? Game notes (.pdf)
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA concludes the regular season in Lake Charles, La., this weekend with a three-game series against McNeese State. The Roadrunners are in third place in the Southland Conference with a 17-10 record while the Cowgirls are in fourth place at 14-10. Game one of a Saturday doubleheader is set for 1 p.m., followed by a single game at noon Sunday.
UTSA Roadrunners (25-27, 17-10 SLC) at McNeese State Cowgirls (28-29, 14-10 SLC)
Saturday, May 5 ? 1 p.m. (DH) | Sunday, May 6 ? Noon
Cowgirl Diamond ? Lake Charles, La.
Series Record: UTSA leads, 35-19
Trend: UTSA has won 8 of last 11
Last Meeting: UTSA 3, McNeese State 0 (May 6, 2006 in Natchitoches, La.)
SLC Tournament Scenarios: UTSA clinches a spot in its fourth consecutive SLC Tournament with one victory against McNeese State this weekend. The Roadrunners can earn as high as the No. 2 seed with three wins combined with two losses by second place Sam Houston State against Northwestern State. UTSA will be the No. 3 seed with two wins or with one McNeese State loss, one Nicholls State loss, one Texas State loss and one Northwestern State loss. The Roadrunners can miss the tournament with three losses, combined with three wins from Nicholls State, Northwestern State and Texas State.
Base Hits
? UTSA has won six of its past 10 games, but just two of its last 10 road contests
? UTSA leads the all-time series with McNeese St., 35-19, and has won eight of the last 11
? The Roadrunners are 8-10 on the road this year, including 7-5 in SLC play
? UTSA, which has led the NCAA in home runs each of the last four seasons, has slugged 60 round-trippers in 52 games this season (1.15 per game)
? Jessica Rogers leads the SLC in batting (.471), slugging (.918), on-base percentage (.505), runs (25), hits (40), RBIs (26), home runs (11) and total bases (78) in league play
By The Numbers
3 ? Shutouts by UTSA against McNeese State in the last six meetings
67 ? Career home runs for Jessica Rogers, an SLC record
UTSA/McNeese State Series History: UTSA and McNeese State have met 54 times with the Roadrunners owning a 35-19 advantage. UTSA has won eight of the last 11 meetings and 10 of the last 12 games played in Lake Charles. The Cowgirls took two-of-three from the Roadrunners last season at home, but UTSA won the last meeting, 3-0, in the second round of the SLC Tournament in Natchitoches, La.
Scouting The Cowgirls: McNeese State moved into fourth place in the league standings after taking two-of-three at Texas State last weekend. The Cowgirls are 28-29 overall and 14-10 in the SLC and have won five of their last seven games. Brooke Brodhead leads a potent offense with a .362 batting average, 13 doubles, 12 home runs and 28 RBIs, while Jenny Clay is hitting .304 with 12 two-baggers, five round-trippers and 29 RBIs. Jana Jones is the top pitcher with a 12-7 record, 2.53 earned run average and 96 strikeouts. Head coach Chris Malveaux is 83-94 in his third season.
Week In Review: UTSA salvaged game three of a home series with Sam Houston State, scoring an 8-4 victory last Sunday on the strength of home runs by Jessica Rogers, sophomore Rachel Rackley and freshman Krista Sitka. Rogers went 2-for-4 with RBIs and her 16th home run of the season, while Rackley hit her third and Sitka blasted her fifth as the Roadrunners pounded out nine hits off starter Brandi Crnkovic. Crnkovic tossed a two-hitter in game two, a 4-0 win for the Bearkats, while Mandy Collier hit a key grand slam in a five-run third inning for Sam Houston in a 6-2 win in the opener.
Tough Slate: UTSA has played a tough schedule in 2007, with seven games against teams ranked in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Polls. The Roadrunners faced No. 1/1 Alabama in the CenturyTel Classic, No. 6/6 Texas A&M at the Aggie Classic, No. 23/17 Texas on March 8 and 22, No. 4/4 LSU on March 13 and No. 7/10 Baylor in a March 28 doubleheader.
Rogers Rewriting Record Books: Senior Jessica Rogers broke the SLC career home runs record with her 56th in the 4-1 loss to No. 8 Texas on March 8, moving out of a tie atop the league list with former Roadrunner Christy Brownlee. She now has 16 this season and 67 career homers, which ranks ninth on the NCAA’s all-time list. The 2005 SLC Player of the Year also eclipsed the SLC career total bases mark of 428 set by Lori Tande (Louisiana-Monroe) from 1999-2002 with four in the Texas game and now has 509 for her career. Rogers, who set the conference single-season home run and RBI records with 23 and 64 in 2005, took down the league’s career RBI record of 147 with five in the Rutgers win on Feb. 16 and now has 186. In addition to those three career records, the South Grand Prairie High product has set school standards for runs (154), hits (272) and extra-base hits (101) and ranks second with 709 at-bats. Her .384 career batting average is second all-time behind Amanda Michalsky’s .394. Rogers also broke the UTSA single-game record with 13 total bases and tied a single-game record with three home runs both against Nicholls on March 24.
Making History: Amanda Nikolenko tossed the eighth no-hitter in school history in a 10-0 victory over Rutgers on Feb. 16 at the Aggie Classic. The Ashland, Mo., native struck out five and allowed just two walks and a hit batter in becoming the fifth different Roadrunner to hold a team hitless in 16 seasons of softball. Nikolenko flirted with her second career no-no in the 15-0 victory against Prairie View A&M on April 6, allowing just one infield single in a five-inning affair.
Cantu Can Hit: Rudi Cantu, an Alvin native, has emerged as a legitimate candidate for SLC Freshman of the Year honors. The former prep all-stater is batting .343 with 48 hits (third on the team) and a team-best eight stolen bases. She also has made just two errors in 55 chances in the field ? mostly as an outfielder ? and has four sacrifices on the year. Battling through a minor injury midway through the season, Cantu has heated up down the stretch, batting a team-best .431 (28-for-65) with four doubles, a triple and five stolen bases since March 10.
Murray Moving Up: Senior Aimee Murray is moving up the UTSA career charts in several categories. The Cy-Fair High product has 13 home runs this season, giving her 48 for third place on the career list. The three-time all-conference shortstop has 152 career RBIs, which is second all-time behind Rogers. Murray also ranks second with 142 runs, third with 85 extra-base hits, fourth with 215 hits, fourth with 302 assists and seventh with 35 doubles.
Nikolenko Making Noise: Amanda Nikolenko is steadily working her way to the top of several of UTSA’s career pitching record lists. The 2006 SLC First-Team selection ranks second with 53 wins, third with 433 strikeouts, fourth with 80 starts, fifth with 54 complete games, fifth with 535.2 innings pitched and sixth with 10 shutouts.
Going, Going, Gone: UTSA has made a name nationally with the success it has enjoyed hitting the long ball. Dating back to 2003, the Roadrunners have slugged 449 home runs in 272 games, an average of 1.65 per game. Last season, UTSA shattered its own NCAA record, hitting 105 round-trippers in 51 contests for a 2.06 average, eclipsing the 1.87 mark set in 2004 (101/54). The Roadrunners own three of the top six home run seasons in NCAA history ? 105 (2006), 103 (2005), 101 (2004) ? and set a conference record with 14 home runs in four games at the 2006 SLC Tournament. This season, UTSA has 60 long balls in 52 games (1.15), which leads the league and ranks 16th in the country.
UTSA In The NCAA Statistical Rankings: UTSA traditionally has been ranked nationally in several statistical categories and 2007 is no different. As of April 22, the Roadrunners are 16th in home runs per game (1.15) and 52nd in slugging percentage (.449). Individually, Jessica Rogers is fifth in toughest to strike out (5 in 160 at-bats), 20th in home runs per game (0.31), 32nd in slugging percentage (.756), 49th in RBIs per game (0.92) and 53rd in batting average (.406). Leanne Risberg is 10th in hit by pitch per game (0.29), while Risberg and Aimee Murray are tied for 59th in home runs per game (0.25).
SLC Supremacy: UTSA is the winningest program in Southland Conference history, owning a 249-155 (.616) all-time record in conference games. Dating back to 2004, the Roadrunners are 80-26 (.755) in league play, including a 17-10 mark this season. UTSA has won three of the last four SLC regular season crowns and is 10-2 in SLC Tournament games over the last three years, winning two-of-three titles (2004, 2006).
No Place Like Home: UTSA has turned Roadrunner Field into a true home-field advantage over the past three-plus seasons. Dating back to 2004, the Roadrunners are 59-14 (.808) at home.
A New Era: Lori Cook is in her second year as head coach after guiding the Roadrunners to one of the most successful seasons in school history in 2006. UTSA was 37-14 overall, won its third consecutive SLC regular season title with a 22-5 mark, won the SLC Tournament for the second time in three years and made its second NCAA Tournament appearance. Cook’s career record is 63-41 (.606).
Another Honor For Rogers: Jessica Rogers added another award to her resum? last week as she was named one of 20 national candidates for the 2007 Lowe’s Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award. Candidates were selected based on personal qualities that define a complete student-athlete. While on-the-field performance during their collegiate softball careers is a factor in determining candidates and the eventual winner, their personal character and off-the-field achievements in the classroom and community are major areas of focus. The award was conceived by famed sportscaster Dick Enberg, who continues to serve as Honorary Chairman.
Up Next: The SLC Tournament will be hosted by Sam Houston State next Thursday-Saturday, May 10-12, in Huntsville.
