Senior Day Highlights Final Softball Home Weekend

Softball 4/14/2016 7:55:00 AM Tyler Madsen, Athletics Communications

Senior Day Highlights Final Softball Home Weekend

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - The final homestand of the 2016 season has drawn near for the Truman State University softball team, as the Bulldogs look to improve their NCAA tournament résumé with back-to-back doubleheaders against Southern Indiana and Bellarmine this Saturday and Sunday at the Truman Softball Park.

Weekend Outlook
Saturday, April 16 – 12:00 / 2:00 pm – vs. Southern Indiana (29-13 overall, 17-5 GLVC) – Kirksville, Mo.
Live Stats | Weather Report | USI Softball Website

Sunday, April 17 – 12:00 / 2:00 pm – vs. Bellarmine (25-21 overall, 14-8 GLVC) – Kirksville, Mo.
Live Stats | Weather Report | BU Softball Website

K-9 Checkup
The Bulldogs enter the week fresh off a 3-1 trip through the Kansas City area last Saturday and Sunday, as Truman split with Rockhurst on Saturday (April 9) before picking up a pair of nail-biting sweeps at William Jewell on Sunday (April 10). Freshman OF Christa Reisinger continued her tear through the GLVC by batting 8-for-16 (.500) with two home runs – including the game-winner in the top of the eighth inning at WJC in game two. Sophomore SS Jamie Fowle and junior C Lex Van Nostrand each went 6-for-14 (.429) at the plat, while four more Bulldogs hit better than .300 on the weekend. In the circle, senior RHP Kindra Henze appeared in all four games, recording a 3-0 record with a 1.40 ERA in 15 innings of work.

Truman is batting .288 on the season, which puts the team seventh-best in the GLVC; however, the team's ERA of 2.25 is fourth-best in the league. The Bulldogs are also one of the best in both the conference and the nation in fielding percentage, ranking second in the GLVC and seventh in all of NCAA Div. II with a .975 fielding line (one error per 39.6 chances).

Reisinger has been the table-setter all season for the Bulldogs, as the leadoff hitter is batting .444 with six doubles, four triples, and six home runs. She is third in the GLVC in average, second in runs scored (40), and leads the league by a baker's dozen in stolen bases with 35. Sophomore OF Riley Cook is also making solid contact, batting .345, with a quartet of power hitters – Fowle, sophomore 1B Ashley Murphy, Van Nostrand, and senior 3B Cate Simon – each hitting better than .250 on the season with a combined 21 home runs and 20 doubles.

In the circle, all three Bulldog pitchers are posting a sub-2.45 ERA, led by Henze's 2.01 ERA and 8-6 overall record. Fellow senior Kelsea Dorsey's 13 wins leads the squad, while freshman Lauren Dale is 4-1 overall with a 2.45 ERA. Bulldog pitchers have struck out 241 batters in 242.2 innings and have tossed nine combined shutouts on the year.

Erin Brown is in her 10^th season as the head coach of the Bulldog program and has a record of 245-231 (.515) at the helm of her alma mater. A 2001 graduate, Brown has continued to improve the program each year, culminating in a 101-40 (.716) record since the start of the 2014 season. She is assisted by Bailey Wittenauer, who is in her first season as a program assistant.

Hot off the Press – Regional Rankings are Out:
The Bulldogs were ranked seventh in the first official set of NCAA Div. II regional rankings, which were released on Wednesday afternoon by the national selection committee.

Five GLVC teams – including Saturday foe USI – found themselves in the top-seven. The full release can be found here.

Senior Recognition
The Bulldog softball program will recognize its six-member senior class prior to the first pitch of Sunday's DH against Bellarmine at 11:45 a.m. This year's senior class includes pitcher Kelsea Dorsey, pitcher Kindra Henze, outfielder Nikki Moss, infielder Whitney Richardson, infielder Cate Simon, and utility player Haley Zenner.

Scouting the Opponents
Southern Indiana enters the weekend at 29-13 overall and 17-5 in league play, having most recently split with Wisconsin-Parkside last weekend at home. The Screaming Eagles have feasted at their home park this year, going 18-2, while posting just a 3-3 record in true road games (8-8 neutral site).

The Eagles are sixth in the GLVC in offense (.306 AVG), sixth in pitching (3.11 ERA), and 10^th in fielding (.954 / one error per 20.8 chances). Teams have stolen on USI 26 times in 38 chances (68.4% success), ranking third-best in the GLVC.

Four Eagles are hitting .345 or better; however, the player to watch is junior C Haley Hodges, who leads USI with a .452 average, 15 doubles, 16 home runs, and 58 RBI. She was recently named the GLVC's Player of the Week for the second straight time. Junior IF Lexi Reese has also been a doubles machine for USI, tallying 14 with seven home runs on the year. The Bulldogs are likely to face freshman Haylee Smith (10-6, 2.78 ERA, .280 B/avg) and senior Sarah Owens (12-3, 3.21 ERA, .267 B/avg) in the circle.

Bellarmine comes into the weekend having won 10 of its last 12 to sit at 25-21 overall and 14-8 in GLVC action. The Knights are 8-8 in true road games (4-8 neutral site) on the season.

BU is ranked ninth in the GLVC in offense (.272), fifth in pitching (2.53 ERA), and ninth in fielding (.957 / one error per 23.0 chances). Teams have been able to run on the Knights this year, swiping 37 bases while being caught just nine times.

Five players are batting .300 or higher, led by senior P/UT Ally Foster. The do-it-all player leads the Knights in hitting (.394 AVG, 14 2B, 13 HR, 32 RBI) and pitching (17-7, 1.24 ERA, .198 B/avg), while a second all-around performer – sophomore Marlee Tevis – is second on the team in home runs (10), while also making 14 appearances in the circle.

In addition to Foster, Truman is likely to also see freshman Madeline Kurtz, who is 6-8 with a 3.29 ERA (.306 B/avg) on the year.

Career Chart Check
Four Bulldogs, two on offense and two in the circle, are making lasting impacts on the Truman softball program by already etching their names into multiple career categories.

Cate Simon – T-2^nd in home runs (34); 7^th in total bases (275); 11^th in RBI (101). She is tied with both Andrea Klipsch & Liz Leath for second place (16 back of first place), and needs just four RBI to tie both Heather Mackie (1998-01) and LeAnn Paul (2001-04) for 9^th-place in RBI.

Lex Van Nostrand – 8^th in home runs (19); three back of Kelsey Bollman for seventh place.

Kelsea Dorsey – 2^nd in wins (66), 2^nd in innings pitched (592.1), 3^rd in strikeouts (514), 9^th in shutouts (15), 5^th in winning percentage (.725), 2^nd in appearances (117), 3^rd in games started (88), 4^th in complete games (64).

Kindra Henze – 4^th in wins (56), 4^th in innings pitched (572.2), 2^nd in strikeouts (530), T-5^th in shutouts (22), 3^rd in appearances (112), 2^nd in games started (91), 6^th in complete games (58).

GLVC Postseason Picture
With just four doubleheaders remaining for all 16 GLVC teams, the postseason picture continues to take shape, with conference tournament play set to begin at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Ill., from April 29 – May 1.

Truman's "magic number" to clinch a bid to the postseason tournament sits at just one entering the weekend, as the Bulldogs are currently eight games clear of ninth-place Rockhurst. The top eight teams after a true round-robin doubleheader scheduling format will qualify by winning percentage.

The Bulldogs currently are tied for third-place with both Maryville and Southern Indiana at 17-5 in league play, with the trio trailing UMSL (41-4, 19-3 GLVC) by two games for second-place. Indianapolis is currently the league's front-runner at 21-1 (38-1 overall), while the Truman/MU/USI trio has a three-game cushion on sixth-place Bellarmine at 14-8. Those six, plus McKendree (13-9) and William Jewell (10-12) would comprise the field were the season to end today.

There She Goes
Freshman OF Christa Reisinger is on pace to dent both the single-season and career stolen base charts in her inaugural season wearing the purple and white, as she has 35 stolen bases through the team's first 36 games.

To crack the career list, she needs just five more to tie both Kelsey Bollman (2011-14) and Alex Weber (2008-11) for 10^th place at 40, while she is just 10 away from matching (11 from breaking) Christen Belcher's single-season record of 45, set in 2006. Belcher holds the program's career mark with 153 from 2005-2008.

4^th Inning Magic
So far in 2016, getting through the fourth inning has been the best pre-cursor for a Bulldog win or loss, as Truman is 19-0 this season when they lead a game after the conclusion of the fourth inning. When trailing, the team is 1-8, and when tied, the Bulldogs have prevailed five out of eight times.

Helping that have been primarily insurance tallies, as the Bulldogs have out-scored their opponents 81-33 from the fifth-inning and on.

Multi-Hit Games
The Bulldogs have had 74 multi-hit games by individuals this year, including a combined 29 by the typical No. 1 and No. 2 hitters – Reisinger and Cook. Reisinger also holds the team's longest hitting streak of the season – 16 – which was the longest by a Bulldog since Kelsey Bollman reached base via a base hit in 17 straight back in the 2011 campaign.

"Get out the rye bread and mustard, Grandma, it is grand salami time!"
The Bulldog bats have come through in clutch situations often this season, evidenced best by the team's four grand slams already this year. Since 1999, the Truman softball team has hit 23 grand slams, with this season's four already setting a new single-season high (three GS's in 2004).

Doing the honors has been Lex Van Nostrand (Feb. 26 vs. Huntington), Christa Reisinger (March 19 at Lewis), Ashley Murphy (March 20 at Wisconsin-Parkside), and Morgan McMahan (March 29 at Quincy).

What's on Tap
After this weekend, the Bulldogs hit the road to the Hoosier State next Saturday and Sunday to close the 2016 regular season. Truman will battle the nation's No. 1-ranked team, Indianapolis, at 11 a.m. (CT) on Saturday, April 23, before facing Saint Joseph's at 12 p.m. on Sunday, April 24.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Andrea Klipsch: 2B; 5' 6"; Senior; R/R

#8 Liz Leath: 1B; 5' 8"; Senior; R/R

#7 Riley Cook: OF; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#11 Kelsea Dorsey: P; 5' 4"; Senior

#14 Jamie Fowle: SS; 5' 5"; Sophomore

#19 Kindra Henze: P; 6' 1"; Senior; R/R

#1 Nikki Moss: OF; 5' 1"; Senior

#8 Ashley Murphy: 1B; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#21 Whitney Richardson: 3B; 5' 6"; Senior

#15 Cate Simon: 3B; 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

#3 Andrea Klipsch
: 5' 6"; Senior; R/R
: 2B

#8 Liz Leath
: 5' 8"; Senior; R/R
: 1B

#7 Riley Cook
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: OF

#11 Kelsea Dorsey
: 5' 4"; Senior
: P

#14 Jamie Fowle
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: SS

#19 Kindra Henze
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/R
: P

#1 Nikki Moss
: 5' 1"; Senior
: OF

#8 Ashley Murphy
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: 1B

#21 Whitney Richardson
: 5' 6"; Senior
: 3B

#15 Cate Simon
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior
: 3B