WEEKEND PREVIEW
Friday, April 22 – 2 p.m.
#15 Griffon Softball (35-11, 19-3) at Washburn (19-23, 8-14) – LIVE STATS
Saturday, April 23 – 2 p.m.
#15 Griffon Softball at Emporia State (19-30, 7-15) – LIVE STATS
 
MWSU Season Stats | MIAA Standings
 
ST. JOSEPH – Griffon Softball heads into the final weekend of the 2016 regular season with a chance to clinch the program's second ever MIAA Championship.
 
The No. 15 Griffons (35-11, 19-3) take a two-game lead atop the standings into doubleheaders at Washburn and Emporia State. Behind Missouri Western is Pittsburg State and Northwest Missouri State, tied for second. Head Coach Jen Trotter's team is also jockeying for position in the upper portion of the NCAA Division II Central Region rankings. The Griffons currently sit fourth in the region. Northwest Missouri State jumped one spot to No. 2 this week. Southern Arkansas sits in between the Griffons and their rivals. Could Missouri Western make its way to the top three, the chances of hosting one of two super regionals exists. For now, the focus is on taking the conference crown for the first time since sharing the title with Nebraska-Omaha in 2011.
 
Two wins this weekend and the Griffons will at least share the title; three wins and the team has its first ever outright conference championship. Standing in the Griffons' way of that goal are two teams fighting to get into the MIAA Tournament. Washburn currently sits 11^th in the conference standings with an 8-14 MIAA record. Emporia State is one game back of the Ichabods at 7-15. Washburn's just one game back of Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist for eighth in the standings, the final qualifying spot for the tournament. Emporia State has dropped its last nine games and is trying to avoid missing the MIAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Washburn has split its last two doubleheaders, but is 3-7 in its last 10 games.  
 
The Griffons are coming off splitting a non-conference doubleheader with Northwest Missouri State. Prior to that, the team had won eight in a row in league play. The team sits second in the MIAA in nearly every offensive category, batting .321 as a team and averaging six runs per game. The first six hitters in the Griffon lineup are all batting well over .300, led by Morgan Rathmann's .380 average. The junior is third in the nation with eight triples after breaking the MWSU career record earlier this season. Rathmann is currently third on the career stolen bases list at MWSU and needs 10 more to break that record. She has 22 this season. Kailey Green's 12 home runs lead the team. Freshman Taylor Hamilton's 48 RBIs lead the team. Paige Shifflett has a team-high 15 doubles. Three different batters have been named MIAA Hitter of the Week for the team: Katie Klosterman, Sydney Washington and Hamilton.
 
In the circle, Janie Smith is 18-8 with a 2.73 ERA. Shyanne Saladino is 17-3 with a 2.10 ERA. Smith leads the team with seven complete game shutouts, 174.2 innings pitched and 116 strikeouts. Saladino has limited opponents to a .235 average while Smith is allowing a .237 average. The pair has saved some of their best for last. Over the last 10 games, they are a combined 9-1 with Saladino sporting a 5-0 record. Saladino's ERA over that span is 1.81 with 14 strikeouts and just five walks in 31 innings. Smith is 4-1 in the last 10, striking out 24 batters and holding them to a .188 clip in 39 innings. The duo has allowed just 55 hits in their last 70 innings, only 11 of them for extra bases.