April 18, 2001

Bulldog Softball Team Remains on Road for MIAA Doubleheaders in the South

First Doubleheader: Truman State University Bulldogs (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association/NCAA Division II) at Missouri Southern State College Lions (MIAA/NCAA DII)
Date: Friday, April 20, 2001
Location: Joplin, Mo.

Second Doubleheader: Truman at Pittsburg State University Gorillas (MIAA/NCAA DII)
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2001
Location: Pittsburg, Kan.

Broadcast: KIRK 99.9 FM is scheduled to broadcast the home finale with Missouri-Rolla on April 25, as well as some games during the MIAA tournament. KIRK may also broadcast NCAA regional games.

Team Line: Live KRES broadcast by calling 1-800-846-4700. Access Code: 6350

Truman: The Bulldogs (35-4-1 and 10-1 in the MIAA) are riding their third winning streak of the season, picking up seven straight wins since suffering their first conference loss at Northwest Missouri on April 10. NWMS snuck by with the 1-0 win on a home run after the scheduled doubleheader was shortened to five innings due to severe weather conditions.

However, the 'Dogs rebounded with a five-game sweep at the South Dakota State Tournament last weekend. They beat Winona State (Minn.) 4-1 in the tourney opener, and finished the day with a pair of shutouts over No. 21 Augustana (S.D.) and Southwest State (Minn.), 4-0 and 9-0, respectively. Augustana was also ranked third in the North Central Region, just above Truman.

Freshman right fielder Stephanie Cepicky (St. Louis/ Lindbergh) was 3-for-4 against Winona, while senior all-America catcher Kristi Bredbenner (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) and senior second baseman Heather Mackie (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) were 2-for-3 with two RBIs apiece. Freshman hurler Breanna Wonderly (Conception, Mo./Jefferson C 123) took the win on the mound, allowing just three hits and striking out three batters.

Against Augustana, Bredbenner was 2-for-3, while Mackie was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Senior pitcher Jennifer Hulsopple (Peculiar, Mo./Raymore-Peculiar) also had a hit and an RBI, while also getting the win. She struck out five Augies and allowed four hits.

In the Southwest State contest, Truman scored five runs in the third inning. Bredbenner was 3-for-3 with one RBI, while Mackie and freshman shortstop Elizabeth Economon (Affton, Mo./Notre Dame) were both 2-for-3 with three RBIs each. Both of Mackie's hits were doubles. Hulsopple also got the win in that game after giving up just two hits and striking out three batters. She also broke the Truman record for career shutouts in the game, posting the 29th of her career.

On day two of the SDSU tournament, the Bulldogs beat Morningside (Iowa) 10-4 and shutout St. Cloud State (Minn.), 2-0.

Vs. Morningside, senior third baseman Missy Kane (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette), Economon, Bredbenner, Hulsopple and senior left fielder Angela Ligouri (Clive, Iowa/Dowling) all had two hits. Cepicky also has a hit and two RBIs, while Kane, Economon and Ligouri also has two RBIs in the game. Ligouri tallied both of her RBIs with a two-run triple in the the fourth inning to give the 'Dogs a 10-1 lead. Wonderly struck out five batters and gave up nine hits in garnering her 10th win of the year.

In the tourney finale against St. Cloud, freshman first baseman Leann Paul (Olathe, Kan./Olathe North) led the 'Dogs, going 2-for-3. Ligouri, freshman center fielder Katy Mueller (St. Louis/Cor Jesu) and Kane also had hits, and Hulsopple and Mueller each had an RBI. Hulsopple charted the 30th shutout of her career in the 2-0 win, throwing a now hitter and striking out five batters.

Truman vs. Central Missouri on Tuesday: The Bulldogs got back into conference action with a doubleheader sweep at Central Missouri, winning by 3-1 and 2-1 scores. Cepicky was 3-for-4 in the first game to lead the 'Dogs at the plate. Bredbenner, Paul and Mueller all had one hit and one RBI apiece, while Kane also had one hit. Hulsopple ran her record to 18-3 for the year with the win, striking out two batters and giving up seven hits.

In game two, Bredbenner was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Kane, Mackie and Liguouri had hits as well. Mackie also had one RBI. Wonderly went to 11-1 on the year after picking up the win for the 'Dogs. She allowed just two hits while striking out five batters.

Hulsopple Earns Third MIAA Player of the Week Honor: Jennifer Hulsopple was named MIAA pitcher of the week for the third time this season after posting three straight shutouts that included a no-hitter at the South Dakota State tournament last weekend.

She posted a four-hit shutout on Friday against Augustana, and a two-hit, five inning shutout of Southwest State. Hulsopple had five strikeouts and two walks in the 4-0 win over AC and fanned three and walked two in the 9-0 run-rule win over SSU.

The shutout over Southwest State was the 29th of Hulsopple's career, passing Trish Kongable (1983-6) to move to the top of the school's career list.

No. 30 came the next day when she posted her second collegiate no-hitter in a 2-0 win over St. Cloud (Minn.). She struck out five and walked three in that game. For the week, she was 3-1, with a 0.30 ERA, collecting 16 strikeouts and allowing 10 hits and seven bases on balls.

Truman Records Fall: This past week, several new Bulldog standards were set. Along with the Truman record for career shutouts that Hulsopple set last weekend, and that now stands at 30, she also became the school record-holder with 73 complete games, 75 starts and 95 appearances on the mound.

Bredbenner added another Truman hitting record to her collection when she charted her 556th at-bat in game two of the Central Missouri doubleheader on Tuesday. The record now stands at 558.

Bulldogs in the MIAA and NCAA (Games through Sunday, April 15): Truman leads the MIAA in batting (.300) and scoring (4.97 ppg), and is second in pitching (0.85 ERA) and fielding (.964). Among NCAA Division II leaders, Truman is sixth in pitching and tied for fourth with a .882 won-loss percentage.

Senior all-America catcher Kristi Bredbenner (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic) leads the MIAA with .95 RBIs per game and with an on base percentage of .507. She is second in batting average (.431), slugging percentage (.690) and home runs (.158 pg) and is fifth in doubles (.316 pg). Bredbenner is ranked 42nd in the nation this week in batting average.

Freshman shortstop Elizabeth Economon (Affton, Mo./Notre Dame) leads the league with a .432 batting average, a .720 slugging percentage, in doubles (.474 pg) and in runs scored with .95 a game, and is second in on-base percentage (.489), triples (.158 pg) and RBIs (.89 pg). Among NCAA DII leaders, Economon is ranked 41st in batting average, 15th in triples and seventh in doubles.

Freshman right fielder Stephanie Cepicky (St. Louis/Lindbergh) is tied for 13th this week in batting average (.333) and is sixth in runs scored (.66 pg).

Senior second baseman Heather Mackie (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) is seventh in RBIs (.62 pg).

Senior left fielder Angela Ligouri (Clive, Iowa/Dowling) is ninth in the league in triples (.054 pg).

Junior Jennifer Hulsopple (Peculiar, Mo./Raymore-Peculiar) leads the conference in victories with 18, is second with an 0.61 ERA and is sixth with a walks per seven innings average of 1.21. Hulsopple is ranked seventh in the nation in ERA and tied for 16th in victories.

Freshman Breanna Wonderly (Conception, Mo./Jefferson C123) is tied for fifth with 11 wins, is seventh with a 1.34 ERA and is fifth with 5.11 strikeouts per seven innings.

Despite a season-ending injury (a broken thumb) sophomore hurler Britni Buford (Kahoka, Mo./Clark County) is still third in the MIAA in ERA (0.75) and third in walks per seven innings (0.88).

Missouri Southern: The Lady Lions are fifth in the North Central region this week. They are relishing a pair of wins at Pittsburg State yesterday, 6-0 and 8-2, after the Gorillas had beat MSSC 3-1 just two games earlier at the South Dakota State tournament. Missouri Southern's only conference loss was 4-2 to Northwest Missouri on April 6 in the second game of a doubleheader.

The MSSC pitching staff is ranked fourth in the nation with a 0.79 ERA, while two of its aces are ranked among DII leaders. Keri Harris is sixth in the nation with a 0.57 ERA, and Elisha Bonnot is ranked 26th among DII leaders with a 0.89 ERA. Britany Hargis leads NCAA Division II performers with eight saves this year.

Erin Turner leads the Lady Lions with a .369 batting average and ranked eighth in the MIAA this week at .355 before improving in the doubleheader sweep of Pittsburg.

The Lady Lions also have one of the premier thieves in the nation in Erin Turner who ranks 10th in stolen bases with 0.70 per game.

Pittsburg State: The Gorillas fell to 18-19 yesterday after Missouri Southern went home with both wins in a doubleheader. PSU has see-sawed from win to loss all season. Besides both MSSC losses and two wins over Missouri Western, Pittsburg has split in every other MIAA doubleheader, including those with Northwest Missouri, Southwest Baptist and Missouri-Rolla.

Bridgett Keating leads the team, and is the only Gorilla hitting above .300, with a .325 batting average. Shasta Stanwix has three of the Gorilla's four home runs this year. Brooke Davidson is 7-7 on the mound with a 1.68 ERA, while Heather Mason is 6-9 with a 2.95 ERA.

Series Record: Truman is behind in the all-time series with Missouri Southern, 13-8, but is tied with Pittsburg at 10 games apiece.

Last season, the Bulldogs took all four games from MSSC by 3-1, 9-5, 1-0 and 5-0 scores. The first two games were played in Kirskville, while the last two meetings came in the MIAA postseason tournament.

Truman won the first two encounters with Missouri Southern in 1981 (3-0 and 10-1), but then suffered through a 12-game losing streak before registering a 1-0 win in 1997. The 'Dogs followed that victory with a 5-4 win over MSSC in a doubleheader on April 11, 1999, before posting their most recent loss to the Lady Lions, 4-1 in the second game of that double-dip.

Pittsburg took the second game of a doubleheader on April 22 last year, snapping a five-game win-streak for the 'Dogs in the series with PSU. Truman won the first game last year, 4-0.

Head Coach Kristy Schroeder: Kristy Schroeder is the winningest coach by percentage at Truman after going 125-27-1 (.820) over the last two-plus seasons. She tallied the 100th win of her career in a 5-0 shutout of Division I Drake University on March 13. Schroeder led the 'Dogs' to their second consecutive appearance in the final game of the South Central Regional tournament last season, and coached the team to its first MIAA title since 1986 last year. Schroeder is a 1994 graduate of UCLA where she was an all-Pac 10 decade team shortstop and part of two national championship and two runnerup teams.

Polls: Despite starting the season ranked 17th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association preseason poll and going undefeated through 21 games, the Bulldogs dropped to 23rd in the first NFCA top 25 bi-weekly poll, and fell out of the March 28th ranking, though still undefeated to that point. Last week, Truman was back in at 19th.

In the first set of NCAA Division II regional rankings which determine postseason qualifiers, the Bulldogs were listed at fourth in the North Central region. They dropped to fifth two weeks ago without a loss on their record, but moved back into fourth-place after losing three regional games at the Nebraska-Omaha tournament. This week, the Bulldogs are ranked third in the region after knocking off the former third-place team in the region, Augustana.

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