Kansas City Heads West for the Troy Cox Classic in New Mexico
2/14/2013 10:00:00 AM | Softball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – After going 3-1 in the Upstate Classic last week to open up the season, the Kansas City Kangaroos will take part in the Troy Cox Classic, hosted by the New Mexico State Aggies (4-1).
To open the tournament, the Blue & Gold will take on Texas Teach (3-2) at 3 p.m. on Friday, followed by a matchup later in the day against New Mexico State (5 p.m.). Saturday will feature another doubleheader for Kansas City, beginning with another contest against Texas Tech (10 a.m.) and Colorado State (2-3) at 6 p.m. later in the day. To conclude the Troy Cox Classic, the 'Roos will take on the Penn State Nittany Lions (0-0) at 10 a.m.
Media Coverage
» Live Stats (For All Games – Free): http://www.nmnathletics.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=1900&KEY=
The Opponents
» Texas Tech Red Raiders (3-2, 0-0 Big 12)
Texas Tech heads into the Troy Cox Classic coming off a 3-2 outing in the Sportco Kick-Off Classic, hosted by UNLV. The Red Raiders victories came against Central Florida, Minnesota and UNLV, while falling 10-6 to No. 17 Louisville and 5-1 to DePaul.
Offensively, outfielder Mikey Kenney leads the team in batting (.533) and slugging (.933) with eight hits and four RBI, including two home runs. Along with Kenney, catcher/infielder Adriana Perez has gotten off to a solid start while batting .353 with a team-high three home runs and five RBI. As a team, the Red Raiders have scored 34 runs and managed 43 hits.
In the circle, junior Brittany Talley is 2-1 with a 3.07 ERA and a team-high 12 strikeouts in four appearances (three starts), whereas sophomore Cara Custer is 1-1 on the season with a 7.95 ERA and seven strikeouts.
» The Head Coach: In his fourth season at the helm, Shannon Hays has led the Red Raiders to back-to-back 40-win seasons. With his record at 124-53, he is 15 wins shy of becoming the program's all-time winningest head coach.
» The Series: The Kangaroos are 1-4 all-time against Texas Tech. The last time these two met was in 2010 during the Texas Tech Tournament as they squared off three times, with the Red Raiders winning each contest. The lone win for Kansas City came in 2000 in the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Tournament, 3-2.
Later this season (March 8 – 10), the Kangaroos will see the Red Raiders three more times in the Jeannie McHaney Memorial Classic, hosted by Texas Tech.
» New Mexico State Aggies (4-1, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference)
After finishing 3-1 in the Hotel Encanto Tournament (Feb 8 – 10), the Aggies took down UTEP on Tuesday, 7-1, to move to 4-1 on the season.
Through five games, New Mexico State has seven players batting over .400, led by infielder Kelsey Dodd at .600 with six hits, six walks and four RBI. Hitting .429, meanwhile, outfielder Staci Rodriguez has tallied a team-high 11 RBI and three home runs to go along with a 1.214 slugging percentage.
Starting four games in the circle, senior Alex Newman holds a 3-1 record with a 0.79 ERA and eight strikeouts, while sophomore Karysta Donisthrope is 1-0 thus far with a 3.50 ERA and a team-high 10 strikeouts.
» The Head Coach: For the Aggies, Kathy Rodolph is in her 10th season with the program. Throughout her tenure, Rodolph's best season came in 2011 when the Aggies claimed their first title WAC regular-season championship and later clinched the WAC Tournament title as she went to earn WAC Coach of the Year honors.
» The Series: Kansas City is 0-4 all-time against the Aggies. In their last meeting, New Mexico State took down the Kangaroos in the Hotel Encanto Tournament, 8-4.
» Colorado State Rams (2-3, 0-0 Mountain West)
The Rams head into the weekend with wins over BYU and Utah State, while falling to Loyola-Marymount, Arkansas and Oklahoma State in the Red Desert Classic last week.
Leading the way for the Rams at the plate, infielder Alysa Greckel is batting .357 five hits and four RBI, whereas infielder Cassy Mosser is hitting .353 with six hits, four RBI and three runs scored.
Pitching wise, five pitchers have seen time for the Rams this season with freshman Holly Reinke (1-0) and senior Kacie McCarthy (1-1) registering both wins. Currently holding a 1.87 ERA, McCarthy has struck out batters and allowed four earned runs, while Reinke picked up her win in a relief appearance and holds a 0.00 ERA.
» The Head Coach: In her third season, the former Colorado State softball standout, Jen Fisher, was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2012 after her team finished 28-22 overall.
» The Series: The Kangaroos are 0-5 against Colorado State. In their last meeting, Kansas City fell 6-5 to the Rams in the 2009 Hotel Encanto Invitational to open its season.
» Penn State Nittany Lions (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
After sitting out last week, the Nittany Lions will open their 2013 season with the Troy Cox Classic.
Leading the charge for Penn State is outfielder Cassidy Bell, who was named to the Top 50 "Watch List" for the 2013 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. In 2012, Bell batted .423 with 41 hits, nine home runs, 20 RBI, 18 walks and a .784 slugging percentage. With those numbers, she went on to be a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten Selection and a NFCA All-Great Lakes First Team honoree.
Returning for Penn State at the pitching spot, (YEAR) Marissa Diescher went 5-9 in 2012 with a 5.52 ERA and 33 strikeouts, while junior Jordan Wheatley went 1-3 in 19 appearances with 4.73 ERA and 23 strikeouts.
» The Head Coach: For 17 seasons, Robin Petrini has been a mainstay for Penn State softball program. After finishing 18-32 overall in 2012, Petrini's record stands at 473-403-2.
» The Series: The Blue & Gold are 0-1 all-time against Penn State. In their lone meeting, the Nittany Lions defeated Kansas City in the 2006 season opener, 4-0, in the Lady 'Back Invitational.
Last Time Out…
The Kangaroos opened the season with wins over Western Carolina, North Carolina Central and Maine, while suffering their lone loss to the USC-Upstate Spartans.
Against Western Carolina, Kansas City came away with a 6-2 win, led by pitcher Deanna Friese's (2-0) 11-strikeout and two-walk outing while allowing six hits. Offensively, the Kangaroos collected nine hits, steered by infielder Chelsea Hartwig's 2-for-2 performance with a run scored and a stolen base, while outfielder Brooke Parker went 1-for-3 with two RBI.
The following morning, the Blue & Gold took down the North Carolina Central Eagles, 8-0, in five innings. At the plate, Kansas City tallied 10 hits, led by infielder Marlee Maples going 2-for-3 with two runs, a stolen base and an RBI, while infielder Liz Broyles went 2-for-2 with a run scored and a stolen base. In the circle, freshman Katie Kelly (1-0) picked up a shutout in her first-career start while allowing four hits, surrendering no walks and striking out five batters. At the plate, she went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.
Later in the day, the Spartans took down Kansas City, 7-1. USC-Upstate capitalized on four Kangaroo errors, whereas Kansas City's offense managed four hits, with half coming from Broyles' 2-for-2 outing, including her first homer of the season.
The Kangaroos would close the Upstate Classic on good note the following with a 9-3 win over the Maine Black Bears, despite a slow start. With Kansas City down 2-0, the Kangaroos captured the lead in the third and never looked back by scoring four runs. In the fourth, Kansas City tacked on four more runs to make it an 8-2 ball game.
At game's end, the Kangaroos tallied 10 hits, led by Maples going 2-for-3 at the plate to go along with three RBI, two runs and a stolen base. As for outfielder Emily Ott, she went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Broyles went 2-for-3 with a run scored. In the circle, Friese bounced back after a rocky start to finish the game with seven strikeouts and one walk surrendered.
Maples, Broyles and Kelley Named to Upstate Classic All-Tournament Team
With their performances in the Upstate State Classic, sophomore Marlee Maples, freshman Liz Broyles and Katie Kelley received All-Tournament Team honors.
In four games, Broyles batted .636 with seven hits and three runs while tallying a home run, a stolen base and a walk each. As for Maples, she managed a .385 batting average with five hits, including three doubles to go along with four RBI, six runs and two stolen bases.
Meanwhile, Kelley struck out five batters and surrendered no walks in a shutout performance in the win over North Carolina Central. Offensively, she batted .444 with four hits, two walks and scored two runs in four games.
All-Time Record Watch
After driving in four RBI this past week, senior Emily Ott tied Amanda Rice (97) for the program's all-time leader. As for senior Chelsea Hartwig, she needs four to pass Rice in the home run department.
Picking Where She Left Off
In the last two seasons, senior Deanna Friese has led The Summit League in strikeouts with 310 (2011) and 213 (2012). So far this season through three appearances, including two starts, the Kennesaw, Ga. native currently leads the league with 20.
Through Four Games in 2012…
Kansas City was 1-3 coming off a 9-3 loss to the DePaul Blue Demons in game four of the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Kansas City Heading to the WAC
On Feb. 7, UMKC accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference. The Kangaroos will begin play in the WAC during the next athletic year, effective July 1, 2013.
The Kangaroos will be immediately eligible for postseason championship play at both the conference and NCAA level in each of its 16 sports. The WAC holds an automatic NCAA postseason berth in each of the sponsored team sports.
The WAC has a 50-year history of intercollegiate competition and has had tremendous success in the NCAA postseason in all of its sports during this time. In men's basketball, the WAC has sent at least two teams to the NCAA Tournament in 24 of the past 29 seasons. UMKC becomes the ninth member of the Western Athletic Conference in 2013-14, joining California State University, Bakersfield; Chicago State University; Grand Canyon University; University of Idaho; New Mexico State University; Seattle University, The University of Texas-Pan American and Utah Valley University.
"We are excited about this new era in UMKC Athletics," Director of Athletics Tim Hall said. "We look forward to competing alongside the institutions in the WAC and providing a great experience for our student-athletes.”
Up Next for the Kangaroos…
Will be the Blues City Classic (Feb. 22 – 24), hosted by the Memphis Tigers. Kansas City will face the likes of SIU-Edwardsville, Indiana State, Belmont, Nicholls State and Detroit.
