The Truman Bulldog softball team will return to the MIAA Postseason tournament after a one-year hiatus on Thursday.
However, the ‘Dogs will host Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday in a game that has many implications on who they will face in that opening round game.
Truman (8-10 MIAA) could finish as high as fourth with a sweep of the Bearcats and could be as low as seventh by being swept.
A lot also rides on the conclusion of the Bearcats game with Missouri Western on Tuesday afternoon.
The second game of that doubleheader was halted with the Griffons leading 2-1 in the fifth.
Northwest took the first game of that twinbill a few weeks back.
The Bulldogs had their own halted game completed on Sunday and it was a big victory
. After splitting with Pittsburg State on Friday,
Truman took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh against Missouri Southern on Saturday.
Severe weather forced the game to be halted until Sunday when Richelle vanGennip came in to relieve Beth Schnurbusch to nail down her third save of the season and clinch Truman’s spot in the league’s postseason dance.
ROAD TO THE MIAA TOURNAMENT
The Bulldogs had their nine-year run to the conference tournament end last season when they finished 11th in the league.
Truman has won six tournament championships with the last coming in 2003.
From 1982-2000, the tournament champion was also deemed the conference overall champion.
In 2001, the two titles were separated out with the winner of the conference tournament gaining the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Championship tournament.
Emporia State has won six straight postseason tournaments and will either be the number one or number two seed based on a make-up doubleheader with Southwest Baptist on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s games with Northwest will finalize the eight-team field for Thursday’s first round games.
If Truman can finish with a sweep, they will finish 10-10 and be either the four or six seed based on the result of the Northwest/Missouri Western outcome.
If Truman splits with Northwest with they finish 9-11 and be the sixth seed and face Missouri Western on Thursday.
If Northwest sweeps the doubleheader, Truman would finish seventh and play either Nebraska-Omaha or Emporia State in the first round.
With an 8-12 record, Truman would gain the tie-break over Washburn and Missouri Southern based on their sweep of the Lady Blues back in March.
The four first-round conference games will be played at 6:00 p.m. at the Blue Valley Recreation Center in Overland Park, Kan.
The two winners and two losers’ bracket games will follow at 8:00 with those advancing to play on Friday beginning at 11:00 a.m.
A LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS:
The Bulldogs returned to the 20-win plateau after a one-year 11-34 record in 2009
. It is the 20th time in the program’s 34 year history that the team has won at least 20 games in a season.
Richelle vanGennip is the ace of the Bulldogs staff with a 2.04 earned-run average in 33 appearances and has a 12-12 record with three saves
. vanGennip has 216 strikeouts this year and trails Loni Wedemeier by 12 (228) for the Bulldog single-season strikeout mark.
Alex Weber, who is in the midst of a career-best seven game hitting streak, leads the Bulldogs with a .325 batting average.
Weber has scored a team high 28 runs and is 24-of-26 in stolen base attempts.
Laura Miller, who has also been on a tear lately going 7-of-14 last week, is hitting .310 and is second in stolen bases with 19.
Truman has eight players with 10 or more runs batted in compared to just three last season.
vanGennip and Mary Manley lead the team with 20 RBIs while freshmen Kristin Grossman and Christine Ulses are one behind.
In all, five Bulldog freshmen have had significant contributions in the starting line-up.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS:
Northwest enters the week two games above .500 at 23-21 with the continuation of their game with Missouri Western at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. (Missouri Western leads 2-1 heading into the fifth inning.)
The Bearcats have split their last 10 games and were swept at home by Southwest Baptist on Friday before splitting a doubleheader with Central Missouri on Sunday.
Erin Leslie leads Northwest with a .441 batting average while Jenna Creger is 11-12 with a 3.11 ERA.
Creger scattered five hits in a 12-3 victory over the Bulldogs back on March 19th
. Hailee Hendricks and Kit Daugherty each had four hits as vanGennip lasted just three innings.
BULLDOGS IN THE MIAA
Truman is hitting .259 in conference games up from the .242 of last season.
The ERA has also been about a run lower than 2009 as this year’s staff has a team ERA of 3.58 while last year the ERA was 4.53.
In 20 games last season, Truman gave up 108 runs while scoring just 58, while through 18 games this year, the Bulldogs have allowed just 68 runs while scoring 62.
Four Bulldogs hit above .300 in conference games.
Christine Ulses leads the pack with a .395 average while Richelle vanGennip (.393), Alex Weber (.356) and Laura Miller (.346) follow.
vanGennip has posted a 2.52 ERA with a 5-5 record while last year she had a 2.60 ERA but was 1-5.
Seven of her nine starts have been complete games and she has fanned 67 league batters.
BULLDOGS IN APRIL:
Truman is hit .274 during the month of April and had four players hitting above .300. Seniors Richelle vanGennip and Erica LaCombe lead the team with nearly identical batting averages. vanGennip had a .380 mark with 19 of her season 20 RBIs during the month while LaCombe hit .379 and was 10-of-11 in stolen base attempts.
vanGennip was 6-3 in the circle and fanned 87 hitters in the month while walking 37. Opponents hit just .197 in 73 innings pitched.
UP NEXT:
If Truman can make it through and win the MIAA tournament they would gain the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division II South-Central regional tournament. Otherwise with just Emporia State and Nebraska-Omaha in the top 10 in the last regional rankings, the Bulldogs season would come to an end.
Courtesy Truman State University
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