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'Roos, Missouri State Set to Meet in Doubleheader
3/18/2014 1:22:00 PM | Softball
KANSAS CITY VS. MISSOURI STATE
Date(s): March 19, 2014Site: Kansas City, Mo. / Missouri 3&2 Softball Complex
Live Radio: UMKCKangaroos.com
Twitter: @KCRoos_Softball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – In-state rival Missouri State will pay the Kangaroos a visit on Wednesday for a pair of games that will serve as the teams' only scheduled meeting of the regular season.
The 'Roos enter the day on a three-game losing skid after winning four straight from March 7-15. Most recently, Kansas City was tripped up by Northern Colorado on a chilly final day of the UMKC Invitational.
The Bears have taken five-of-six dating back to a 5-1 victory over Oklahoma State in the last game of the Mizuno Classic hosted by the Cowgirls.
THE VENUEUMKC reached an agreement with the city of Kansas City in the fall of 2011 to begin playing its softball games at Missouri 3&2 Complex, 9600 Blue River Road.
The 'Roos opened play at 3&2 in the spring of 2012, hosting the Missouri Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, as well as the Summit League Championships.
The fences that surround the field have been refurbished and a new scoreboard was added, as well. The facility features a natural playing surface, surrounded by a warning track.
Fans taking in the action from behind home plate are shielded from the elements by a large, over-reaching coverage awning, while the host Kangaroos have the benefit of an enclosed dugout down the first base line.
Kansas City opened play at 3&2 with a 7-1 victory over Saint Louis in the first game of the Missouri Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on March 2, 2012 -- a win that sparked a three-game home winning streak.
Other noteworthy home victories include a 4-1 victory over Wichita State on May 2, 2012, and a 10-0 victory over Southern Utah during the 2012 Summit League Championships.
THE OPPONENTOn the strength of an eight-game winning streak in mid-February, Missouri State has raced out to a 16-8 mark that includes victories at Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State and a tournament sweep at the UT-Arlington Maverick Invitational.
Pitcher Chelsea Jones earned her second Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week distinction the league office announced on Monday (3/17). Jones was named MVC Pitcher of the Week on March 3, as well.
The El Reno, Okla., native went 3-0 on the week with a team-best 1.66 ERA, holding opposing batters to a .191 clip.
Jones also stars at the plate for the Bears, leading the team in hitting with a .368 average and eight doubles. Kansas City-native Bethany Sullinger provides the power for Missouri State with a team-leading five homeruns and 21 RBI from the clean-up spot.
THE COACHESNow in her eighth season as the head coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, head coach Meredith Smith Neal has transformed the UMKC softball program into a formidable contender in the Western Athletic Conference and beyond, becoming one of sport's up-and-comers in the process.
Under Smith Neal, Kansas City clinched its third consecutive postseason appearance in 2013, qualifying for The Summit League Tournament with a 6-7 conference record.
In 2008, UMKC finished with an 8-31 overall record, doubling its win total from 2007 despite fielding a team with nine freshmen. The .205 winning percentage was the program's best since 2003, and the modest improvement was the start of a four-year run of increased victory totals.
Smith Neal stands as the program's all-time winningest coach with an overall record of 137-210 (.395).
Missouri State head coach Holly Hesse enters her 26th season leading the Bears' program as the second-winningest coach in Missouri Valley Conference history with 646 victories. Hesse joined the 600-victory club with the Bears' season-opening 7-2 win over Sam Houston State at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Classic in Denton, Texas, on February 17, 2012.
Hesse is the winningest coach in Missouri State history with a 646-639-2 record. Her tenure includes two regular-season MVC titles, five MVC tournament crowns and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Hesse recorded her 300th win in 2000, her 400th win in 2004 and win number 500 in 2007. Missouri State leads all schools with 68 wins in the MVC Tournament and Hesse is tied for the most MVC Tournament wins with 46.
RAMOS NAMED WAC HITTER OF THE WEEKKansas City's Cinda Ramos has been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week for March 10-16. This is the first such honor for Ramos.
The junior pitcher from Olathe, Kan., led Kansas City to a 3-1 record last week with a hit in each game, including multiple hits in three of the four. She hit .600 with a home run and six RBI, and posted an .800 slugging percentage and a .563 on-base percentage for the week.
In the first half of a doubleheader with Northern Illinois last Tuesday, Ramos tied the game in the fifth with a sacrifice fly, then hit a walk-off three-run blast in the bottom of the seventh to give the Kangaroos the victory. In a pair of games on Saturday, she was 6-of-9 with two RBI.
PACING THE LEAGUEIn spite of recent struggles, several 'Roos continue to stack up nicely versus their WAC counterparts.
Cinda Ramos currently stands second in the league in hitting at .394, while Bri Wyatt and Marlee Maples are sixth and 10th at .356 and .345, respectively. Ramos is also fourth in the league in slugging (.569) and seventh in on-base percentage (.426). Meanwhile, Brooke Parker continues to hold a commanding advantage in stolen bases with a league-leading 15 – nearly double that of Utah Valley's Kelli Fox (eight).
Katie Kelley's 3.54 ERA is good for third-best in the WAC and she stands fifth in strikeouts (40) in spite of the fact that she's thrown no less than 12.1 fewer innings than the four players she trails. Opponents are hitting .248 vs. Kelley overall, and .209 with runners, both of which lead the league.
Ramos and Kelley are also second and third in the WAC in strikeouts per game, with 5.7 and 5.25, respectively, while Kelley leads the league in hits per game at just 6.83.
UP NEXTThe 'Roos will trek to Columbia, Mo., for the Mizzou Tournament, where they'll meet Missouri, Oklahoma State, Ball State, and North Dakota State, before a spring break trip to Los Angeles, Calif., for a pair vs. Loyola Marymount and one vs. Hawaii.
