Southland Conference Tournament
Thursday-Saturday, May 7-9 ? Cowgirl Diamond (400) ? Lake Charles, La.
Thursday, May 7
No. 3 UTSA (27-27) vs. No. 6 Sam Houston State (26-24), 1:30 p.m.
Winner vs. No. 2 McNeese State (29-26), 6:30 p.m.
For complete tournament schedule and other information, please click here.
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA (27-27) will travel to Lake Charles, La., for theSouthland Conference Tournament hosted by McNeese State thisThursday-Saturday, May 7-9, at Cowgirl Diamond. The No. 3 seedRoadrunners will face No. 6 Sam Houston State (26-24) at 1:30 p.m. onThursday with the winner advancing to face the second-seed Cowgirls(29-26) at 6:30 p.m. The loser will face the loser of the matchupbetween top seed Texas State (36-16) and the winner of the No. 4Stephen F. Austin (28-25)-No. 5 UT Arlington (23-22) first-roundcontest at 11 a.m. on Friday. The championship game is slated for 1:30p.m. on Saturday with the if-necessary game at 4 p.m.
On The Web: McNeese State and the Southland Conference will provide live stats at southland.org. Fans can sign up for SLC Now to access live video ($9.95 for tournament pass), also at southland.org. UTSA will provide free live audio at goUTSA.com.
Base Hits:
? UTSA is making its sixth straight and 12th overall appearance at the Southland Conference Tournament
? The Roadrunners are 17-17 all-time in the SLC Tournament, including1-2 vs. Sam Houston, and 5-3 under fourth-year head coach Lori Cook
? UTSA captured SLC Tournament titles in 2004 and 2006 with perfect 4-0 records
? UTSA is 7-8 against this year’s SLC Tournament field, including 2-1 vs. Sam Houston
? The Roadrunners finished third in the final league standings, markingthe program’s sixth consecutive top-three conference finish
? UTSA posted an 18-11 league ledger, the sixth year in a row with at least 18 SLC wins
? With 27 total victories this season, UTSA has tallied 25 or more wins in six consecutive and 11 of the past 12 campaigns
? UTSA is 14-1 when they score five or more runs and 18-3 when leading after five innings
? Senior Leanne Risberg is tied for eighth on the school’s career homeruns chart with 30 and she ranks seventh with 55 extra-base hits
? Junior Rudi Cantu ranks second in UTSA annals with six careertriples, one shy of Shannon Steadman’s school record, and is third with37 career stolen bases
Last Time Out: UTSA split a rain-shortened series at Stephen F. Austinlast weekend in Nacogdoches. Sophomore southpaw Dany? Holmes tossed her13th complete game of the season, allowing just one run on five hitsfor her 12th victory, while sophomore Kristin Kappler launched herteam-leading sixth home run of the season to help lift the Roadrunnersto a 4-1 win. Lauren Luetge limited UTSA to one run on six hits in 4-1victory in the nightcap, while game three was canceled due to rain.
SLC Tournament History: UTSA is making its sixth straight and 12thoverall appearance in the SLC Tournament, and the Roadrunners, SLCmembers since 1993, have missed just two postseason events overall.UTSA owns a 17-17 all-time record in the SLC Tournament, including an11-5 mark the past five years. The Roadrunners captured SLC Tournamenttitles with perfect 4-0 records both in 2004 and 2006, and also reachedthe championship game in 2000.
SLC Tournament Honors: UTSA has had two players earn SLC TournamentMost Valuable Player honors ? Ursula Mares (2004) and Jessica Els(2006) ? and 15 Roadrunners have combined to garner 18 totalall-tournament nods.
2008 SLC tournament Rewind: UTSA dropped a heartbreaking, 3-2 decisionto Nicholls in 10 innings in the first round of the 2008 SLC Tournamentin San Marcos. Amanda Nikolenko allowed just three runs on eight hitsin working all 10 frames in the final game of her UTSA career. TheRoadrunners held a 2-1 lead with two outs in the top of the seventh,but Amy Thibodeaux homered to send the game to extras and then wentyard again in the 10th to lift the Colonels to victory. Nicholls endedup advancing all the way to the championship game before falling toStephen F. Austin in the single-elimination tournament.
UTSA Against This Year’s Tourney Field: The Roadrunners are 7-8 thisseason against the SLC Tournament field. UTSA won two of three gamesagainst its first round opponent, Sam Houston, in February atRoadrunner Field, capped by a 10-6, eight-inning win in the finale inwhich senior Leanne Risberg hit a walk-off grand slam. UTSA also went2-1 against Stephen F. Austin and UT Arlington, but dropped two ofthree to Texas State and was swept by McNeese State.
SLC Supremacy: UTSA is the winningest program in Southland Conferencehistory, owning a 288-178 (.618) all-time record in conference games.Over the past six seasons, the Roadrunners are 119-49 (.708) in leagueplay. UTSA won three consecutive SLC regular season crowns from 2004-06and captured SLC Tournament titles in 2004 and 2006. The Roadrunnershave won at least 18 SLC contests for six straight seasons and nine ofthe last 11 years.
Quintet Named To All-SLC Squad: Senior outfielder Leanne Risberg wasnamed to the All-Southland Conference First Team, her second careerfirst-team nod and third all-league selection overall. Junioroutfielder Rudi Cantu, junior first baseman Krista Sitka and freshmanoutfielder Amber Anderson were selected to the second team, whilefreshman Ashley Kappler was chosen honorable mention at second base. Itwas the third All-SLC honor for Cantu and the second for Sitka. Thefour all-conference picks give UTSA 78 first-, second- and third-teamhonors, including 24 under fourth-year head coach Lori Cook.
Working Overtime: UTSA has played 10 extra-inning games this season ?including five in the month of April ? and is 4-6 in those contests.The Roadrunners have defeated Northwestern State (2-1, 8 innings), SamHouston (10-6, 8), Nicholls (3-2, 11) and Texas State (3-2, 9) in extraframes. UTSA fell in extra innings to Tulsa (4-3, 8), UT Arlington(5-3, 9), UTEP (2-1, 8), Nicholls (2-1, 8), Cal State Bakersfield (3-1,8) and Texas (3-2, 8).
Major Milestones: UTSA picked up victory No. 500 for the program in an8-0 run-ruling at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 24. TheRoadrunners now own an all-time record of 520-435-2. Additionally,fourth-year head coach Lori Cook earned win No. 100 with an 8-5 victoryover UT Arlington on March 15. She now totes a UTSA career record of116-97, including a 78-38 (.672) mark in Southland Conference games.
SLC Weekly Accolades: Two Roadrunners earned Southland ConferenceHitter of the Week honors this season. On Feb. 10, freshman AmberAnderson picked up the award after batting .588 with 10 hits, threeruns, two doubles, a pair of home runs, five RBIs, a 1.059 sluggingpercentage and a .611 on-base percentage in the Aggie Classic on Feb.6-8. On Feb. 24, junior Kelly Cato collected weekly accolades afterbatting .833 (5-for-6) with two home runs and six RBIs in the NorthTexas doubleheader on Feb. 10.
Senior Standout: Leanne Risberg, UTSA’s lone senior, collected herthird all-conference honor this week when she was named to the firstteam outfield for the second time in her career. The New Orleans, La.,native is batting .289 with five doubles, five home runs and 21 RBIsfor the season and finished league play with a .314 batting average and.523 slugging percentage. She is tied for eighth place on UTSA’s careerhome runs chart with 30 and ranks seventh with 55 extra-base hits. Her96 RBIs are just four shy of the top 10 list.
Alvin Express: A pair of Roadrunners ? junior Rudi Cantu and freshmanAmber Anderson ? hail from Alvin, Texas, the hometown of Nolan Ryan.Cantu has been named all-conference in each of her three seasons withthe program, including second-team accolades this year. Cantu, whomissed three games due to injury after the collision with Risberg, ishitting .302 with 18 stolen bases (on 19 attempts). She is tied forsecond on UTSA’s career triples list with six and ranks third with 37stolen bases. Anderson helped guide Alvin to the Class 5A StateChampionship last season, earning all-state and state tournament MVPhonors. She was tabbed second-team all-conference and is batting .303with 10 doubles, five home runs and a team-best 30 RBIs.
Dual Threats: UTSA has several players who can contribute at the plateand in the circle, beginning with sophomore Dany? Holmes. Last year,the Sugar Land native became the first player in school history to earnall-conference honors at two different positions in the same seasonwhen she was named second team at pitcher and third team at designatedplayer. Holmes is batting .275 with four home runs and 20 RBIs and inthe circle she owns a 12-10 record, 2.36 ERA, three shutouts and 116strikeouts in 139.1 innings. In fact, UTSA boasts four pitchers whoalso will see time at the plate. Sophomore Emily Humpal, a CorpusChristi native who transferred after her freshman season at Creighton,totes a 3.03 ERA, 12-12 record, one save and 121 strikeouts in 166.1frames and is batting .316 with a pair of home runs. Freshman AmberAnderson has pitched in eight games and is one of the team’s leadinghitters with her .303 batting average, while freshman Morgan Luksa ownsa 2-2 record, 3.41 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 15 appearances and hasstarted six games at designated player, two in right field and one inleft.
Fountain Of Youth: With just one senior on the roster, UTSA is fieldinga young squad this season. The four-person pitching staff is composedof two sophomores ? Dany? Holmes and Emily Humpal ? and two freshmen ?Amber Anderson and Morgan Luksa. Of the nine starting positions, fivehave been occupied by sophomores or freshmen, including more than 50starts apiece for sophomore Kristin Kappler at third base and freshmanAshley Kappler at second base.
Brazoswood Buddies: Three of UTSA’s four starting infielders all hailfrom Brazoswood High School, located in Clute, Texas. Junior shortstopKelly Cato and sisters Kristin, a sophomore third baseman, and Ashley,a freshman second baseman, Kappler all played for the Buccaneers, atraditionally-strong prep program.
Head Coach Lori Cook: Head coach Lori Cook is in her fourth season atthe helm of the program and is in her ninth year overall in the AlamoCity. In her three-plus seasons as the third head coach in schoolhistory, Cook has posted a 116-97 record (.545), including a 78-38(.672) mark in Southland Conference play. Under her direction, UTSA haswon at least 18 conference games and finished in the top three in theleague standings each season, captured one SLC regular season and onetournament crown and made one NCAA Tournament appearance. SixteenRoadrunners have combined to earn 24 All-SLC accolades during her headcoaching tenure. Prior to her promotion to head coach in September2005, Cook spent one season as associate head coach after serving asassistant coach for three seasons and a volunteer assistant in 2001,all under Corrie Hill. A native of Napa, Calif., Cook also has coachedat Baylor (1999-2000), Cosumnes River College (1996-98), Peanut (Italy)Softball Club (1995-96), Napa Valley College (1991-95), Cal StateHayward (1990-91). She played two seasons at Napa Valley College beforefinishing her collegiate career at Nebraska in 1989-90. Cook alsoplayed professionally overseas for Ronchi dei Legionari (Italy) in 1992.
