already having two pledges in the bank for next season.For more information on this program or to purchase a jersey, contact head coach Meredith Smith at smithmer@umkc.edu or call the UMKC Athletics office at 816-235-1036.
Hartung Grabs Player Of The Week Honors
Freshman Julie Hartung was tabbed The Summit League Player of the Week for the week ending April 20, 2008 on the strength of her performances against IUPUI. The rookie put the second game of the series to bed early with a three-RBI double before smashing a game-winning grand slam in the series finale. It is the first such honor this year for the Kangaroos and the first of Hartung's career.
These Go To Eleven
An appreciation for unpredictable weather and flexibility come with the territory for residents of the Midwest, but the schedule changes have left UMKC feeling as if its in a bad mockumentary. The Kangaroos have endured a total of 11 schedule changes due to weather on the 2008 campaign.
The Kangaroos saw the first change on opening day, as their second game in the Kajikawa Classic - against Idaho State - was interrupted by rain. UMKC moved their slated doubleheader against Missouri indoors to avoid snow before canceling the set outright.
March came in like the cliched proverb, with rain forcing the cancellation of the first day of action in the All-Missouri Cancer Classic. UMKC took on Missouri State and Saint Louis in Springfield, Mo., to make up the first day of action but couldn't continue in the tournament due to NCAA regulations limiting teams to two games in a day.
Wet weather and unplayable field conditions at Cleveland Park led to the fourth and fifth changes on the slate, as UMKC canceled a one-off game against Iowa State set for March 6 and moved its March 10 home opener 90 minutes west to Lawrence, Kan. Casualties six and seven were UMKC's league series against Oakland - shortened to two games - and against Centenary - pushed back one day.
Trips to the Dakotas would each be responsible for a pair of changes, as UMKC's trip to North Dakota State was initially moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., and then to Omaha, Neb., due to snow on the Bison's compeition field. The tenth change came on Friday night, as snow blanketed Brookings, S.D., although the teams held out hope that they might be able to squeeze in at least one game on Saturday. Mother Nature had other ideas, however, dropping nearly a foot of snow on the area and keeping Saturday's temperatures well below the 35-degree wind chill allowable in The Summit League bylaws.
At The Summit Of The Summit League
After cruising past her single-season strikeout mark from last year, Samantha Hurst has continued to rack up the K's. She currently has the highest strikeout per game rate among pitchers in The Summit League, averaging 7.47 K's per game. Her 14-strikeout effort against IPFW was just one shy of the top single-game mark in the league this season (15 by WIU's Kamren Ferguson against Pittsburgh) and included a streak of six consecutive retired batters.
Taya Upkes has also acquitted herself well, ringing up three saves on the campaign to match Centenary's Lauren Highsmith in league action.
Julie Hartung is also among the tops in the league, with her 13 RBI in league action good for a top ten spot on the list, tied with Oakland's Caitlyn Lynch.
And One For Good Measure
Samantha Hurst did something in her complete game win against IPFW that is somewhat rare, as she recorded four strikeouts in the second inning. Her final delivery to the first batter of the second inning had so much movement that it eluded both the Mastodon bat and catcher Lauren Rodrigues' glove. The junior calmly retired the next three batters, however, en route to a string of six.
While rare overall, the feat was the fourth time this season that it has happened. Arkansas' Miranda Dixon, Morehead State's Sarah Funston and (former Mid-Con foe) Valparaiso's Andrea Zappia have all recorded four-strikeout innings on the 2008 campaign.
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.
What A Difference A Year Makes
Although second-year head coach Meredith Smith leads a young squad, it is certainly a talented bunch with considerable potential for the future. Looking back just one season the difference is clear. Aside from the obvious difference in record - UMKC posted just four wins through its entire championship season schedule in 2007 - there have been improvements in all aspects of the game for the Kangaroos.
Throughout much of this season, the Kangaroos have had a higher team batting average than the 2007 edition. The 2008 squad has belted 11 more doubles than through the same point last season, striking out 28 fewer times and collecting 13 more walks in 2008. The team has also collected 69 RBI this year to just 55 last season, scoring 10 more runs on the year as well. On the defensive side of the ledger, UMKC has surrendered 51 fewer runs through 34 games this season.
Baserunning also shows a marked improvement, although more clearly on the defensive side of the ledger. UMKC has been caught stealing just four times in 19 attempts this year - compared to nine times in 21 attempts last year - but has yielded just 55 swipes this year to a monstrous 101 last season. The Kangaroos have gunned down baserunners at an average of one in every seven attempts - to one in every 11 tries last year.
All four returning players have seen their individual stats improve as well, led by Alicia Baker. Through 34 games on the slate, the senior has collected 27 hits, nine more than her 2007 running total and she has knocked in 16 runs this year to just two in 2007. Samantha Hurst has raised her average to .235 this season, with her three extra-base hits - a double, a triple and a home run - each marking the first of her career.
The Kangaroos have improved in the circle as well, dropping their team ERA by better than a run with a mark of 5.32 this year to last season's 6.49 mark. The UMKC staff has also struck out 32 more batters and issued an amazing 41 fewer walks through 34 games in 2008. The staff has also hit nine fewer batters and yielded two fewer home runs.
Most notably, all of this has come against a considerably tougher group of opponents. Through 34 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 34 games for the Kangaroos last season.
On A Streak
Although her four-game hitting streak was snapped, Julie Hartung kept her on-base streak alive with a walk in the series opener against IUPUI and pushed that streak to seven games before failing to get on base in the first game against KU.
Hartung's hitting mark is tied with Alicia Baker and Samantha Hurst for the second-longest streak among the 2008 squad, with Megan Ussary's six-game mark taking top honors. Ussary collected nine hits in six games (Idaho State - Wichita State) before being held hitless in UMKC's second game against South Dakota State in the Shocker Invitational. She did, however, reach base safely in that game with a walk.
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 when necessary, recording six appearances on the season, dropping her career ERA by just over one run.
Ding, Ding, Ding
Four 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 with a longball off the Sun Devils' Amanda Nesbitt. She added a solo shot against Creighton earlier this season as well, jacking her first grand slam to give UMKC a 4-0 win in the series finale over IUPUI.
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, adding a second in the first win over IPFW this season and her third in the second game of the series against the Jaguars.
Lauren Rodrigues joined the longball ladies against the Mastodons as well, hitting a game-winning two-run bomb in the fifth inning of UMKC's first 4-1 triumph.
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.
Keeping It Close
Although the Kangaroos have been on the wrong end of a couple of blowouts this season, lost in the analysis is that UMKC has only seen 17 games end with margins of five runs or higher, compared to just seven games with margins CLOSER than five runs in 2007. UMKC has battled to pick up wins in three of the six one-run contests it has faced on the year. In 2007, the Kangaroos lost all eight of their games that finished with either a one-run or two-run margin.
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.
Feasting On Rabbit
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. The senior was retired in just one plate appearance - her first, a deep fly to right - against the Jackrabbits, driving in five runs and scoring twice herself. Junior Samantha Hurst was also perfect (3-for-3) in her only contest against SDSU, wrapping a pair of singles around a solo home run, scoring a pair of runs herself.
Have Another
UMKC has seen 33 multiple-hit outings on the season from nine different players. With her two-double game against Kansas, Megan Ussary pushed herself to the top of the table with seven multiple-hit games on the year. Alicia Baker and Julie Hartung have also done well, collecting six multi-hit games each. Baker tops the total hits list, however, belting out two three-hit games and a four-hit afternoon as well.
On the RBI ledger, UMKC has seen 14 multiple-RBI outings, with Baker and Hartung each posting five on the year. Hartung's tally was spiked last weekend by back-to-back four-RBI games against IUPUI. Lauren Rodrigues, Carli Slagle and Samantha Hurst have also collected multiple-RBI games on the campaign for the Kangaroos.
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.
njury 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.
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.
