? Game notes (.pdf)
SAN ANTONIO - Defending champion UTSA (26-29) heads to the Southland Conference Tournament in Huntsville as the No. 4 seed and will face 3-seed Texas State (29-24) in the first round at 4 p.m. Thursday, May 10. The winner advances to face the winner of the No. 2 Sam Houston State/No. 5 McNeese State matchup at 1:30 p.m. Friday, while the loser faces the winner of the No. 1 UTA/No. 6 Nicholls contest at 11 a.m. Friday.
Southland Conference Tournament
Thursday-Saturday, May 10-12
Bearkat Softball Complex ? Huntsville, Texas
Schedule
Thursday, May 10
Game 1: No. 1 Texas-Arlington (34-14) vs. No. 6 Nicholls State (26-26), 11 a.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Sam Houston State (33-23) vs. No. 5 McNeese State (30-30), 1:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Texas State (29-24) vs. No. 4 UTSA (26-29), 4 p.m.
? Complete tournament bracket (.pdf)
Tuning In: All games can be heard live on goUTSA.com with a Rowdy Zone subscription. Live stats will be provided by Sam Houston State at gobearkats.com.
Base Hits
? UTSA is the defending SLC Tournament champion and has won two of the last three titles
? The Roadrunners are a combined 7-10 against the SLC Tournament field this season and 156-117 all-time
? UTSA owns a 16-14 all-time record in SLC Tournament play, including a 4-0 mark last year
UTSA’s SLC Tournament History: UTSA owns an all-time record of 16-14 in eight appearances in the SLC Tournament. The Roadrunners have won two of the last three tournament titles, both with 4-0 records. In 2004 in San Marcos, UTSA steamrolled to the school’s first-ever postseason crown behind Tournament MVP Ursula Mares’ four victories in the circle. Last year in Natchitoches, La., the Roadrunners blasted an SLC Tournament record 14 home runs en route to another perfect run through the field. MVP Jessica Els slugged three of those, including a game-tying, two-run shot with two outs in the seventh inning of a semifinal win against UTA. UTSA has missed the SLC Tournament just twice (2001, 2003) since its first opportunity in 1996.
All-SLC Tournament Honors: Fifteen Roadrunners have combined for 17 All-SLC Tournament honors, including MVPs Ursula Mares (2004) and Jessica Els (2006). Current Roadrunners Jessica Rogers (2004), Aimee Murray (2004) and Rachel Rackley (2006) have been named to the All-Tournament team.
UTSA vs. SLC Tournament Field: UTSA has an all-time record of 156-117 against this year’s SLC Tournament field. This year, the Roadrunners have posted a 7-10 record against UTA, Sam Houston State, Texas State, McNeese State and Nicholls, including a non-conference split with Texas State in February. UTSA won two-of-three games against UTA ? the regular season champion ? on March 3-4 and Nicholls on March 24-25, but dropped two-of-three with Sam Houston State and McNeese State the last two weekends. Texas State swept UTSA on March 30-31 and has won seven of the last eight meetings.
Week In Review: UTSA dropped to fourth place in the final SLC standings with a series loss at McNeese State last weekend in Lake Charles, La. The Roadrunners slugged six home runs, including two by freshman Krista Sitka, in a 15-2 rout in the opener, but McNeese State scored a pair of runs on an error in the bottom of the seventh in game two for a 3-2 victory. The Cowgirls overcame four solo homers by the Roadrunners in a 10-4 decision in the rubber game on Sunday. UTSA launched 12 home runs on the weekend and now have 72 on the year.
SLC Streak Comes To An End: UTSA entered this season having won the last three SLC regular season championships. The Roadrunners saw that streak snapped by UTA, which finished on top of the league standings with a 19-5 mark. UTSA finished fourth at 18-12.
Tough Slate: UTSA has played a tough schedule in 2007, with seven games against teams ranked in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll. The Roadrunners faced No. 3 Alabama in the CenturyTel Classic, No. 8 Texas A&M at the Aggie Classic, No. 23 Texas on March 8 and 22, No. 6 LSU on March 13 and No. 5 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 17 this season and 68 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 516 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 188. In addition to those three career records, the South Grand Prairie High product has set school standards for runs (157), hits (276) and extra-base hits (102) and is tied with Brownlee for first with 721 at-bats. Her .383 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: Alvin native Rudi Cantu has emerged as one of the league’s top freshmen this year. The former prep all-stater is batting .338 with 50 hits (third on the team) and a team-best eight stolen bases. She also has made just two errors in 61 chances in the field ? mostly as an outfielder ? and has five sacrifices on the year. Battling through a minor injury midway through the season, Cantu has heated up down the stretch, batting a team-best .411 (30-for-73) 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 15 home runs this season, giving her 50 for third place on the career list. The three-time all-conference shortstop has 156 career RBIs, which is second all-time behind Rogers. Murray also ranks second with 145 runs, fourth with 87 extra-base hits, fourth with 304 assists, fifth with 217 hits 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 54 wins, third with 438 strikeouts, fourth with 82 starts, fourth with 544.2 innings pitched, fifth with 55 complete games 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 461 home runs in 275 games, an average of 1.68 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 crushed 72 long balls in 55 games (1.31), which leads the league and ranks eighth 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 eighth in home runs per game (1.15), 33rd in slugging percentage (.467), 60th in fielding percentage (.965) and 66th in scoring (4.67). Individually, Jessica Rogers is third in toughest to strike out (5 in 172 at-bats), 17th in home runs per game (0.31), 34th in slugging percentage (.744), 44th in RBIs per game (0.91) and 55th in batting average (.401). Leanne Risberg is seventh in hit by pitch per game (0.29), while Risberg and Aimee Murray are tied for 40th in home runs per game (0.27).
SLC Supremacy: UTSA is the winningest program in Southland Conference history, owning a 250-157 (.614) all-time record in conference games. Dating back to 2004, the Roadrunners are 81-28 (.743) in league play, including an 18-12 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).
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 64-43 (.598).
Another Honor For Rogers: In April, Jessica Rogers was named one of 20 national semifinalist 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.
