PREVIEW: Softball Heads to Hoosier State to Close Regular Season

By: Tyler Madsen, Athletics Communications

Sonam Wangyal, TSU Athletics

Softball | 4/20/2016 2:40:00 PM

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - Seeding for the upcoming Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament and a potential bid in the NCAA Div. II tournament are both at stake this coming Saturday and Sunday, as a trip through the Hoosier State brings battles against both league-leading Indianapolis and Saint Joseph's to close the regular season.

Weekend Outlook
Sat., 4/23 – 11:00 a.m. (CT) *DH* – at #2 Indianapolis (42-3 overall, 23-3 GLVC) – Indianapolis, Ind.
Live Stats | Live Video | Weather Report | INDY Softball Website

Sun., 4/24 – 12:00 p.m. (CT) *DH* - at Saint Joseph's (12-35 overall, 8-18 GLVC) – Rensselaer, Ind.
Live Stats | Weather Report | SJC Softball Website

K-9 Checkup
The Bulldog softball team comes into the final weekend of regular season action at 27-13 overall (19-7 GLVC) following a home split against both Southern Indiana and Bellarmine last weekend in Kirksville. Truman got two dominating starting pitching performances from senior Kindra Henze, who blanked USI in a 1-0 game on Saturday before holding off BU by a 4-3 score in eight innings to close the weekend, while sophomore Riley Cook (seven hits in 11 at-bats) and senior Whitney Richardson (GW RBI single vs. BU) provided the muscle at the plate.

On the season, the Bulldogs are batting .284 as a team, which is right in the middle of the pack; however, the team's 4^th-best GLVC ERA of 2.24 and 2^nd-best fielding percentage of .975 (one error per 39.2 chances) have helped the purple and white sit tied for fourth-place in the league table entering the final weekend.

Freshman Christa Reisinger continues to build her case for the league's Freshman of the Year honor, as she leads the team with a .424 batting average behind 16 extra-base hits (six home runs) and a league-high 38 stolen bases. She enters the week needing just six more runs (currently: 42) to break the program's single-season record (47: set three times by Elizabeth Economon in 2001, 2002, and 2004) and eight more stolen bases to break the single-season record of 45, set in 2006 by Christen Belcher.

Cook, meanwhile, has made solid contact all season at the plate to a tune of .371 hitting, while sophomore Jamie Fowle (.294), sophomore Ashley Murphy (.289), and junior Lex Van Nostrand (.264) have each matched Reisinger to share the team-high with six doubles. Senior Cate Simon leads the team with nine home runs and is batting .252 on the year.

Meanwhile, the Bulldog pitching staff has relied on its two senior aces, as Henze (10-6, 1.83 ERA) and Kelsea Dorsey (13-6, 2.52 ERA) have combined for 236 strikeouts and 24 complete games in 232 innings of work.

Erin Brown is in her 10^th season as the head coach of the Bulldog program and has a record of 247-233 (.515) at the helm of her alma mater. A 2001 graduate, Brown has continued to improve the program each year, culminating in a 103-42 (.710) record since the start of the 2014 season. She is assisted by Bailey Wittenauer, who is in her first season as the program's top assistant.

Regional Rankings || Volume 2016, Edition 2:
Despite picking up another regionally-ranked victory this past weekend, the Truman softball team slid one spot to No. 8 in the Wednesday, April 20 edition of NCAA Div. II regional rankings.

After sitting in seventh in the Midwest region last weekend, the Bulldogs picked up their sixth win against a regionally-ranked team this season during Saturday's split with then-fifth-ranked Southern Indiana. However, the Bulldogs, Screaming Eagles, and Maryville each suffered a one-spot shuffle, as the only change was a four-spot leap for Hillsdale (Mich.) from No. 9 to No. 5.

Indianapolis, Missouri-St. Louis, Wayne (Mich.) State, and Grand Valley (Mich.) State maintained their grips on the top four, while the GLVC added No. 6 USI, No. 7 Maryville, and No. 8 TSU to its stronghold on the top-8. In addition to WSU, GVSU, and HC at 3-4-5, the GLIAC saw Ferris (Mich.) State slip one spot to No. 9, while the GMAC's Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) held firm at No. 10.

The NCAA Regional Rankings are the only official rankings that determine the 64-team NCAA Div. II softball tournament field. The top-eight teams from each region are selected for the NCAA Div. II national tournament, with the GLVC, GLIAC, and GMAC tournament champions receiving automatic bids into the NCAA Div. II national tournament.

Rankings will be updated one more time next Wednesday (April 27) before the final selection show on Monday, May 2, following conference tournament weekend.

Scouting the Opponents
Indianapolis, which had been ranked the nation's No. 1 team each of the last two weeks, comes into Saturday's doubleheader at No. 2 in the top-25 poll after a 2-2 split at Maryville and UMSL last weekend. The Greyhounds lead the GLVC at 23-3 in league play and posted a stellar 19-0 non-conference record early in the year.

UIndy is second in the GLVC in offense (.318 AVG), second in pitching (1.26 ERA), and third in fielding (.972 / one error per 35.3 chances). Teams have stolen on the 'Hounds 25 times in 30 chances (83.3% success), which is 10^th-best in the GLVC.

The Hounds have been one of the nation's best doubles teams this year with 68 overall. Natalie Lalich is the team's top hitter at .396 overall with nine doubles, 12 home runs, and 54 RBI. Indianapolis also features one of the top Div. II pitchers in Morgan Foley (31-2, 0.76 ERA), while Miranda Tamayo (11-1, 2.46 ERA) has been the team's No. 2 starter most DH's in league play.

Truman is 2-3 against the Hounds since joining the GLVC in 2014, splitting during the regular season each of the past two seasons, while UIndy took a 7-0 win in the GLVC tournament last May.

Saint Joseph's comes into the weekend having lost 16 of its last 18 games to sit at 12-35 overall (8-18 GLVC). The Pumas will host Quincy on Saturday afternoon prior to Truman's visit on Sunday.

The Pumas are 10^th in the GLVC in offense (.269 AVG), last in pitching (5.12 ERA), and last in fielding (.935 / one error per 15.4 chances). Teams have stolen 20 bases in 27 chances (74.0% success), good for 4^th-best in the GLVC.

Briana Wagner (.306; 13 doubles) and Haley Miller (.306, 10 doubles) lead the team in hitting, while Ashley Whitaker (.268) is the team-leader with six home runs. Wagner has also been the team's top pitcher this year with a 3.71 ERA, while Morgan Masters is the rotation leader with four wins despite a 5.97 ERA.

Truman is 4-0 against the Pumas since joining the GLVC in 2014, sweeping SJC by 5-0 and 7-1 scores on the road in 2014 before winning 1-0 and 3-2 last season in the home regular season finale.

GLVC Postseason Picture
As the league enters the final weekend, the current first-round would look like this for next week's GLVC championship, held at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Ill., from April 29 – May 1-
#1 Indianapolis (23-3) vs. #8 Illinois Springfield / William Jewell (12-14)
#4 Maryville (19-7) vs. #5 Truman (19-7)
#2 Missouri-St. Louis (22-4) vs. #7 McKendree (15-11)
#3 Southern Indiana (20-6) vs. #6 Bellarmine (17-9)

The Bulldogs can play their way into a "home game" in the opening round by finishing with a better weekend record than Maryville, as the Saints currently hold the tiebreaker with the Bulldogs due to MU's win against UIndy last weekend. The Saints and Bulldogs flip opponents this weekend, with MU traveling to face both USI and BU.

The top eight teams after a true round-robin doubleheader scheduling format will qualify by winning percentage.

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 (285); 11^th in RBI (102). She is tied with both Andrea Klipsch & Liz Leath for second place (16 back of first place), and needs just three RBI to tie both Heather Mackie (1998-01) and LeAnn Paul (2001-04) for 9^th-place.

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 (600.1), 3^rd in strikeouts (520), 9^th in shutouts (15), 5^th in winning percentage (.710), 2^nd in appearances (119), 3^rd in games started (90), 4^th in complete games (64).

Kindra Henze – 4^th in wins (58), 4^th in innings pitched (589.1), 2^nd in strikeouts (541), 5^th in shutouts (23), 3^rd in appearances (115), 2^nd in games started (93), 6^th in complete games (60).

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 38 stolen bases on the chart this year.

To crack the career list, she needs just two more to tie both Kelsey Bollman (2011-14) and Alex Weber (2008-11) for 10^th place at 40, while she is just six away from matching (seven 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 20-0 this season when they lead a game after the conclusion of the fourth inning. When trailing, the team is 1-10, and when tied, the Bulldogs have prevailed six out of nine times.

Helping that have been primarily insurance tallies, as the Bulldogs have out-scored their opponents 82-38 from the fifth-inning and on.

Six… is a Serious Number:
When Truman has reached six runs in a game this season, they have yet to lose, going 14-0 when touching home at least six times. The Bulldogs have allowed six or more runs just five times in a game this year.

Multi-Hit Games
The Bulldogs have had 77 multi-hit games by individuals this year, including a combined 32 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 will head to East Peoria for the third time in as many seasons as league members to compete in the conference's annual post-season tournament. The full bracket with game times and field locations will be available following the conclusion of play on Sunday afternoon.

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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

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

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

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

#5 Lex Van Nostrand: C; 5' 6"; Junior

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

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

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

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

#5 Lex Van Nostrand
: 5' 6"; Junior
: C