MIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW
Thursday, April 27 | 5 p.m. | ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Complex | Oklahoma City, Okla.
#5 Missouri Western (36-16, 16-10) vs #4 Missouri Southern (27-28, 16-10)
 
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ST. JOSEPH – The postseason begins Thursday for Griffon Softball as the team begins play in the 2017 MIAA Softball Championships.
 
Missouri Western opens its 2016 tournament championship defense against fourth-seeded Missouri Southern. The Griffons were swept at Southern earlier this season, dropping game one 2-0 and game two 4-3. The losses on April 7 started a five-game losing streak for Missouri Western, but the Griffons went 10-4 over the next 14 games, including eight of their final nine to finish in a fourth place tie with Missouri Southern and Northwest Missouri State.
 
TOURNAMENT DETAILS
The double-elimination tournament begins Thursday at 5 p.m. All eight teams will play two games Thursday, with the second games scheduled to begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. Missouri Western will see either top-seeded Central Oklahoma or eighth-seeded Emporia State in game two. All four fields at the complex will be used, Thursday with all but one game on Friday played on the main stadium field. Saturday's championship series will be played in the stadium.
 
MWSU IN THE MIAA TOURNAMENT
Jen Bagley Trotter has led the program to a 33-26 record in her 15 previous MIAA tournaments. She and the Griffons have claimed two of the last three tournament championships, the only two for the program. In the last three seasons, Missouri Western has went 11-2 in the MIAA tournament.
 
LEAVING THE YARD
Missouri Western hit 48 home runs this season, but more than 30 percent of those (15) came in the last 10 games. Katie Klosterman hit four of her 10 this season over that stretch, but the rest were pretty well spread out over the lineup. Paige Shifflett and Megan Korgie were the only Griffons with starts over that period not to homer and Korgie just started two of the games -- Shifflett eight. Sydney Washington homered three times in the last 10 games. Riley Wilson and Kailey Green homered twice.
 
EERILY SIMILAR
Missouri Western's fourth place finish and 16-10 MIAA record may be a far-cry from the team's 23-3 regular season and tournament championship year in 2016, but it looks a whole lot like the Griffons' 2014 season. MWSU entered the 2014 tournament 34-16, having won seven of its final nine games. That Griffon team was the No. 3 seed and dominated its way to the program's first-ever MIAA Tournament championship. Reg. Season Record: 2017-36-16/16-10 // 2014-34-16/17-9
Tourney Seed: 2017-5 // 2014-3
Final 9 Reg. Season: 2017-8-1 //  2014-7-2
Team Avg.:  2017-.306 // 2014-.295
Team ERA: 2017-3.00 // 2014-2.01
 
RATHMANN RIDING HOT STREAK
Missouri Western's senior center fielder enters the weekend playing her best softball of 2017. She tied the MIAA career triples record last Saturday against Emporia State and broke her own MWSU single season record. That's the least of it, though. Rathmann hit .588 with eight extra base hits, including four triples, in the team's last 10 games. She also drove in seven runs from the leadoff spot and scored a team-high 10 runs in that stretch.
 
KORGIE STAYING CLUTCH
The senior reserve made the most of increased playing time last week. Korgie led the team with five RBIs over the last five games. All five of those either tied the game or gave the Griffons the lead as the team went 4-1 through those games. Korgie has nine RBIs all season, and five came last week. In fact, she has more runs driven in than hits (8), and six of those hits were doubles.
 
PITCHING PICKING UP
Missouri Western's pitching duo of Kenzie Hilzer and Barb Billingsley pitched the Griffons to an 8-2 record with a 2.09 ERA over the team's last 10 games. Billingsley won all five of her starts over the stretch with a 1.75 ERA. Hilzer went 3-2 with a 2.40 ERA, but struck out 22 batters in her five starts with 11 walks. While their offense was sending 15 softballs over the fence, the Griffon hurlers held opponents to just two home runs, both off Hilzer.
 
THE TURNAROUND
The Griffons went 8-2 with a seven-game winning streak over their final 10 games. That run followed a 3-7 stretch that featured a five-game losing streak. The difference in the 10-game stretches is notable. MWSU hit 31 extra base hits in its last 10 compared to just seven over the previous 10. The Griffons stole 13 bases in 13 attempts over the last 10 compared to two steals in three attempts during the 3-7 stretch.  Record: Last 10- 8-2 // Previous 10-3-7
Longest Streak: Last 10- 7 wins // Previous 10-5 losses
Avg.: Last 10-.322 // Previous 10-.242
Opponent Avg.: Last 10-.208 // Previous 10-.298
ERA: Last 10-2.09 // Previous 10-3.19
Opp. ERA:  Last 10-5.22 // Previous 10-2.08
Runs: Last 10-51 // Previous 10-25
Extra Base Hits:  Last 10-31 // Previous 10-7
Stolen Bases:  Last 10-13-13 // Previous 10- 2-3