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Wednesday April 23, 2008
By Robert Jackson
Sports Editor
The Prairie Stars opponents must’ve been in the mood for spring cleaning last weekend because the Stars were swept in the UIS Tournament 0-4.
The Prairie Stars’ opponents were a combined 92-49-1.
“I think the competition definitely prepared us for the conference tournament this weekend,” Coach Fisher said after the Prairie Stars dropped their fourth and final game to the Lindenwood Lions.
The Prairie Stars lost to Rogers State University 1-0 in extra innings. Fisher tabbed Brianne Moeller the starter to begin the tournament against No. 11 RSU. The sophomore left-hander previously pitched a shutout against then No. 14 Columbia College Cougars.
“I do think that I tend to be a little more focused if I know the team we are playing is supposedly better than us,” Moeller said. “I like that my coaches choose me to pitch against the better teams because I enjoy the challenge and pressure that goes with it.”
Moeller spread four hits over eight innings. For RSU, Kelli Dunagan pitched a near perfect game until Nicole McAfee broke up the bid in the seventh inning with a single into the right field grass.
Because the game had gone to extra innings and it was a tournament, each team started their half of the extra inning with a runner on second base. After advancing their runner to third, the Prairie Stars failed to drive in the runner.
RSU used their first out to sacrifice their runner over to third base. Fisher adjusted his infield, positioning his shortstop, Jessica Wolff, and corner infielders closer to home plate so that RSU could not score on a groundball.
RSU’s Marie Gaudet fished a pitch out of the lower part of the strike zone, hitting a blooper over Wolff’s head for the game winning RBI single.
“If Jessica is in her normal spot she catches that ball,” Fisher said.
Unlike against William Woods, where a flat curveball was hit for the lone run of the game, Moeller nailed the low spot she aimed for. “(Gaudet) just got lucky and got a piece of it,” Moeller said. “And unfortunately, that was all she needed.”
The Prairie Stars erased any heartbreak from their first game during the second game by getting two runs early on the scoreboard in the first inning against St. Xavier.
“I think we started well getting on the scoreboard early but after that it seemed like we went into coast,” Fisher said.
The Prairie Stars coasted to a 7-4 loss.
In the bottom of the third, St. Xavier broke the game open scoring four runs. The Prairie Stars helped their opponents with costly errors that extended the inning for St. Xavier.
“They hit a couple of good pitches that Hannah (Warner) threw,” Fisher said. “A couple of good swings later and they got four runs on the board.”
Nicole McAfee started a comeback opportunity in the fifth inning though after legging out an infield single.
“Plays like that always make a difference,” Fisher said. “They affect momentum and you just hope the next batter can produce.”
Wolff homered to left field as the next batter, bringing UIS within one run. But St. Xavier’s Lisa Gryczewski smashed a homerun of her own securing the St. Xavier victory.
Against St. Francis the Prairie Stars players and coaches recognized their lone two seniors: catcher Whitney Nelson and pitcher Allie Leight.
The Prairie Stars carried over the enthusiasm from the pregame ceremony to the batter’s box, starting out the game with an early 1-0 lead because of an RBI single by Moeller.
But in the bottom of the first Leight struggled throwing strikes, eventually walking one batter with bases loaded resulting in one of the two runs scored. In all she faced eight of the nine batters in the lineup to open the game.
“Her location was off,” Fisher said. “With pitchers an inch makes a big difference.”
On average Leight faced six batters per inning. The Stars committed three costly errors, which lead to two runs for St. Francis as St. Francis won 8-5.
“We were probably not as ready as I would’ve liked,” Fisher said. Fisher said the team may have came in expecting a repeat performance from their April 5 match-up where the Prairie Stars won 13-5.
“We’ve talked time and again throughout the season we need to be ready to play regardless of who we play,” Fisher said.
Moeller pitched the final game of the tournament, suffering again a 1 run loss as the Prairie Stars fell 3-2 to Lindenwood University.
The Prairie Stars rallied in the fifth inning, with Nelson driving in a run on a flare to left field and Kristan Delafeld scoring on an error.
In the bottom of the seventh the Prairie Stars had two runners on and Wolff up to bat with two outs. Wolff hit a fly ball that hung in foul territory, allowing the Lindenwood outfielder to make the catch to end the game.
“I think we were in every game this weekend,” Fisher said. But missing from those games were those “breaks” that can tilt the outcome, according to Fisher.
“It was just one of those weekends.”
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