?Roos Set to Open Season with the Upstate Classic in South Carolina
2/7/2013 10:16:00 AM | Softball
(Kansas City, Mo.) - The Kansas City Kangaroos softball team will head east to open its season in Spartanburg, S.C. with the Upstate Classic, hosted by the USC-Upstate Spartans.
On Friday (1 p.m.), the Kangaroos will take on Western Carolina, followed a two games on Saturday beginning with North Carolina Central (9 a.m.) and the Spartans (3 p.m.) later in the day. Sunday (9 a.m.), meanwhile, Kansas City will face the Maine Black Bears to conclude its opening weekend.
Media Coverage
» Live Stats (For All Games - Free): http://livestats.prestosports.com/uscupstate/
» Live Broadcast (UMKC vs. USC-Upstate - Free): http://asun.neulion.com/asc/
The Opponents
» Western Carolina Catamounts (0-0, 0-0 Southern Conference)
Heading into the season, Western Carolina comes off a 9-15 in Southern Conference play and 24-34 overall finish in 2012. In The Southern Conference Preseason Poll, the Cats were picked to finish seventh, their highest since 2008.
The Cats' top returnee is utility player Shemekia Scotton, who earned SoCon Preseason All-Conference First Team honors. Last season, she finished second on the team in batting (.331) and third in home runs (5), while compiling 46 hits, seven doubles and two triples.
In the circle, Western Carolina returns its top pitcher from last season in Jordan Garrett. Finishing with a 12-17 record with a 3.99 ERA, Garrett tallied 147 strikeouts, two shutouts and three saves. Also, returning for Western Carolina in the bullpen is Amber Steinhard as she went 8-7 with a 5.19 ERA and a team-best four saves in 2012.
» The Head Coach: Jim Clift is in his second season with the Cats after serving as an assistant with the program for two seasons.
» The Series: First meeting.
» North Carolina Central Eagles (0-0, 0-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
The Eagles enter the season looking to improve off a 1-13 record in MEAC action and 4-44 overall finish in 2012.
Leading the way for NCCU this season will be infielder Shakemia Edwards, who finished second on the team in batting (.306) with 34 hits, 18 RBI and three home runs a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Eagles' top returning pitcher, Bianka Molina, went 3-24 with a 5.40 ERA and 74 strikeouts.
» The Head Coach: Theresa Stephens is in her second season with the Eagles softball program.
» The Series: First meeting.
» South Carolina Upstate Spartans (0-0, 0-0 Atlantic Sun)
After finishing with a 39-13 record in 2012, including a 12-6 finish in conference play, the Spartans were picked to finish third in the A-Sun Preseason Poll. From last season's squad, USC-Upstate returns Preseason All-Conference honorees in pitcher Hannah Alexander, infielder Cheyenne Griffin and outfielder Shellie Robinson.
Coming off a stellar freshman campaign that included earning A-Sun Freshman of the Year, First Team All-Conference honors and being an NFCA First Team All-Region selection, Robinson batted .405 with 66 hits, 17 home runs, 41 RBI and 49 runs scored. With these numbers, Robinson was named to the Top 50 "Watch List" for the 2013 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
Also, heading into her sophomore season, Griffin batted .384 in 2012 with 61 hits, 30 RBI, four home runs and 19 runs as she earned NFCA Second Team All-Region honors. Griffin was also a First Team A-Sun selection and received All-Freshman honors.
In the circle, Alexander returns as the squad's best pitcher after compiling a 26-7 record to go along with a 1.76 ERA, 22 complete games, nine shutouts and 206 strikeouts. Additionally, not only did she earn the A-Sun Pitcher of the Week twice and the Pitcher of the Year award by College Sports Madness in 2012, but Alexander received Second Team All-Conference honors as well.
» The Head Coach: Entering his 19th season at the helm, Chris Hawkins is the program's all-time winningest head coach with an overall record of 639-287. Throughout his tenure, the Spartans have made the conference tournament each season since 2008, including winning the regular season crown during that year.
» The Series: First meeting.
» Maine Black Bears (0-0, 0-0 America East)
Picked to finish fifth in The America East Preseason Poll, the Black Bears are coming off a 17-30-1 (8-9-1 A-East) finish in 2012. Maine also qualified for the conference tournament last year for the second time in three seasons.
The Black Bears return 12 players from last season, headlined by a pair of All-America East Second Team honorees, catcher EmJ Fogel and infielder Hilary Kane. As a freshman, Fogel batted .331 with 47 hits, nine doubles, 14 RBI and 22 runs scored, while Kane went .225 at the plate to go along with 31 hits, three home runs and 16 RBI.
Pitching wise, Beth Spoehr and Kylie Sparks returns for Maine this season as they went a combined 9-17 with 76 strikeouts in 2012.
» The Head Coach: As a former player (1983-87) and assistant coach (1990-94) for Maine, head coach Lynn Coutts is in her second season with the Black Bears.
» The Series: The Kangaroos are 2-1 all-time against the Black Bears. The two squads last met in 2011 at the UCF/Courtyard by Marriott Invitational as the Kangaroos came away with a 6-0 win. In 2010, both teams met twice and settled for a split in the Texas Tech Tournament with Maine taking the first game, 12-7, and Kansas City winning the second, 7-6.
Season Openers Under Smith
Heading into her seventh season with Kansas City, head coach Meredith Smith is 1-5 in season openers. Kansas City's lone win came in 2011 with a 10-4 victory over Jackson State in the Lion Classic.
Last season, the Kangaroos fell 5-2 to DePaul, along with losses to Missouri 12-1 (2007), Washington 14-0 (2008), Colorado State 6-5 (2009) and Southeast Missouri State 6-4 (2010).
All-Time Career Record Watch
Heading into 2013, outfielder Emily Ott and infielder Chelsea Hartwig sit second in two of the program's all-time offensive categories.
For Ott, she needs five RBI to pass Amanda Rice (1999-02) to become Kansas City's all-time career leader, while Hartwig needs four to pass Rice in the home run department.
Next Up for the Kangaroos...
They will head west to Las Cruces, N.M. for the Troy Cox Classic (Feb. 15-17), hosted by New Mexico State. Along with the 'Roos and Aggies, the likes of Texas Tech, Colorado State and Penn State will participate in the tournament as well.
