Softball sweeps Border Showdown

By Sam Wilson

Published April 20, 2007

The MU softball team did not give up a single run in a doubleheader sweep of Kansas on Wednesday.

Junior Jen Bruck provided a complete-game shutout in the first game, giving her 15 wins so far this season.

Freshman Jana Hainey had a complete-game shutout in the second game, which was her first Big 12 start.

"It was outstanding," coach Ehren Earleywine said of the pitching. "It was probably the best combined effort that we've had all season."

Hainey's six-strikeout complete game came after Bruck started the last seven games.

"So that was a real turning point for her and for the team to know there is some help after Jen Bruck runs out of gas," Earleywine said.

Despite success with pitching, the Tigers' hitting wasn't as dominant. In the first game, the Tigers generated three runs with RBIs from juniors Micaela Minner and Amanda Renth and senior Alli Kennewell.

In the second game, the team's only run of the game came on a passed ball in the seventh inning. Earleywine said the KU pitchers were able to jam his hitters.

"The hitting was definitely the low point of the day for us," he said. "I don't know what it was, but it seemed like we didn't have any bat speed. And some of it might be credited to the fact that (KU), does a pretty good job of pitching, and Kassie Humphreys in game two is a pitcher with good velocity, so she was jamming a lot of our hitters. But it just looked like in general our bats were slow."

Even without the offense contributing, the Tigers were still able to pick up the pair of wins that clinched the Border Showdown for Missouri. It is MU's third win in the five-year series.

Next up for the team is a weekend series against No. 5 Texas A&M at home. Earleywine said his team would focus on improving bat speed in preparation for a team that will throw faster than the Jayhawks.

"If we swing the bat this weekend like we did against Kansas, it's going to be very difficult to win," he said. "So we definitely have to address that aspect of it. But at the same time, not press and not change a lot. We're a team that's swung the bats well all year. It's no time to hit the panic button."