Kangaroos Take On Golden Grizzlies In Three-Game Series
3/27/2009 2:45:00 PM | Softball
Kansas City, Mo. -- UMKC will wrap up its spring break trip in Rochester, Mich., with a three-game Summit League series against Oakland. The Kangaroos are 6-23 on the year and 1-8 in league play. The two will face off on Saturday for a double-header beginning at 11:00 a.m. The Kangaroos and the Golden Grizzlies will close out the series on Sunday at 1:00 a.m.
The Kangaroos double-header with Grambling State was canceled due to field conditions. UMKC went 1-2 against Centenary on March 23 and 24. The Ladies took the double-header from the Kangaroos, 1-0 in eight innings and 3-0. UMKC rallied back to avoid the three-game sweep and snapped a 12-game losing streak with a 9-7 win on March 24.
Kelly Fischer leads the Kangaroos with 31 hits and has started and played all 29 games at the second base position. Fischer is batting .323 on the year and has scored 14 total runs. On the year, she has recorded one double, one triple and has nine RBIs. Chelsea Hartwig continues to lead UMKC with five home runs and 17 RBIs.
Taya Upkes still leads the `Roos on the mound with a 2.70 ERA in 23.1 innings of work. She has allowed 18 runs to score off of 34 hits with nine of those runs being earned. Senior Sam Hurst leads UMKC in strikeouts with 56 so far this season and has pitched in 71.1 innings. With a 4.22 ERA, Hurst has pitched in five complete games and only walked 30 batters.
Opponent Preview
Oakland is 8-17 on the year and 2-4 in The Summit League. Their two league wins came against IUPUI on March 14 and 15. Julie Owen is batting .420 on the year and has appeared and started in all 25 games. She has scored 13 runs off of 29 hits, including seven doubles and three home runs.
Leading the Golden Grizzlies is Marisa Everitt with a 2.78 ERA in five starts and two complete games. Everitt has thrown in 27.2 innings and allowed 15 runs to score off of 28 hits, with 11 of those runs being earned. She has struck out 27 while only giving up four walks.
Last time out for the Kangaroos....
Kangaroos Swept in League Opener by Westerwinds
Game One: Centenary 1 - UMKC 0 (8)
UMKC had plenty of opportunities to score, leaving eight runners stranded on base against Centenary on Monday afternoon. The Kangaroos best chance to get on the scoreboard came in the fourth inning, as they were able to load the bases with no outs. Chelsea Hartwig led off the inning with a single to left field and Hanley and Carli Slagle would follow in her lead, posting singles of their own. But the Ladies were able to rally up and force UMKC to hit into a double play to get out of the inning.
It wasn't until the eighth inning that Centenary was able to finally secure the win with the lone run of the game.
Suffering the loss for the Kangaroos was Taya Upkes, as she threw 4.1 innings. Upkes gave up six hits and no earned runs while striking out three. Sam Hurst was also on the mound for UMKC as she started and was relieved in the fourth.
Game Two: Centenary 3 - UMKC 0
Both teams struggled initially in the first four innings, with UMKC posting the only hit of the game at that point in time. But the Centenary bats would come alive in the fifth as they were finally able to get on the scoreboard with one run off of two hits. The Ladies struck again in the sixth inning as they were able to tack on two more runs off of three hits.
UMKC again was able to load the bases in the top of the seventh but top notch pitching from Hillary Phillips would get her team out of the inning and take the win, despite the bases being loaded for the Kangaroos. Phillips finished game two with nine strike outs in seven innings.
Nicholle Ellis suffers the loss for UMKC, despite throwing 5.2 innings. Ellis allowed three runs to score off of five hits with two of the runs being earned.
Game Three: UMKC 9 - Centenary 7
The Kangaroos snapped a 12-game losing streak on Tuesday morning with a 9-7 win over Centenary. Kelly Fischer led the Kangaroos with three hits in five at bats, while Kaelene Curry scored two of UMKC's nine runs. Samantha Hurst recorded the win for the Kangaroos on the mound, throwing two innings and allowing just two hits.
UMKC jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning with Fischer, Betsy Hanley and Amanda Evans all scoring off of two hits and one error.
The Centenary bats would begin to come alive in the third, as they Ladies were able to put a run up on the scoreboard.
At the conclusion of the fifth, the Ladies held a four-run lead (7-3) following a four run fourth inning.
In the top of the sixth, UMKC would bring in one run to get within two, 7-5. Curry reached on an error by the third baseman and moved to second on a single by Ashley Whiteside. Following back-to-back errors made by the Centenary catcher, Curry advanced to third and scored.
The Kangaroos then had a big seventh inning, as they drove in four runs off of four hits to take a 9-7 lead. Danielle Bennefeld and Rhiannon Mendez scored off of a Megan Vicino RBI double to left field. Also scoring the seventh was Vicino and Rashonda Stanley.
Led by Hurst in the bottom of the seventh, UMKC was able to hold on for the win despite the Ladies leaving the bases loaded.
