'Roos Looking to Carry Momentum to Arkansas
2/12/2014 10:56:00 PM | Softball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – After taking three-of-five at the Lion Classic in Hammond, La., over the past weekend, the 'Roos (3-2) head to Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday, to take part in the Arkansas Invitational, hosted by the University of Arkansas (2-3).
The 'Roos will begin play on Friday at 1:30 p.m., facing off with St. John's (2-3), before taking on Jackson State (1-3) in the night-cap at 6:30 p.m. Kansas City will meet Butler (2-2) at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, and close with an early back-to-back on Sunday, playing Butler a second time at 9:30 a.m., before closing with the host Razorbacks at noon.
THE OPPONENTS
Arkansas is fresh off of back-to-back losses to close out the UNLV Sportco Kick-Off Classic in Las Vegas, Nev., last weekend. The Hogs put together a pair of dominant victories over UNLV and San Diego, but ran into the collective buzzsaw of third-ranked Washington and 18th-ranked Baylor to close the tournament.
Thus far, the Razorbacks have been led by designated player Devon Wallace, who is hitting .400 with a double and seven walks through the team's first five games. Arkansas has started five different pitchers.
St. John's opened its season at the FAU Kick-Off Classic in Boca Raton, Fla., knocking off Ohio State and Florida Atlantic, but falling to Tulsa, Northern Illinois and Louisville.
The Red Storm has been led by a pair of .400 hitters, shortstop Monique Landini and first baseman Jackie Reed. Landini leads the team with a pair of doubles, while Reed has racked up 12 total bases.
Pitcher Tori Free made four appearances for the Johnnies at FAU, going 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA over 14 innings.
Jackson State lost its first three games of the year by a combined total of 33-6, including a 24-1 loss to Houston Baptist. But the Tigers rebounded in their final game at Louisiana Tech, knocking off UT-Martin 4-2.
Butler took part in the Music City Classic over the past weekend, splitting the four-game slate. The Bulldogs played extra innings in two of their first three games of the season, wins versus Belmont and East Tennessee State.
Butler has been paced by freshman catcher Brandyce Sallee, who is hitting .455 with a homerun and four RBI's. Sophomore K. Gutierrez has made three appearances and one start, going 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA over 9.1 innings of work.
KELLEY PICKS UP COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS HONOR
College Sports Madness named Katie Kelley the Madness WAC Softball Player of the Week for her performance at the Lion Classic during the past weekend.
Kelley bookended the tournament with a pair of huge hitting and pitching performances en route the fourth-best batting average of all WAC hitters (.417). She leads the WAC in doubles (3) and RBI's (6), and has the league's third-highest on base percentage (.533).
Kelley made two starts at the Lion Classic, both UMKC wins, throwing a complete game shutoutout in the first game of the tournament, and closing out the weekend by allowing no earned runs in 4.2 innings of work in a victory vs. Akron. She leads the league with strikeouts (17), averaging more than 11 per game, and is second in the league in hits allowed/game.
PARKER QUICK OUT OF THE GATES
Sophomore centerfielder Brooke Parker stole six bases in seven attempts over the weekend, drawing one-third of the way to her season total in 2013. Parker leads the WAC by three bases and is on pace for 72 steals. The school-record for steals in a season is 24.
