.png&width=40&type=webp)
Kansas City
Southern Utah
UMKC Closes Out The Regular Season With A 5-2 Win Over Southern Utah
5/3/2009 5:00:00 PM | Softball
Kansas City, Mo. ? UMKC ended the season on a positive note, defeating Southern Utah in game three of the series, 5-3. The Kangaroos finish the 2009 season 20-34 on the year and 10-14 in The Summit League. Kaelene Curry and Chelsea Hartwig finished the day with two hits and seniors Samantha Hurst and Nicholle Ellis pitched in the win.
The Thunderbirds struck first, scoring one run off of one hit in the first inning to take and early lead. They wouldn't hold the lead for long, as the `Roos would drive in two runs off of three hits in the bottom of the first. Curry would lead off with a single to left field, move to second on a Fischer fielder's choice and get to third base on a passed ball. With runners in place, Hartwig was able to post a RBI single to score Curry. Ashley Whiteside stepped up and posted an RBI single of her own to score Fischer and put the Kangaroos ahead.
The Kangaroos struck again in the fourth and jumped out to a 5-1 lead following three runs on four hits. Ashley Whiteside and Rashonda Stanley would both score on a two-RBI double by Danielle Bennefeld. Another double hit out to left center by Curry would score Bennefeld to extend UMKC's lead.
Southern Utah was able to score one run in the seventh but Ellis would seal the win for the `Roos after retiring the last batter.
Hurst started on the mound for UMKC on senior day and threw four innings. She allowed one run to score off of three hits and struck out seven. Ellis closed out the game and also gave up one run off of three hits.
UMKC honored seniors Hurst, Ellis and Amanda Evans prior to today's first pitch. Hurst finished the season with 136 strikeouts in 137 innings of work and Ellis finished with 62 K's in 106 innings. Evans scored 14 runs off of 34 hits, including five doubles and five home runs. She led the team with 272 putouts and 48 assists.
2009 Season Highlights
- UMKC closed out the regular season with a 20-34 overall record and a 10-14 record in The Summit League, which is the most wins for head coach Meredith Smith. It is also the most overall wins for the softball program since the 2002 season, when head coach Carla Marchetti led the team to a 31-26 overall record. Their 10 wins against league opponents this season is also the most since the 2003 season, when the Kangaroos finished 10-10 in the then Mid-Con. UMKC drastically improved from the 2008 season, when they finished 8-31 overall and 6-14 in league play.
- One of the Kangaroos highlights during Summit League play would have to have been the series sweep over the IUPUI Jaguars on April 24-25. UMKC shutout IUPUI 6-0 in game one, defeated them 10-4 in game two and closed out the series with a 9-4 victory. The sweep is also another first for Smith and is the first league sweep for the Kangaroos since the 2003 season. Back on April 4-5, 2003, UMKC swept the Jaguars in a four-game series, 3-0, 5-4, 12-6 and 1-0.
- The longest winning streak for the `Roos was six games this season and took place from April 4 - April 11. The streak began with a 4-2 over IPFW and then North Dakota would cut the streak to six with their 3-2 victory over UMKC on April 11. In that time, the Kangaroos were able to take two games from the Mastodons, a pair of wins against Missouri State, a win over North Dakota and a victory against South Dakota. The six-game win streak is the longest in coach Smith's career and the last time the `Roos won more than six games in a row was in the 2002 season. Coach Marchetti coached UMKC to a 10-game winning streak and the Kangaroos were the regular season champions as a result.
- The 2009 squad were composed of nine freshmen and five sophomores but those newcomers helped the `Roos out in a big way. Chelsea Hartwig finished her first collegiate softball season with eight home runs on the year, which is the most any player has hit since the 2007 season. Hartwig is now the UMKC single season record holder in homers, knocking off Ashley Toft who posted seven in the 2007 season. The St. Louis, Mo., native is second in the career record books after just one season, behind Amanda Rice who posted 14 home runs from the 1999-2002 seasons.
- UMKC also had six other student-athletes land in the UMKC single season record books. Freshman Betsy Hanley landed in the top-10 in overall batting average and hits following her first season as a `Roo. Red-shirt freshman Kelly Fischer was tough at second base for UMKC and finished in the top-10 in hits, stolen bases, at bats and runs scored. In addition to leading the Kangaroos in home runs, Hartiwg also finished in the top-10 in RBIs. Junior outfield Carli Slagle was among the top-10 in homers and RBIs and senior catcher Amanda Evans etched her way into the record books for home runs and putouts. Senior pitcher Sam Hurst closes out her career among the top-10 in games played, strikeouts and strikeouts per seven innings. Freshman Kaelene Curry landed in the UMKC single season record books in assists.
- Following the regular season, the Kangaroos have three award winners so far in Hurst and Hanley. Hurst was picked as The Summit League Pitcher of the Week on April 13 and Hanley was the Dutton Brookfield Award winner, which is an award given out by UMKC. Carli Slagle was also named to the Tiger Invitational all-tournament team back on Feb. 15.
