UMKC Heads To IPFW For League Series
4/2/2009 12:30:00 PM | Softball
Kansas City, Mo. -- UMKC improved to 7-25 on the year and 2-10 in The Summit League with a 4-0 win over Oakland on Sunday, March 29. UMKC continues its 11-game road trip at IPFW for a three-game league series. The Kangaroos will face the Mastodons on Friday, April 3 at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m.
The Kangaroos dropped the doubleheader to the Golden Grizzlies on Saturday, March 28, falling 8-0 (5) and 4-2. Kaelene Curry led the `Roos against Oakland, posting six hits in 10 at bats on the weekend. Danielle Bennefeld aided UMKC in its 4-0 win hitting one over the fence to bring in a career-high three RBIs. On the weekend, Bennefeld recorded two hits.
Betsy Hanley leads the Kangaroos with a .316 batting average. The freshman has scored eight runs off of 30 hits, including four doubles and one triple. Overall leading UMKC at the plate is Kelly Fischer with 33 hits this season. Fischer has scored 15 runs and recorded 10 RBIs.
Taya Upkes continues to dominate on the mound at the relief position for the `Roos. The sophomore has a 2.96 ERA in 26 innings of work. She has allowed 20 runs to score off of 38 hits with 11 of those runs being earned. Leading UMKC in the strikeout category is senior Sam Hurst. Hurst has retired 65 batters in 82.2 innings pitched and leads the UMKC pitching staff with a .290 opposing batting average.
Opponent Preview
IPFW is 10-14 on the season and 5-3 in The Summit League. The Mastodons are led by Cassie Wolfe at the plate and Courtney Cronin at the mound. Wolfe is batting .301 on the year and has scored 12 runs off of 22 hits. She has three doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs this season.
Cronin enters the series against UMKC with a 1.02 ERA. She is 6-3 on the season and has thrown in 68.2 innings. In that time, Cronin has allowed 10 earned runs to score off of 61 hits. She has allowed 19 batters to walk and struck out 62 in 12 appearances.
Last time out for the Kangaroos....
Kangaroos Take Game Three, But Drop Doubleheader to Oakland
Game One: Oakland 8 - UMKC 0 (5)
The Kangaroos would keep the Golden Grizzlies at bay in the first two innings but the home team exploded in the third inning to score four runs off of five hits to take a 4-0 advantage. Oakland tacked on another four runs in the fourth inning and held UMKC in the fifth to end game one of the three-game series.
UMKC left five runners stranded on base but posted six errors to drop game one. Samantha Hurst suffered the loss for UMKC and falls to 2-11 on the year. Hurst gave up seven runs off of nine hits, with six of those runs being earned. She walked no one and struck out three in 3.1 innings of work.
Game Two: Oakland 4 - UMKC 2
The ?Roos emerged from the dugout ready to play in the second game and took a 2-0 lead at the conclusion of the second. Curry led off the inning with a single to shortstop and moved to third off of a Kelly Fischer ground out. Curry would cross home plate on a passed ball by Oakland's catcher.
In the top of the second inning, Carli Slagle led off with a single to left center and moved to second on an Oakland throwing error. In her first at bat, Nicholle Ellis laid down a sacrifice bunt and moved Slagle into scoring position at third base. Kangaroo catcher Amanda Evans then followed with an RBI single to score Slagle and put the `Roos up, 2-0.
UMKC wouldn't stay up for long as Oakland would string together a big third inning, highlighted by an Alyssa Deacon three-run double. The Golden Grizzlies would score three runs off of two hits and capitalize off of two UMKC errors to take a 3-2 lead.
Oakland was able to tack on an insurance run in the fourth and hold the Kangaroos scoreless.
Suffering the loss on the mound for UMKC was Nicholle Ellis. Ellis threw three innings and gave up three runs off of four hits and walked three.
Game Three: UMKC 4 - Oakland 0
Danielle Bennefeld hit a three-run homer in the top of the third to send the Kangaroos past the Golden Grizzlies to avoid a series sweep, 4-0. Sam Hurst recorded the win on the mound for the Kangaroos, throwing the complete game and improving to 3-11 on the year. Hurst gave up just four hits and struck out four.
Despite a three hour delay due to field conditions, the Kangaroos were ready to play with Kaelene Curry recording a triple out to center field on the very first pitch. Kelly Fischer would follow in Curry's footsteps, and record an RBI double to score Curry and give UMKC a 1-0 lead.
The `Roos would strike again in the third with Bennefeld's three-run homer. Fischer would reach on an error by the Oakland third baseman and Betsy Hanley would get a fielder's choice, moving Fischer to second. With runners on first and second, Bennefeld would step in the box and send one over the center field wall on a 3-1 count.
The UMKC defense gutted out four more innings and were able to hold Oakland for the win. The Kangaroos forced the Golden Grizzlies to leave six runners stranded on base.
The Kangaroos posted seven hits with Curry and Fischer both going two-for-three and scoring one run.
Out-Hitting The Summit League
Despite its league record, UMKC is leading The Summit League overall in team hits with 223 this season. Kelly Fischer leads the Kangaroos with 33 hits so far in 2009. In team overall stats, UMKC is also first in assists with 298 and fielding double plays with 15. They rank third in doubles with 31 and third in triples with five.
