BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Missouri Western softball team heads to Arkansas this weekend to play in the University of Arkansas-Monticello 8-State Classic. In their opener last weekend in the Hurry Up Classic the Griffons split four game in Arkadelphia, Ark. The Griffons won 5-1 over Henderson State and 1-0 against Ouachita Baptist in eight innings before falling 3-1 against Arkansas Tech and 8-5 against Cameron.
Last weekend, junior first baseman
Tiffany Gillaspy was named MIAA/Astro Turf Hitter of the Week. Gillaspy had an outstanding first weekend getting a hit in all four games which included getting multiple hits in two of the three games. She went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk in the Griffons 5-1 season opening victory over Henderson State. Her best game came against Cameron where she went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. She scored three runs while getting 11 total bases. She had a .917 slugging percentage and a .643 on base percentage.
Bre Fleschner hit .429 on the week getting three hits in the season opener against Henderson State.
Taylor Anding also had a solid week end hitting .385 accumulating five hits with one homerun. As a team, the Missouri Western had 30 hits with four doubles, one triple and three home runs.
This weekend, the Griffons will play six games, starting Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. against Southwestern Oklahoma State. They finish out the day with a 1:30 matchup against Upper Iowa.
On Saturday, the Griffons play Ouachita Baptist at 9:30 a.m. and follow that game against William Jewell set for 3:30 p.m. Missouri Western finishes the classic with games against Minnesota State – Mankato, at 11:30 a.m., and Illinois – Springfield, at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Southwestern Oklahoma State: The Bulldogs went 1-1 last weekend against New Mexico Highlands. SWOSU collected a 4-3 win in Game 1 but dropped the second game 4-2. Caitlyn Deason led the team with three hits on six at bats. The Griffons are 1-1 against SWOSU, losing last season to the Bulldogs 9-4.
Upper Iowa: The Peacocks split their opening-weekend games against Grand View in Rochester, Minn. The Peacocks lost the first game 6-3 but overcame that with a win in Game 2, 11-4. Whitney Williams led the team with four hits on six at bats. The Griffons lead the all-time series 7-1 against Upper Iowa. Last year's game was canceled due to weather.
Ouachita Baptist: The Griffons are scheduled to play the Tigers for the second week in a row. The 2-3 Tigers are led by Macy Nantz, who started all five of their games and had 10 hits with a .526 batting average. She tallied two doubles with six RBI. Last week against the Griffons, Nantz went 3-for-3 with a double but the Tigers failed to score.
William Jewell: The Cardinals have yet to play a game this season. Last year, William Jewell finished 32-14 with a 21-6 conference record in the GLVC. The Cardinals lost to Lewis 6-3 in the semifinals of the conference tournament. This season, they welcome back eight starters and were picked to finish second in the GLVC West Division. The Griffons defeated the Cardinals 11-2 in five innings last season.
Minnesota State – Mankato: The Mavericks have yet to take the diamond in 2014. They were picked to atop the NSIC Preseason Softball Coaches' Poll after last year's campaign. They finished 40-12 and 19-5 in the conference. They ended the season in the NCAA Regionals, losing an elimination game to Winona State in the second round 4-3. Missouri Western leads the series 7-6, and it was scheduled to play last year before the game was canceled due to weather.
Illinois – Springfield: The Prairie Stars play their first game this weekend. Last year, they went 21-28 and 15-19 in the GLVC. The Griffons defeated Illinois – Springfield in their matchup last season 9-1 in six innings. Missouri Western is 2-0 all-time against UIS, which is led by Chelsea Minor, a junior catcher who led the team with 36 runs, 55 hits, 12 doubles and four triples in 2013.
Next weekend, the Griffons return to action in the St. Cloud State Dome Tournament where they are scheduled to play four games in three days.
