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Friday, February 18
Las Vegas, NV
2:30 PM CST
Kansas City
vs
Utah Valley
Softball Travels to Las Vegas for UNLV Desert Classic
2/17/2022 12:41:00 PM | Softball
KC will face Utah Valley, UNLV and Weber State
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City (1-4) continues their 2022 campaign with a trip to Las Vegas this weekend for five games in the UNLV Desert Classic. The Roos open up with old WAC foes, Utah Valley (2-3) on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CST. KC will also take on the host UNLV (5-0) and Big Sky Conference preseason favorite, Weber State (3-2).
Kansas City Notes
Kansas City Notes
- In his third season at the helm of Kansas City Softball, Head Coach Kerry Shaw scheduled an opening weekend against four of the top programs in the country, coming home with a tough 1-4 record after the Roos' road trip to Tampa, Fla.
- A high-powered offensive Kansas City team will look to return to form in Las Vegas, Nev. this weekend. The Roos finished the 2021 season with a .274 team batting average and 38 homeruns, both second-most in The Summit League.
- KC returns seven starters from the 2021 season, inluding five seniors: Mia Hoveland (P), Alexis D'Ambrosio (C), Kloe Hilbrenner (CF), Ashley Thorne (LF) and Delainey Fenoglio (DP).
- Hilbrenner picked up where she left off last season but in the leadoff spot in the lineup. She finished opening weekend with a .412 batting average against All-American caliber pitching, while also stealing eight bases, third best in the NCAA thus far. Hilbrenner led the Roos in batting average (.354), total hits (68), runs scored (41), and stolen bases (45) last season.
- Kansas City's other power threat, Ally Vonfeldt, will look to get going this weekend. Vonfeldt led in all power categories last season, posting a team-high slugging percentage (.580), RBIs (47), doubles (12), homeruns (13) and total bases (102).
- Delainey Fenoglio is riding a five-game hitting streak with a hit in each game last weekend and a team-high .643 slugging percentage.
- The Roos' lone NCAA transfer, Sydney Nichols, made her start at second base while blasting two homeruns opening weekend.
- Kansas City will have a five-man pitching staff, starred by senior ace, Mia Hoveland, who led the Summit with 193 strikeouts in 190 innings pitched last season.
- KC received a sophomore transfer, Casey Stout, from North Central Missouri College who recorded a 25-3 record last season with 281 strikeouts, second-best in the NJCAA in 2021. She saw the most production last weekend in the circle, pitching 14.2 innings for the Roos and posting a 2.86 ERA.
- The Roos also return sophomore Camryn Stickel, who finished her freshman campaign with a 14-9 record on the mound. Stickel quickly made her way onto the record books, notching the fifth most wins in a single season in program history.
- The 2022 freshman class is comprised of four impact players. Sydney Reid and Lexy Smith will see time on the left side of the infield, while Audrey Danielson and Jenna Milan will make appearances in the pitching rotation.
- This will be the 26th matchup between the Roos and old WAC foes, Utah Valley. The Wolverines have the slight advantage with the all-time series at 12-13.
- The last time KC faced UVU was in their final WAC Conference tournament where the Roos advanced with a 5-4 win over the Wolverines on May 8, 2019.
- Utah Valley finished last season with a 24-28 record with a loss to top-seeded New Mexico State in the conference tournament.
- The Wolverines were picked sixth in the West division of the WAC and went 2-3 in their opening weekend in Riverside, California.
- Linnah Rebolledo and Kalena Shepherd were selected preseason All-WAC team. Rebolledo is the top returning RBI leader in the conference. Shephard is a junior transfer from Southern Utah and led the Big Sky Conference with a .433 batting average.
- The Wolverines' Katie Zuniga received the most production in the circle during opening weekend, pitching 11 innings and posting a 2-0 record with a 1.24 ERA.
- Kansas City's lone meeting with UNLV came back in 2010 where KC came out with the 6-5 victory.
- The Rebels finished the 2021 season 25-15 and were picked as the 2022 preseason favorites in the Mountain West.
- UNLV opened their season 5-0 last weekend at their home Rebel Kickoff with wins over BYU, Hawaii and CSU-Bakersfield.
- Sophomore Janyssa Martin opened the season with impressive numbers, blasting three homeruns, seven runs scored, eight RBIs and 1.273 slugging percentage.
- Rebels' ace Jenny Bressler went 3-0 last weekend with 18.1 innings pitched and a 2.67 ERA.
- UNLV packs some pop in their bats, knocking eight balls out of the park last weekend.
- This will be the first meeting in program history between the Roos and the Wildcats.
- Weber State finished the 2021 season 25-19 and were picked Big Sky Conference preseason favorites for the third year in a row.
- The Wildcats went 3-2 in their opening weekend in Phoenix, including a win over KC's local foe, the Kansas Jayhawks.
- Faith Hoe led the Wildcats at the plate opening weekend, hitting .538 with seven hits, three RBIs and two runs scored, while drawing a team-high four walks.
- Arissa Henderson and Mariah Henderson split most of the time on the mound in Weber State's first five games, combining for 36 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched.
Players Mentioned
C
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P
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1B
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OF
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P
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P
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INF
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INF
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UTIL
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P
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LHP
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OF
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C/UT
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