Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Faces Another Ranked Opponent
3/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
USF Under Armour Showcase Tournament, Tampa, Fla.
Wednesday, March 7
Central Michigan (3-7) at No. 23 * South Florida (13-4), 5 p.m. (DH) Live Stats
*Ranked 23 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
Friday, March 9
Game One: Temple (4-6) vs. Central Michigan, 11:30 a.m.
Game Two: East Tennessee State (4-11) vs. Central Michigan, 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 10
Game One: Cleveland State (2-11) vs. Central Michigan, 9:15 a.m.
Game Two: Fordham (4-10) vs. Central Michigan, 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 11
USC Upstate (18-1) vs. Central Michigan, 11:15 a.m.
Team Comparison
| | |||||||
| 3.23 | ERA | 1.50 | 3.30 | 4.66 | 3.88 | 3.67 | 0.52 |
| .274 | Avg. Against | 2.18 | .265 | .317 | .294 | .302 | .138 |
| .232 | Batting Avg. | 2.71 | .193 | .260 | .254 | .218 | .359 |
| .295 | Slugging Pct. | .336 | .244 | .355 | .365 | .302 | .513 |
| 23 | Runs Scored | 74 | 24 | 60 | 41 | 45 | 125 |
| 12 | Stolen Bases | 32 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 48 |
Storylines
Scouting the Opponents -- For the first time since 2004 the Chippewas will face two different ranked teams before conference play begins. CMU squared off with No. 5 Arizona State during opening weekend and will face No. 23 South Florida this week. In the overall series against the Bulls the Chippewas are 5-9.
Temple is coming off a 4-3 loss to No. 16 Michigan in its last outing and trails the Chippewas 2-5 in the overall series.
East Tennessee State has never played the Maroon and Gold before and is also coming off a loss, 8-0, to No. 8 Tennessee.
CMU has only faced Cleveland State once in program history, falling 5-1 in 2008. CSU went 1-3 last weekend in a tournament down in Athens, Ga.
The Chippewas are 2-1 over Fordham in the all-time series. Fordham faced two ranked teams last weekend in No. 14 UCLA and No. 24 North Carolina, falling to both 5-0 and 3-2, respectively.
The last opponent the Maroon and Gold will meet is USC Upstate who is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. The Chippewas have never faced the Spartans before, who enter the game with only one loss on the season.
MAC Preseason Poll -- The Chippewas were picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference West Division as part of the preseason poll.
Under Armour Invitational -- CMU finally was able to put some tallies in the win column in its last outing at the Under Armour Invitational, where they finished 3-2.
Dornbos Shuts Out -- In the Maroon and Gold's first win of the season they defeated South Dakota State 2-0, behind stellar pitching from Kara Dornbos. She threw all seven innings shutting out the Jackrabbits and only allowing two hits. Dornbos now has a 3.12 ERA and is 1-3 on the season.
Merchant Makes it Eight Straight -- Macy Merchant went eight straight games with a hit until she was shut out during the Loyola Marymount game. She is currently leading the team with a .387 batting average and 12 hits. In three games this year she has recorded two or more hits.
Going the Distance -- Molly Coldren sent another ball over the fence this past week, making it number three on the season. Coldren currently holds the CMU home run record at 31. She is the only Chippewa with a home run this year and currently leads the team with eight RBIs.
Robbing the Bases -- Brittney Horan is a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen bases this year. She is second on the team with eight hits.
Clutch Hitter -- Chelsea DeLamielleure is currently batting .400 with runners in scoring position. She is also batting 2-for-2 when there are runners in scoring position and less then two outs.
Score Early -- When CMU scores first in the top of the first inning it is 2-1. The Maroon and Gold were able to jump out 2-0 in their first win of the season against SDSU. This season CMU has never lost a game in which they were leading after an inning.
How to Follow -- All of CMU's games this weekend will be carried on gamechanger. Fans can also follow the Chippewas on twitter to get in-game updates. Games will also be live on TLStv and viewers can pay $9.99 to watch for the weekend.
