NAIA Softball Weekly Report
Apr 11, 2012
By Jake Knabel, NAIA Communications & Sports Information Intern
Game of the Week
No. 7 William Carey (Miss.) (34-7, 11-3 SSAC) at No. 19 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) (25-15, 9-7 SSAC)
Friday, Montgomery, Ala., 3 p.m. CDT, Joseph and Nancy Fail Field
• A pair of top-20 teams from the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) square off Friday in a doubleheader at Joseph and Nancy Fail Field. In three meetings so far this season, William Carey is 3-0 with wins by scores of 5-1, 5-1 and 3-1. The first of the three games was played on a neutral field, while the other two were part of a doubleheader in Hattiesburg, Miss.
• William Carey has won eight of its last nine contests, all of which have occurred within SSAC play. Included in that stretch were a pair of wins over then-No. 20 Auburn Montgomery on April 6. Due to rainouts, the Lady Crusaders have played only two games against the league’s current top three ranked teams of Lee (Tenn.), Shorter (Ga.) and Brenau (Ga.). William Carey topped then-unranked (now No. 12) Lee, 3-1, on March 4 and fell to then-No. 12 Shorter, 3-0, on March 29. The Lady Crusaders are 6-0 in true road games this season.
• William Carey rates as one of the top defensive teams in the nation with a fielding percentage of .965, 14th best in the NAIA. The Lady Crusaders also rank No. 1 in triples (22), eighth in ERA (1.44), 15th in lowest opponent batting average (.204) and 27th in strikeouts (208). As a team, they have just nine home runs but rank 31st nationally with 205 runs scored.
• Freshman outfielder Hannah Cook-Kelly, the reigning SSAC Player of the Week, leads the team with a .432 batting average and 38 RBIs in 39 games played. Cook-Kelly ranks 10th in the NAIA in triples (5), 33rd in RBIs and 48th in hits (51). In the circle, William Carey is led by senior right-hander Alyssa Boutwell, who is 18-3 with a 1.67 ERA in 138.2 innings of work. Her 18 wins are the sixth most in the nation and her innings pitched total is the 10th most.
• Auburn Montgomery began its week with a doubleheader split with seventh-place Faulkner (Ala.) on Tuesday. The split came on the heels of the two losses the Warhawks suffered to William Carey on April 6. Auburn Montgomery has yet to defeat any of the squads currently in the top four of the SSAC standings, dropping three to the Lady Crusaders and one each to Lee and Brenau. The Warhawks are 6-7 at home this season.
• Auburn Montgomery relies on a dominant pitching staff that ranks fifth nationally in strikeouts (298), 11th in lowest opponent batting average (.199) and 12th in ERA (1.69). Offensively, the Warhawks are 18th in triples (13) and 43rd in stolen bases (49).
• The pitching quartet of Courtney Baker (8-0, 1.10 ERA), Cassie Daniels (7-5, 1.83 ERA), Haley Johnson (3-1, 1.69 ERA) and Brandi Richards (5-7, 1.66 ERA) shoulders the load in the circle for Auburn Montgomery. Baker’s ERA figure is the 10th best in the country, while Daniels’ 104 strikeouts rank 35th best in the NAIA.
Around the Top 25
• The week of April 2 – 8 featured eight matchups between Top 25 teams (four doubleheaders). Seventh-ranked William Carey got the week started with a sweep of then-No. 22 Mobile (Ala.) by scores of 3-1 and 4-2. Alyssa Boutwell went seven innings in relief and allowed six hits and four walks to pick up the win in game one. Kelsey Smith went 6.2 solid innings to earn the win in game two.
• In the NAIA Game of the Week, third-ranked Oklahoma City continued to roll as it breezed by then-No. 11 St. Gregory’s 9-1 and 9-2 in the doubleheader on April 5. Lily LaVelle pitched a gem in game one with 10 strikeouts and just one earned run allowed in a seven-inning complete game. Angela Lovelady notched her fourth home run in support of LaVelle. Four errors and eight walks surrendered by St. Gregory’s pitchers aided the Stars game two blowout.
• In the other two doubleheaders pitting ranked teams, then-No. 7 William Carey (Miss.) topped Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), 5-1, 3-1, on April 6 and then-No. 19 College of Idaho split a twin-bill with then-No. 23 Corban (Ore.) on the same day. Corban first baseman Rachel Conrad’s 2-for-3, two RBI effort in game one sparked Corban to a 4-2 victory. College of Idaho responded with a 5-2 win in game two on the strength of a seven-inning complete game, eight-strikeout performance from pitcher Nickayla Skinner.
• The biggest upset of the week went to Spring Hill (Ala.), which knocked off William Carey, 1-0, in the first game of an April 4 doubleheader. William Carey out-slugged Spring Hill by an 11-8 score in game two, but the Badgers’ Linsey Dickerson shut down the Lady Crusaders in game one. Dickerson tossed a six-hit shutout in out-dueling Boutwell.
• Lyon (Ark.) entered its April 2 doubleheader versus then-No. 15 Williams Baptist (Ark.) at 7-24 on the season. The Scots finished the day at 9-24 after 6-2 and 6-5 wins. Jacy Allen got the win in game two with a stellar complete-game effort. Allen and shortstop Erica Whitaker each collected two hits in game two to fuel yet another upset.
• The week of April 9 – 15 showcases another eight games (four doubleheaders) between ranked teams. The first of these four matchups gets underway Thursday when No. 25 Saint Xavier (Ill.) travels to No. 13 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.). Then on Friday, the Game of the Week shares the spotlight with a key Sooner Athletic Conference battle in which No. 18 St. Gregory’s (Okla.) hosts No. 6 Lubbock Christian (Texas). Finally, Lubbock Christian turns around for a twin-bill with No. 17 Southern Nazarene (Okla.) on Saturday.
National Statistical Notes
• No. 1 Concordia (Calif.) leads both the NAIA and all NCAA Divisions with a 41-game winning streak and 48 victories overall. Concordia is only one win shy of the record for consecutive wins (42) set by Shawnee State (Ohio) in 1996. The Eagles have not lost since dropping a 2-1 decision to unranked Eastern Oregon on Feb. 11.
• Lubbock Christian’s (Texas) Kim Frazier moved to No. 1 in career home runs in NAIA softball history on March 3 when she connected for four home runs during a doubleheader sweep of Oklahoma Christian. That effort pushed her to 62 career home runs, giving her four more than the previous record held by Katie Boocher of Bethel (Ind.). Frazier has since hit eight more home runs, putting her at 12 for the season and 70 for her career.
• South Carolina Beaufort hurlers Kristy Cook and Caroline Pastre each threw five-inning perfect games on the same day as the Sand Sharks rolled 19-0 and 34-0 over Fisher (Mass.) on Feb. 20. Cook struck out 12 in game one, while Pastre set down 13 on strikes in game two.
• Saint Xavier’s (Ill.) Amie Brown fired a five-inning perfect game in a 10-0 win over Trinity International (Ill.) on April 3 at the SXU Softball Field. Brown also tossed a seven-inning perfect game in a 2-0 victory over Adrian (Mich.) in Cleremont, Fla., back on Feb. 28. • Then-No. 1 Lubbock Christian had its 54-game home winning streak snapped in the 10-9 loss to West Texas A&M in the second game of a doubleheader on March 27.
• Karlee Despres of Davenport (Mich.) recorded her fifth career no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) on March 17. Despres went seven innings and notched 12 strikeouts. • Erica Gunter of Central Baptist (Ark.) leads the nation in batting average with a mark of .544 (62-for-114), while teammate Christen Kirchner is second with a .523 mark (56-for-107).
• Concordia’s (Calif.) Amanda Fama tops the leaderboard with 23 home runs. The next highest total is 17 by Oklahoma City’s LeeAnn Lopez.
• Fama is also No. 1 with 58 RBIs. Three hitters are tied for second with 57 RBIs: Olivet Nazarene’s (Ill.) Hannah Gardner, Concordia’s (Calif.) Katie Carson and Evangel’s (Mo.) Danelle Billings.
• Kimberle Smith of Cal State San Marcos is the NAIA leader in ERA at 0.79. A total of seven hurlers have an ERA of under 1.00. Cal State San Marcos also boasts the individual with nation’s fifth-best ERA in Jordan Lamoureux (0.92).
• Oklahoma City’s Lilly LaVelle is tops nationally in both wins (25) and strikeouts (282).
• To view all national leaders, click here.
Coaching Milestones
• Phil McSpadden of Oklahoma City leads all active coaches with a record of 1,295-323 (.800) in 25 years.
• Faulkner’s (Ala.) Hal Wynn, eighth on the active wins list, reached 600 career triumphs on April 3 after a 6-5 win over Belhaven (Miss.) in the first game of the doubleheader.
• Central Methodist (Mo.) head coach Pat Reardon eclipsed the 500-win mark on March 27 when his team swept a doubleheader from Culver-Stockton (Mo.). The pair of victories put Reardon at 501-433 in 19 seasons.
• Mike Hampton of Iowa Wesleyan picked up his 500th win on March 17 with a 4-1 decision over Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.).
• Vanguard’s (Calif.) Beth Renkoski notched her 500th career victory on March 24 with a 2-1 win over Ottawa (Kan.) in the second game of the twin-bill.
• Lee (Tenn.) head coach Emily Russell claimed her 400th career victory on Tuesday as her Lady Flames swept a doubleheader from Truett-McConnell (Ga.).
• Ronda Varnesdeel of Davenport (Mich.) passed the 300-win plateau on April 1 with two wins over Cumberland (Tenn.). Varnesdeel’s first 133 wins came at Aquinas (Mich.).
Game of the Week
No. 7 William Carey (Miss.) (34-7, 11-3 SSAC) at No. 19 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) (25-15, 9-7 SSAC)
Friday, Montgomery, Ala., 3 p.m. CDT, Joseph and Nancy Fail Field
• A pair of top-20 teams from the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) square off Friday in a doubleheader at Joseph and Nancy Fail Field. In three meetings so far this season, William Carey is 3-0 with wins by scores of 5-1, 5-1 and 3-1. The first of the three games was played on a neutral field, while the other two were part of a doubleheader in Hattiesburg, Miss.
• William Carey has won eight of its last nine contests, all of which have occurred within SSAC play. Included in that stretch were a pair of wins over then-No. 20 Auburn Montgomery on April 6. Due to rainouts, the Lady Crusaders have played only two games against the league’s current top three ranked teams of Lee (Tenn.), Shorter (Ga.) and Brenau (Ga.). William Carey topped then-unranked (now No. 12) Lee, 3-1, on March 4 and fell to then-No. 12 Shorter, 3-0, on March 29. The Lady Crusaders are 6-0 in true road games this season.
• William Carey rates as one of the top defensive teams in the nation with a fielding percentage of .965, 14th best in the NAIA. The Lady Crusaders also rank No. 1 in triples (22), eighth in ERA (1.44), 15th in lowest opponent batting average (.204) and 27th in strikeouts (208). As a team, they have just nine home runs but rank 31st nationally with 205 runs scored.
• Freshman outfielder Hannah Cook-Kelly, the reigning SSAC Player of the Week, leads the team with a .432 batting average and 38 RBIs in 39 games played. Cook-Kelly ranks 10th in the NAIA in triples (5), 33rd in RBIs and 48th in hits (51). In the circle, William Carey is led by senior right-hander Alyssa Boutwell, who is 18-3 with a 1.67 ERA in 138.2 innings of work. Her 18 wins are the sixth most in the nation and her innings pitched total is the 10th most.
• Auburn Montgomery began its week with a doubleheader split with seventh-place Faulkner (Ala.) on Tuesday. The split came on the heels of the two losses the Warhawks suffered to William Carey on April 6. Auburn Montgomery has yet to defeat any of the squads currently in the top four of the SSAC standings, dropping three to the Lady Crusaders and one each to Lee and Brenau. The Warhawks are 6-7 at home this season.
• Auburn Montgomery relies on a dominant pitching staff that ranks fifth nationally in strikeouts (298), 11th in lowest opponent batting average (.199) and 12th in ERA (1.69). Offensively, the Warhawks are 18th in triples (13) and 43rd in stolen bases (49).
• The pitching quartet of Courtney Baker (8-0, 1.10 ERA), Cassie Daniels (7-5, 1.83 ERA), Haley Johnson (3-1, 1.69 ERA) and Brandi Richards (5-7, 1.66 ERA) shoulders the load in the circle for Auburn Montgomery. Baker’s ERA figure is the 10th best in the country, while Daniels’ 104 strikeouts rank 35th best in the NAIA.
Around the Top 25
• The week of April 2 – 8 featured eight matchups between Top 25 teams (four doubleheaders). Seventh-ranked William Carey got the week started with a sweep of then-No. 22 Mobile (Ala.) by scores of 3-1 and 4-2. Alyssa Boutwell went seven innings in relief and allowed six hits and four walks to pick up the win in game one. Kelsey Smith went 6.2 solid innings to earn the win in game two.
• In the NAIA Game of the Week, third-ranked Oklahoma City continued to roll as it breezed by then-No. 11 St. Gregory’s 9-1 and 9-2 in the doubleheader on April 5. Lily LaVelle pitched a gem in game one with 10 strikeouts and just one earned run allowed in a seven-inning complete game. Angela Lovelady notched her fourth home run in support of LaVelle. Four errors and eight walks surrendered by St. Gregory’s pitchers aided the Stars game two blowout.
• In the other two doubleheaders pitting ranked teams, then-No. 7 William Carey (Miss.) topped Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), 5-1, 3-1, on April 6 and then-No. 19 College of Idaho split a twin-bill with then-No. 23 Corban (Ore.) on the same day. Corban first baseman Rachel Conrad’s 2-for-3, two RBI effort in game one sparked Corban to a 4-2 victory. College of Idaho responded with a 5-2 win in game two on the strength of a seven-inning complete game, eight-strikeout performance from pitcher Nickayla Skinner.
• The biggest upset of the week went to Spring Hill (Ala.), which knocked off William Carey, 1-0, in the first game of an April 4 doubleheader. William Carey out-slugged Spring Hill by an 11-8 score in game two, but the Badgers’ Linsey Dickerson shut down the Lady Crusaders in game one. Dickerson tossed a six-hit shutout in out-dueling Boutwell.
• Lyon (Ark.) entered its April 2 doubleheader versus then-No. 15 Williams Baptist (Ark.) at 7-24 on the season. The Scots finished the day at 9-24 after 6-2 and 6-5 wins. Jacy Allen got the win in game two with a stellar complete-game effort. Allen and shortstop Erica Whitaker each collected two hits in game two to fuel yet another upset.
• The week of April 9 – 15 showcases another eight games (four doubleheaders) between ranked teams. The first of these four matchups gets underway Thursday when No. 25 Saint Xavier (Ill.) travels to No. 13 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.). Then on Friday, the Game of the Week shares the spotlight with a key Sooner Athletic Conference battle in which No. 18 St. Gregory’s (Okla.) hosts No. 6 Lubbock Christian (Texas). Finally, Lubbock Christian turns around for a twin-bill with No. 17 Southern Nazarene (Okla.) on Saturday.
National Statistical Notes
• No. 1 Concordia (Calif.) leads both the NAIA and all NCAA Divisions with a 41-game winning streak and 48 victories overall. Concordia is only one win shy of the record for consecutive wins (42) set by Shawnee State (Ohio) in 1996. The Eagles have not lost since dropping a 2-1 decision to unranked Eastern Oregon on Feb. 11.
• Lubbock Christian’s (Texas) Kim Frazier moved to No. 1 in career home runs in NAIA softball history on March 3 when she connected for four home runs during a doubleheader sweep of Oklahoma Christian. That effort pushed her to 62 career home runs, giving her four more than the previous record held by Katie Boocher of Bethel (Ind.). Frazier has since hit eight more home runs, putting her at 12 for the season and 70 for her career.
• South Carolina Beaufort hurlers Kristy Cook and Caroline Pastre each threw five-inning perfect games on the same day as the Sand Sharks rolled 19-0 and 34-0 over Fisher (Mass.) on Feb. 20. Cook struck out 12 in game one, while Pastre set down 13 on strikes in game two.
• Saint Xavier’s (Ill.) Amie Brown fired a five-inning perfect game in a 10-0 win over Trinity International (Ill.) on April 3 at the SXU Softball Field. Brown also tossed a seven-inning perfect game in a 2-0 victory over Adrian (Mich.) in Cleremont, Fla., back on Feb. 28. • Then-No. 1 Lubbock Christian had its 54-game home winning streak snapped in the 10-9 loss to West Texas A&M in the second game of a doubleheader on March 27.
• Karlee Despres of Davenport (Mich.) recorded her fifth career no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) on March 17. Despres went seven innings and notched 12 strikeouts. • Erica Gunter of Central Baptist (Ark.) leads the nation in batting average with a mark of .544 (62-for-114), while teammate Christen Kirchner is second with a .523 mark (56-for-107).
• Concordia’s (Calif.) Amanda Fama tops the leaderboard with 23 home runs. The next highest total is 17 by Oklahoma City’s LeeAnn Lopez.
• Fama is also No. 1 with 58 RBIs. Three hitters are tied for second with 57 RBIs: Olivet Nazarene’s (Ill.) Hannah Gardner, Concordia’s (Calif.) Katie Carson and Evangel’s (Mo.) Danelle Billings.
• Kimberle Smith of Cal State San Marcos is the NAIA leader in ERA at 0.79. A total of seven hurlers have an ERA of under 1.00. Cal State San Marcos also boasts the individual with nation’s fifth-best ERA in Jordan Lamoureux (0.92).
• Oklahoma City’s Lilly LaVelle is tops nationally in both wins (25) and strikeouts (282).
• To view all national leaders, click here.
Coaching Milestones
• Phil McSpadden of Oklahoma City leads all active coaches with a record of 1,295-323 (.800) in 25 years.
• Faulkner’s (Ala.) Hal Wynn, eighth on the active wins list, reached 600 career triumphs on April 3 after a 6-5 win over Belhaven (Miss.) in the first game of the doubleheader.
• Central Methodist (Mo.) head coach Pat Reardon eclipsed the 500-win mark on March 27 when his team swept a doubleheader from Culver-Stockton (Mo.). The pair of victories put Reardon at 501-433 in 19 seasons.
• Mike Hampton of Iowa Wesleyan picked up his 500th win on March 17 with a 4-1 decision over Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.).
• Vanguard’s (Calif.) Beth Renkoski notched her 500th career victory on March 24 with a 2-1 win over Ottawa (Kan.) in the second game of the twin-bill.
• Lee (Tenn.) head coach Emily Russell claimed her 400th career victory on Tuesday as her Lady Flames swept a doubleheader from Truett-McConnell (Ga.).
• Ronda Varnesdeel of Davenport (Mich.) passed the 300-win plateau on April 1 with two wins over Cumberland (Tenn.). Varnesdeel’s first 133 wins came at Aquinas (Mich.).
