Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Cal State Northridge
California Dreamin - Racers head to DeMarini Invitational
3/2/2011 11:17:37 AM | Softball
The Racers meet a pair of nationally-ranked squads Saturday, facing 11th ranked Cal at 1:15 p.m. and 16th ranked Stanford at 5:45 p.m.
The event concludes for MSU Sunday morning with an 11 a.m. contest against Iowa.
Game Notes
Murray State will open the DeMaraini Invitational with Cal State Northridge Friday night at 5:45 p.m. The Matadors come into the weekend having dropped six of seven, including three to ranked teams. A member of the Big West Conference, they have hit just .214 as a squad through 13 games this season. Despite sporting a 6.81 ERA, Hannah Fraijo leads the pitching staff with a 3-1 record in 11 appearances. Mikayla Thielges leads the offense with 10 RBI and three home runs this season.
Oregon State lost three in a row at the Cathedral City Classic after starting the season with a 5-1 record. Ally Kutz and Lea Cavestany lead the offense with 12 and 11 hits, respectively, and Nikki Chandler has driven in six runs on just seven hits to lead OSU. Marina Demore tops the rotation with a 4-2 record in six starts.
Scouting the Bears
California comes in the DeMarini Invitational riding a seven game win streak. The Bears, ranked 11th in this week's NFCA Coaches poll, are 9-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming in a 5-4 defeat against Texas Tech. They advanced in the tankings after an impressive 11-3 win against no. 14 LSU. Cal leads the Pac-10 with a 0.94 ERA. Jolene Henderson has earned the decision in all 10 games, making five starts, striking out 63 in 63.2 IP with a 0.77 ERA. Henderson also leads the team with 12 RBI.
Scouting the Cardinal
Stanford has won four in a row after dropping the opener of the Stanford Nike Invitational to Memphis. The 16th-ranked Cardinal sport a 12-3 overall record this season. Ashley Hansen leads the team with a .500 batting average, collecting 26 hits and 10 doubles through 15 games and Jenna Rich paces the squad with seven home runs and 25 RBI. Teagan Gerhart (6-3, 1.56 ERA) and Ashley Chinn (6-0, 2.62) lead the pitching staff.
Iowa has won six of seven after dropping four of its first five to start the season. The Hawkeyes (7-5) Jenny Schuelke has been one of their best hitters so far this season, hitting .303 with 11 RBI, two home runs, nine runs, five doubles and six walks. Kayla Massey leads the pitching staff with a 5-1 record.
Senior 2B Lauren Buch has been the backbone to the Murray State offense, collecting hits in five of six games this season and leading the team with three home runs, nine runs and three doubles. She homered twice in the Racers 8-0 win against Belmont.
Freshman Meghan Sims homered in her first collegiate at bat. Sims, batting second in the MSU lineup, drove a 1-2 pitch deep to left center to give the Racers a 1-0 lead in game one.
One For the Record Books
Chelsey Sullivan tossed the first no-hitter in program history, shutting out Belmont for a five inning, 8-0 victory. She leads the Racers with a 2-2 record and ERA of 2.02 in 24 IP.
Wrapping Up the War Eagle Classic The Racers came out of the weekend with a 1-3 record, losing games against Middle Tennessee State, Auburn and Georgia Southern with a win against Belmont. MSU had early leads against the Blue Raiders and Eagles and played the host Tigers close through the first few innings, but struggled to keep teams off of the bases in the middle of games, giving up 21 runs in innings 4-6 in three games.
Murray State will meet with four different teams in non-conference play that advanced to the 2010 NCAA Championships. UAB, Auburn and Stanford each won one game and dropped a pair in the regional round. 11th seeded California was a perfect 3-0 in the regional round before dropping a pair in the super regionals against Georgia.
The Racers open the 2011 season with 16 consecutive games before returning to Murray for their home opener against Eastern Illinois on Mar. 19. The schedule turns in MSU's favor toward the end of April as the Racers will play 11 straight home games just before the end of the regular season.
MSU brings back 13 players from last season's inaugural squad with three freshmen and a sophomore transfer joining the team. Seven returners started at least 38 games in the field last season and the Racers projected starting lineup heading into 2011 had 348 games of experience last year.
Murray State blew past the rest of the OVC on the base paths in 2010, leading the conference with 96 stolen bases. Junior Megan Glosser ranked second in the OVC with 28 steals in 32 attempts, and teammate Jenna Bradley tied for third overall with 17 stolen bases. The Racers are 13-15 in steal attempts this season, and Glosser remains perfect this season, successful on all six of her attempts.
The Racers had three players earn All-OVC recognition in their first season of competition. Freshman Ellyn Troup was named to the 12-member All-OVC Second Team and the All-Newcomer Team as an infielder. Junior Jenna Bradley joined Troup on both the all-second and all-newcomer teams as an outfielder. The final member of the MSU squad to earn league honors was sophomore Megan Glosser, as a utility player on the All-Newcomer Team.
The Racers didn't waste any time making a name for themselves in their inaugural season. MSU is one of a few teams around the NCAA that have advanced to their respective conference tournaments (when not all the teams advance) in their first season of competition. Boise State earned the last seed in the Western Athletic Conference tournament at season ago and Brigham Young won the Mountain West title to advance to the NCAA Regional in 2001.
Murray State was predicted to finish seventh in the OVC as voted on by the league's coaches. Jacksonville State, the 2010 OVC Championships winner, was named pre-season favorite. Tennessee Tech followed in second with 2010 OVC regular season champion UT Martin in third.
