University Of Arkansas Softball
Sun, 07 Mar 2010 09:42:56 +0000
THIS WEEK IN DRAKE SOFTBALL DATE OPPONENT TIME WHO HAS WHOSE NUMBER
The Drake softball team, riding a four game winning streak, travels to Fayetteville, Ark., to participate in the Razorback Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas. The Bulldogs enter the tournament with a 6-3 record after going 4-0 at the Sleep Inn Classic in Denton, Texas two weeks ago. Drake meets Southern Mississippi at 9:30 a.m. and Louisiana Lafayette at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The Bulldogs face two familiar opponents on Saturday, playing Iowa State at 1:30 p.m. and Arkansas at 7:30 p.m. Drake wraps up the tournament with an 11 a.m. matchup with Eastern Illinois on Sunday.
3/5 Southern Mississippi 9:30 a.m.
3/5 No. 22 Louisiana Lafayette 3:30 p.m.
3/6 Iowa State 1:30 p.m.
3/6 Arkansas 7:30 p.m.
3/7 Eastern Illinois 11 a.m.
Southern Miss has a 2-0 record against Drake with the Golden Eagles winning the last meeting 1-0, on Feb 18. 2001. In Drake’s only meeting against Louisiana Lafayette, the Ragin’ Cajuns defeated the Bulldogs, 8-0, on Feb. 15, 2002 in the first game of Drake’s 2002 campaign. Instate rival Iowa State has a 49-17 advantage over Drake. The Cyclones got the best of the Bulldogs earlier this season in a 5-2 decision, Feb. 12. The Bulldogs are 3-3 against Arkansas after evening the series with a 2-1 victory Feb. 13. Eastern Illinois has a 17-7 advantage over Drake but the Bulldogs won the last meeting 4-3 in 9 innings March 20, 1996.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Southern Miss enters the Razorback Invitational with an 11-2 record and is riding a five game winning streak after winning the Southern Miss Invitational last week. The Eagles went 4-0 in the tournament; defeating Indiana 5-4, Central Arkansas 11-3, Belmont 5-0 and Jackson State 7-4. Shortstop Jill Mathis leads the Eagles with a .500 batting average, while seven of her 21 hits on the season have been doubles.
No. 22 ranked Louisiana Lafayette will be the first ranked team the Bulldogs will face during the 2010 campaign. The Ragin’ Cajuns boast a 10-5 record coming into the weekend but four of their five losses have been against ranked opponents Texas, Michigan, Missouri and Georgia Tech. Louisiana Lafayette’s lone win over a ranked opponent was a 14-0 victory over then No. 20 UMass on Feb. 28. The Ragin’ Cajuns are lead by outfielder Erika Murphy who has 18 hits on the season and is a perfect 10 for 10 on stolen base attempts.
Iowa State enters the Razorback Invitational with a 7-9 record, having lost four out of its last five contests. The Cyclones ended a four-game losing streak with an 11-3 victory over Charleston Southern on Feb. 28. Outfielder Heidi Kidwell has a .473 bating average and has garnered 26 hits this season, while her sister, outfielder Kelsey Kidwell, is tied for second on the team with 17 hits.
Tournament host Arkansas enters the Razorback Invitational on a hot streak, winning six of its last eight contests. Pitcher Miranda Dixon has belted five home runs for the Razorbacks and first baseman Sandra Smith has 15 RBI to her credit.
Eastern Illinois owns a 5-3 record entering the weekend. The Panthers won the Georgia State Panther Invitational with wins over Temple and Georgia State and finished runner up at the Tulsa Embassy Suites Invitational with a 3-1 mark. Eastern Illinois is lead by first baseman Melinda Jackson who leads the team with nine hits, 12 RBI, three homers and a .429 batting average.
ONE AWAY
Senior Elena Leon needs just one home run to become Drake’s all-time career leader with 26. Leon is tied with Katie Shimon who hit 25 home runs between 2001-04. Additionally, Leon needs one more walk to become Drake’s all-time walks leader with 81. She is tied with Susan Slycord, who logged 80 walks between 2005-08.
LEAD THE WAY
Drake leadoff batters are hitting at a .327 clip, led by Elena Leon’s four-for-10 clip at the leadoff position. Leon’s batting average sinks from .400 to .230 (3-13) when she bats in any other situation. Senior Kelsey Kahler has led off an inning four times this season and has managed three hits in that situation. Kahler’s hits while leading off an inning count for half of her season production in that category.
DELONG EARNS DUAL MVC HONORS
Junior pitcher Jenna DeLong earned Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for Feb. 16-21 after a dominant performance at the Sleep Inn Classic in Denton, Texas. The Junior struck out 33 batters in 17 scoreless innings of work and compiled a 2-0 record. She also tied a career-high with 14 strikeouts in Drake’s 2-0 victory over Sam Houston State on Feb. 20. The honor was her second-career Pitcher of the Week accolade.
Additionally, DeLong was named Prairie Farms/MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week during the same timeframe. The Junior carries a 3.54 GPA with a Journalism/Broadcast News major.
DELONG, VANDE WALL NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT
Pitcher Jenna DeLong and freshman outfielder Lindsey Vande Wall were named to the Sleep Inn Classic all-Tournament Team, as voted by participating coaches. DeLong earned MVC Player of the Week Honors for her efforts (see above). Vande Wall hit .444 (4-9) on the weekend with three runs scored and a fourth-inning grand slam against Colorado State that transformed Drake’s slim 2-1 lead into a comfortable 6-1 advantage. The freshman also was three-for-three on the basepaths and played mistake-free defense in centerfield.
RANK GAMES
Drake will play its first game against a ranked opponent this season when it meets No.22 Louisiana Lafayette Friday afternoon. The Bulldogs went 2-2 against ranked opponents last season, taking one-of-three from no. 19 Southern Illinois and taking a 1-0 victory over No. 25 Iowa
DRAKE VS RANKED OPPONENTS (2009)
DATE TEAM RESULT
3/14/09 No. 19 Southern Illinois W, 3-0
3/14/09 No. 19 Southern Illinois L, 1-2
3/15/09 No. 19 Southern Illinois L, 0-3
4/29/09 No. 25 Iowa W, 1-0
ONE MORE ON DELONG
Jenna DeLong has thrown 19 straight scoreless innings over four games. DeLong closed the Iowa game with two scoreless innings before tossing seven against Buffalo for a complete game shutout. The junior entered in relief to log three shutout innings against North Texas before tossing her second straight complete-game shutout against Sam Houston State.
FREQUENT FLYERS
The Bulldogs will not play a home game until March 27 when they face Missouri Valley Conference foe Bradley in a doubleheader. Before then, Drake will have played 25 games and traveled 5,508 miles before playing in front of a home crowd at Buel Field.
Besides playing in the Metrodome Tournament, Drake will travel to Texas to play in the Sleep Inn Classic; Arkansas to play in the Razorback Invitational; and to Florida where the squad will play in the USF Under Armour Tournament before returning to the Midwest to face Illinois State on the road.
REPEAT OFFENDERS
After beating Arkansas 2-1 on Feb. 13, the Bulldogs will face the Razorbacks March 6 at this weekend’s Razorback Invitational. The Bulldogs also will face Iowa State this weekend after falling 5-2 to open the season Feb. 12. Drake plays Iowa state twice more after this weekend, traveling to Ames on April 6 and hosting the Cycloens on April 8th.
FAMILIAR FOES
Drake will meet six familiar non-conference opponents in 2010, having played Arkansas, Minnesota, Iowa State, Iowa, Eastern Illinois and Kansas in 2009. The Bulldogs earned victories over each of the above teams last season and went 6-2 overall. Drake’s two losses were to Arkansas March 3 and Eastern Illinois March 17. Iowa was ranked No. 25 when the Bulldogs earned a 1-0 win in Iowa City on April 29 of last year.
Amundrud is five shots behind individual leader Ashley Bauer of Michigan heading into Saturday's second round and is tied for sixth in the field of 96 competitors after 18 holes following her opening-round 73.
Junior Breanne Neufeld (Coaldale, Alberta/Coaldale) was four shots behind Amundrud in a tie for 30th at 77, while sophomore Keegan Ryan (Groveland, Ill./Morton) was eight-over par (79) to end the day tied for 52nd.
Freshman Natalie Wisniewski (Williamsville, N.Y./South) finished one shot off matching a season-best after carding an opening round 80 Friday and is tied for 60th in the field. Junior Caitlin Deeken (California, Mo./California) rounded out play for the Braves tied for 88th at 86.
Michigan holds a four-shot lead in the team standings after firing a seven-over par 291 Friday. Arkansas-Little Rock followed in second place at 295 and holds a one-shot lead on third-place Minnesota (296). Eastern Michigan is six shots off the pace in fourth at 297 and Kansas is fifth overall at 303.
Northern Arizona is sixth in the team standings at 305 and Xavier is seventh at 306. Ball State holds a two-shot lead on Bradley in eighth place (307), with the Braves opening play with their lowest round of the spring to date (309) to finish the first day of play in ninth place.
Toledo is one shot behind Bradley in 10th (310) and Missouri State is just two shots back in 11th (311). Cincinnati and Akron both carded 314 Friday to finish the day tied for 12th and Penn State and tournament-host Western Michigan are tied for 14th at 317. Southern Illinois is 16th overall at 320, while Ohio (17th - 321) and Bowling Green (18th - 328) round out the field, respectively.
Bradley will play the second round of the Rio Verde Invitational Saturday. Live scoring and results are available at http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=1759
- Posted in Auburn University Music Scholarship
