ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Griffon Softball begins their 2015 MIAA campaign this weekend with two doubleheaders in Oklahoma. The team will play at Northeastern State on Saturday and at Central Oklahoma on Sunday. The games were originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday. 

THE GRIFFONS
The defending MIAA Tournament champions enter 2015 MIAA play with 7-7 record. Missouri Western has been regionally tested, playing all 14 games against familar opponents away from St. Joseph. Coach Bagley Trotter continues to look for consistency from a team that features a lot of new faces in 2015. 

Gone from the circle is all-everything pitcher Jackie Bishop. The editor of the Missouri Western record books now finds herself outside the lines as a student assistant coach on the team. Janie Smith is back for MWSU. Smith sits 3-4 on the year with a 4.81 ERA. She has pitched 48 innings for the team and struck out 38 batters. Shyanne Saladino got off to a great start, being named MIAA Pitcher of the Week after her first two starts. Going into the weekend, Saladino is 4-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 32 innings. She has struck out 17 batters. 

The home run onslaught the team featured early has slowed to just consistent offense, especially from the top-three in the order. Morgan Rathmann is batting .293 with Tiffany Gillaspy at .308 and Sydney Washington at .333. Katie Klosterman leads the team with her .360 average. Washington's 13 hits are the most on the team. Kailey Green's 11 RBIs lead the Griffons and Gillaspy's three home runs are tops on the team.

NORTHEASTERN STATE RIVERHAWKS
Northeastern State is 8-8 on the year. The team sits second in the MIAA with their .355 team batting average. 

Four Riverhawks are batting over .400 with Alli Eales leading the way with her .429 average. Paige Gann's .420 clip is second on the team followed by Madison Boyd (.407) and Brianna Trujillo (.400). 

Kayce Wooldridge has started eight games and enters the weekend with a 4-3 record and 3.39 ERA. Delaney Gray is 1-2 with a 5.37 ERA in four starts and Alex Files is 2-2 with an 8.02 ERA in her four starts. Wooldridge's 41 strikeouts are the most on the staff. 

The two teams have one opponent in common on the young season. Northeastern State defeated 
Minnesota State, 13-8, while the Griffons lost to the Mavericks, 2-1.

CENTRAL OKLAHOMA BRONCHOS
Picked second in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll, Central Oklahoma is off to a 9-5 start with four of those wins coming at the Rattler Invitational in San Antonio, Texas two weeks ago. This past week they went 1-1 against Oklahoma Christian.

The Bronchos have tallied 72 runs, averaging 5.14 runs per game with a team batting average of .287. UCO has also hit 16 home runs and accumulated 111 total hits.  Ashleigh Tramel leads the team with a .441 batting average, producing 15 hits and 11 RBIs. Central Oklahoma's Brooke Zukerman and Morgan Heard are the only two Bronchos players with at least 10 runs scored. Zukerman and Kaylee Brunson each have seven stolen bases on the year.

Nicole Brady is the go-to pitcher for the Bronchos this season. She has a 6-2 record and has a team-low 3.18 ERA starting. She has appeared in eight games and has pitched a total of 39.2 innings. Central Oklahoma also relies on Brady for strikeouts, accumulating 22 on the season. Jessi Walker has struck out 20 batters in 26 innings pitched for the Bronchos.