WEEKEND PREVIEW
Friday, April 7 -- 4 p.m.
Missouri Western (26-8, 6-2) at
Missouri Southern (18-25, 7-7) |
Live Stats
Saturday, April 8 -- 2 p.m.
Missouri Western at
Pittsburg State (32-10, 11-3) |
Live Stats
MWSU Weekly Notes |
MIAA Standings |
NFCA Top-25
ST. JOSEPH - Weather hasn't been kind to the Missouri Western softball team, and has set up a stretch of 14 games in 10 days that begins this weekend with trips to Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State.
The team will play the last 18 games of the regular season in a 15-day stretch between April 7 and 22. That begins with the two road doubleheaders this weekend that could either propel someone toward an MIAA regular season championship or continue to scramble the league standings as they have bee up to this point in the season.
HOME WASH OUTS
Missouri Western was supposed to open this week with a home doubleheader against Northwest Missouri State. Mother Nature had other plans, and for the second time this season, the series was postponed. It was the fourth time this season the Griffons have had to re-schedule a home doubleheader, twice against Northwest Missouri. The three re-scheduled home doubleheaders have set up a string of 14 games in 10 days for the Griffons that begins this weekend. Next week the team will host Northwest Missouri and Central Missouri before traveling to Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney, then will come home for a Monday doubleheader on April 17 against Lincoln.
JUMBLED STANDINGS
Weather has forced imbalance in the amount of MIAA games each member institution has played and confusion in the standings. With a bunch of make-up games scheduled over the next two weeks, the league standings will soon look much different than they currently do. Missouri Western, for instance, has played an MIAA-low, eight league games. Two other teams have already played 16, and no other team has played less than 10. Eight teams enter the weekend with a winning MIAA record and Missouri Southern is at .500. First place Northwest Missouri could fall from first to fourth with just one loss, and Missouri Western could go from fourth to first with just one win.
SHUTTING THEM OUT
According to head coach
Jen Bagley Trotter, freshman pitcher
Kenzie Hilzer has started to mesh her mental and physical approach in the circle. The stats would prove coach right. Hilzer has blanked her last two opponents, her only two shutouts of the season. She limited Central Oklahoma and Southwest Baptist to eight combined hits, one extra base hit, and no runs in her last two starts. Those last two opponents have hit just .157 against the Altoona, Iowa native, who's walked two and struck out one in her last 14 innings.
OFFENSIVE DIP
While the pitching has stepped up over the Griffons' last four games (2.00 ERA), the offense has slowed considerably. Missouri Western has a team average of .186 over its last four games with just 18 hits and 12 runs. That includes a 12-hit, nine-run performance in game one at Central Oklahoma. The team has combined for three hits in its last two wins, both 1-0 victories. It's a far cry from the team's season batting average of .309 and its nearly six runs per game.
SAVING HER BEST FOR LAST
Senior
Sydney Washington was the only Griffon to hit better than .300 in the last four games, with a team-high .333 average and four RBIs over the stretch. She has batted .375 to this point in her final season, by far the best of her career. She leads the team with seven home runs and 33 RBIs.
NEW ALL-TIME LEADER
Bekah Mueller became the Griffons' all-time leader in caught stealing by last weekend with her 32nd caught stealing of her career. She stands to have the record for a little while given Mueller's just a junior.
CLOSING IN ON ANOTHER MARK
Four more runs will make
Morgan Rathmann Missouri Western's career leader. The senior already holds the career marks for stolen bases and triples. She's also not far off from the MIAA career triples record. Five more will give Rathmann 32 and the conference record.
WELCOME RETURN
Coach Bagley said sophomore
Shelby Uhl is likely to return this weekend after suffering a concussion in Oklahoma. She missed the last four games, but her .368 average over the last 10 games would be best on the team. Uhl's .342 average this season is third best on the team.
