ST. JOSEPH – Missouri Western enters this week’s MIAA Softball Championships as the hottest team in the MIAA and one of the hottest teams in the nation.
Missouri Western ended the regular season by sweeping eight consecutive MIAA doubleheaders and working its way into second place in the MIAA standings. The Griffons’ 16-game winning streak is the third longest current streak in NCAA Division II softball. The longest current win streak in the nation belongs to Winona State which has won 30-straight games following a 1-0 loss to the Griffons in St. Joseph on Mar. 23.
The rise to a second place finish for the team picked fifth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches’ Poll isn’t about the streak, though; it’s about a team that rebounded from a 1-3 start in conference play. The Griffons were 18-14 and 5-5 in the MIAA when the winning streak began. They ended the regular season 34-14 with a 21-5 MIAA record.
TOTAL TURNAROUND
Lost in the streak is MWSU winning five of seven leading into the eight consecutive doubleheader sweeps. That’s where it began. Still, through the first 32 games of the season, the Griffons posted a .301 batting average with opponents batting .305. The Griffons averaged just over five runs per game and gave up close to five. The pitching staff had posted a 4.32 ERA with a 1.69 WHIP, walking 91 batters through 212 innings and striking out 129. During the winning streak, the Griffons batted .338 and averaged 7.25 runs per game. Opponents batted .229. The staff ERA was 1.73 with a 1.11 WHIP, walking about a third as many batters as Griffon pitchers struck out and only allowing 1.9 runs per game.
THE MATCHUP
Wednesday, MWSU will play as the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Championships, facing No. 7 seed Pittsburg State. The win streak hit 12 when MWSU swept the Gorillas (13-3, 7-2) in Pittsburg on April 13.
The Griffons enter batting .313 and averaging just over six runs per game with the second most runs scored in the MIAA. MWSU is tied for the most doubles in the conference at 97; and ranks third with 38 home runs. The Griffons also rank second in the MIAA with 38 sacrifice hits, showing the ability to play small ball or go deep. In the circle, MWSU has a 3.44 ERA with four shutouts and a 1.49 WHIP.
Pittsburg State is batting .280 as a team with its opponents hitting .302. The Gorillas average just under five runs per game. The Gorilla pitching staff has a 3.88 ERA with a 1.59 WHIP.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Griffons boast seven returning seniors, but three of the team’s top four hitters entering the postseason are in their first or second season of collegiate softball. Freshman Brea Blanton’s .383 average is second best on the team and her six home runs and 34 RBIs both rank third on the team. Another freshman, Sydni Hawkins, enters batting .364, but led the team with a .408 average through the win streak. Hawkins recently had a 15-game hitting streak snapped. Sophomore Emma Hoffart has pushed her average to .358 and leads the team with eight home runs and 40 RBIs. Sophomore pitcher Kaili Hinds leads the team with 15 wins and a 2.85 ERA. She hasn’t lost a decision since March 8 when she fell to 4-3 on the year.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
It’s not just the starters that make MWSU a threat in the postseason. Lonnie Groves and Tamara Hicks started 27 games combined this year and every game last year and give the Griffons experienced bats off the bench. Freshman Marissa Guenther has 10 starts this year filling in for Shelby Uhl during an injury late in the season. An almost unprecedented experiment in the circle has paid off for Jen Bagley Trotter. The Griffons enter the postseason with a three-person rotation and Oliva Goodale pitching exclusively out of the bullpen. Goodale has held hitters to a .160 average, allowing just one run in more than seven innings over the last 16 games. In that same span, Kenzie Hilzer is 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA, a one-hit shutout and a save. Hinds is 7-0 with a 1.64 ERA and two shutouts during the streak with 32 strikeouts to 12 walks. Lexi Kinnaird is 5-0 with a shutout and four walks to 16 strikeouts in her five starts over the last 16 games.
MILESTONE SEASON FOR JEN BAGLEY TROTTER
In her 18th season as head coach at MWSU, Jen Bagley Trotterbecame the all-time wins leader among MIAA head coaches with her 615th career victory on March 23 over then No. 22 Winona State. That milestone came after her team scored six unanswered runs to come back and defeat Concordia-St. Paul on Feb. 1 to give Trotter her 600th victory. The four-time MIAA Coach of the Year enters the week with 632 career victories. She has led MWSU to two MIAA regular season titles and two MIAA postseason championships. The Griffons have now posted 13, 30-win seasons in her tenure and are in position for their 11th NCAA Central Region appearance under Trotter.
SUCCESS AGAINST OTHER HOT TEAMS
The only two teams with longer current win streaks than MWSU are Winona State and Arkansas Tech. The Griffons posted a win against now No. 7 Winona State earlier this season and suffered an early season loss to Arkansas Tech. MWSU opened the season by splitting a doubleheader with Minnesota State which owns the fifth longest win streak in the country at 13 games. The Griffons also defeated a Concordia-St. Paul that has won 10-straight for Trotter’s 600th win.
— MWSU Athletics —