UMKC Softball Heads To Louisiana For Opening Weekend
2/11/2010 3:49:00 PM | Softball
Kansas City, Mo. - The UMKC softball team will kick-off its 2010 season with a trip to Monroe, La., to take part in the ULM Mardi Gras Tournament. The 'Roos will open up the tournament with two games on Friday starting with Southeastern Louisiana at 10 a.m., followed by a matchup with host Louisiana-Monroe at 6 p.m. The squad will continue play on Saturday at 10 a.m. against Jackson State, then wrap-up the tournament against Northwestern State at 6 p.m. Live stats will be available for all games at umkckangaroos.com.
ULM Mardi Gras Tournament
Monroe, La.
Friday, Feb. 12 - Saturday, Feb. 13
Opponent Preview
» UMKC vs. Southeastern Louisiana » Feb. 12, 2010 » 10 a.m.
Southeastern Louisiana is coming off a season that saw the team finish with an overall record of 20-33 and an 8-22 mark in the Southland Conference. The Lady Lions are led by Preseason all-Southland Conference selection Katie Duhe. Duhe finished the 2009 season with a .303 average, while driving in 19 runs, scoring 21runs and collecting 14 doubles. SELA was picked to finish 10th in the Southland by both the league's coaches and SID's. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
» UMKC at Louisiana-Monroe » Feb. 12, 2010 » 6 p.m.
Louisiana-Monroe enters the opening weekend coming off a season where they finished with a 17-35 overall record and a 7-15 mark in Sun Belt play. In 2010, the Warhawks will look to junior Brianna Love to lead the squad, as the outfielder was chosen as the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Co-Player of the Year. Love is coming off a season where she hit .378, had eight home runs, 26 RBIs and stole 15 bases. The squad was picked to finish eighth in the nine team league as voted on by the league's coaches. This will be the fifth meeting between the two squads, with the teams splitting the first four matchups.
» UMKC vs. Jackson State » Feb. 13, 2010 » 10 a.m.
Jackson State will enter the tournament with one game under its belt after taking on Southeast Missouri State on Thursday night, before heading to the ULM Mardi Gras Tournament. After finishing the 2009 season with a 20-24 overall record and an 11-6 mark in Southwestern Athletic Conference play, the Tigers will rely on seniors Brittanie Talley and Amanda Boggan to lead the way as both were chosen as Preseason First-Team all-SWAC members. Talley finished last season with an ERA of 3.94 on the mound, while hitting .368 with 20 RBIs from the plate. Boggan, meanwhile, hit .348 last season with 54 hits, 23 RBIs, and seven doubles. The Lady Tigers were picked to finish second in the SWAC's Eastern Division by the league's coaches. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
» UMKC vs. Northwestern State » Feb. 13, 2010 » 6 p.m.
Nortwestern State is coming off a 5-45 season, where the squad finished 3-26 in the Southland Conference. The Demons are led by sophomore Samantha Roberts, as the first baseman finished the 2009 season with team-highs of 11 doubles, two home runs, 21 RBIs and a .351 slugging percentage. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
'ROOS PICKED FIFTH IN PRESEASON POLL
The UMKC softball team was picked to finish fifth in The Summit League Preseason Poll in a vote of the league's nine head coaches. The 'Roos received 30 points in the polls, trailing fourth place Oakland by only four points. UMKC will turn to a pair of sophomores in infielders Kelly Fischer and Chelsea Hartwig in 2010. Fischer ranked sixth in The Summit League with 57 hits, while Hartwig led the 'Roos with a .486 slugging percentage. In total, UMKC will return eight starters from last year's squad that finished 20-34 and 10-14 in The Summit League, good for sixth place in the league standings.
CHANGE OF PLANS
On Monday, the UMKC softball team thought it was headed to Tennessee to take part in the Middle Tennessee Invitational. Later that day, the squad found out that due to weather that tournament had been cancelled, leaving the coaching staff scrambling for an opening weekend tournament. They found a home at the ULM Mardi Gras Tournament on Tuesday and by that night, plans were finalized for the 'Roos to head to Monroe, La., for the opening weekend.
TOURNAMENT SLATE
The 'Roos will open up the 2010 season with four tournaments, taking part in five total, beginning Friday with the ULM Mardi Gras Tournament. After that, the squad will head to Lubbock, Texas, on Feb. 19-20, for the Texas Tech Tournament for five games. From there, the squad will travel to Oklahoma for the Tulsa Embassy Suites Invitational for five games on Feb. 26-28. The following weekend, the squad will take part in the annual Missouri Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament in Columbia against four teams from around the state. The 'Roos will end tournament play on April 10-11, when they host North Dakota and South Dakota in the Dakota's Round Robin Tournament.
THE LONE SENIOR
Carli Slagle returns to the 'Roos for her fourth season in the Blue and Gold, making her the only senior on this year's team. Slagle, who is tied for second all-time in UMKC history with eight career home runs, will be counted on to by Head Coach Meredith Smith to provide leadership to a team that features five freshmen, 10 sophomores and six juniors. Last season, the outfielder finished with a .267 batting average, while finishing second on the team with 23 RBI's and third in home runs with four.
FRESHMEN ON THE MOUND
This season, the UMKC softball team will count on a pair of first-year players to handle the bulk of the duties on the mound, as freshmen Deanna Friese and Emily Ott will be the 'Roos number one and number two pitchers. Friese joins the squad from Kennesaw, Ga., where she was named Kennesaw Mountain team MVP following a sophomore campaign where she went 8-1 with a 0.76 ERA. Ott, meanwhile, comes to Kansas City from Des Plaines, Ill., where she was named all-state her senior year at Maine West, as well as being named all-conference three times and team MVP all four years.
RICE INDUCTED INTO UMKC HALL OF FAME
Three-time First Team all-Mid-Con selection (1999-01) Amanda Rice was inducted into the UMKC Hall of Fame on Jan. 22. Rice, who was a Mid-Con all-Tournament team honoree in 1999, is the UMKC career record holder in hits (201), doubles (47) runs batted in (97) and home runs (14). She also finished her career ranked second in putouts (219), fourth in games played (218), sixth in batting average (.309) and fifth in walks (40).
HANLEY ON THE MEND
Sophomore Betsy Hanley will miss the beginning of the season after suffering a knee injury earlier this year. Last season Hanley finished with a team-high .342 average, which was good for the eighth highest total in school history.
HEAD COACH MEREDITH SMITH
Meredith Smith is entering her fourth season at the helm of the UMKC softball program with a 32-111 overall record and a 17-44 mark in Summit LEague play through her first three years. After inheriting a program that had finished with a winning season once in the previous 18 years of exsistence, Coach Smith has at least doubled her win total in each of her three seasons. Last season, Smith led the squad to 20 wins, the most since the 2002 season.
LAST SEASON
The UMKC softball team finished the 2009 campaign with a 20-34 overall record, while going 10-14 in Summit League play to finish sixth. The 20 wins mark only the fourth time in school history that the team has reached the total. The squad was led on the year by Second Team all-Summit League selections Kelly Fischer and Chelsea Hartwig. Fischer finished with a .313 average, while notching a team-high 28 runs and 57 hits. Hartwig, meanwhile, recorded team-highs of eight home runs, 25 RBIs, 15 walks and a .486 slugging percentage in 2009. The eight home runs for Hartwig are the UMKC single season record.
