Weekly Release
Season Statistics
MCAC Standings

This Week
The Bellevue University softball team returns to action this week with three road doubleheaders scheduled. The Bruins open the week with a 4:00 p.m. non-conference twin bill at Hastings College on Wednesday, April 13. BU returns to league play against Oklahoma Wesleyan University on Friday, April 15 at 3:30 p.m. before visiting Central Christian College on Saturday, April 16 at noon.

Scouting Bellevue
Bellevue, winners of 11 of its last 12 games, is currently 17-12 overall and 4-0 in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Bruins are coming off of a home doubleheader sweep of conference foe York College on April 8, winning the first game 8-4 before taking the nightcap 7-5.

Amanda Neumann leads the team in hitting, batting .427 with 26 runs, nine home runs and 26 RBIs. Kathryn Wardian bats .385 with four doubles, eight home runs, 22 runs and 20 RBIs.  Brooke Ellis paces the Bruins with 30 RBIs and has blasted seven home runs. Jessica Guyle, last year’s MCAC Newcomer of the Year, bats .347 with 12 stolen bases, 11 RBIs and is second on the team with 34 hits.

In the circle, Neumann leads the team with a 13-5 record along with 117 strikeouts and nine complete games in 113.2 innings pitched. Allie Bartley is 4-2 with a 3.79 ERA and has registered 29 strikeouts and two complete games in 44.1 innings.

BU bats .314 with an on-base percentage of .366 and a .476 slugging percentage. The Bruins have also hit 38 doubles, four triples, 27 home runs and are 24-for-32 in stolen base attempts. The pitching staff has an ERA of 4.76 with 164 strikeouts in 194 innings. Opponents are hitting .293 against the Bruins.

The Bruins return five starters from last season’s team that finished with a 32-17 overall record and a 10-0 MCAC mark en route to winning the conference regular season and postseason tournament titles. Bellevue also advanced to its fourth NAIA National Tournament, falling in pool play.

Scouting Hastings
Hastings is 15-12 overall and 5-3 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference this season. The Broncos have won three straight games and are coming off of a doubleheader conference sweep at Dordt College on April 8.

Rochelle Finnigan leads HC with a .419 batting average with 31 hits, four doubles, one triple, three home runs, 23 runs and 28 RBIs. Candice Connolly is second on the team in batting, hitting .375 with a team-high four home runs. Susan Kies has a team-high seven doubles and four home runs.

The pitching staff is led by Christine Lowe who is 9-4 with a 3.42 ERA and has registered 58 strikeouts in 86 innings pitched. She has also tallied nine complete games, including two shut outs.

The Broncos have a team batting average of .288 with 31 doubles,  four triples and 14 home runs. HC is also 35-for-41 in stolen base attempts. The pitching staff has an ERA of 4.55 with 104 strikeouts in 180 innings pitched and allow opponents to hit .312.

Scouting Oklahoma Wesleyan
Oklahoma Wesleyan is 15-25 this season and 2-4 in league play. The Eagles are coming off of a pair of conference losses at York College on April 9.

Nya Beasley leads the OKU offense with a .343 battingaverage with seven doubles, four home run, 20 runs and 20 RBIs. Nicole Crawford bats .253 with a team-high 21 RBIs. Steffanie Palmisano and Katie Kelley have each recorded seven wins for the Eagles this season while Kelley has team-high 43 strikeouts in 112.2 innings pitched.

The Eagles bat .283 with 57 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs and have stole 24 bases this season. The OWU pitching staff has an ERA of 5.94 with 73 strikeouts in 231 innings pitched. The opposition is batting .373 with an on-base percentage of .416 and a .544 slugging percentage against the Tigers’ pitching staff.

Scouting Central Christian
Central Christian is 4-22 overall and 0-4 in the MCAC. The Tigers have lost six straight games and were swept in doubleheader at Peru State College on April 9 in their last game.

Hannah Martin paces the Tigers offense with a .411 batting average and leads the team with 30 hits, five doubles and 18 RBIs. Krista Bohnenblust has hit a team-high three home runs and is second in RBIs with 16. Autumn Williams has earned two wins this season for the Tigers and has recorded 31 stirkeouts in 48.1 innings.

CCC has a batting average of .283 with 24 doubles, four triples, five home runs and is 30-for-33 in stolen base attempts. The pitching staff has an ERA of 9.10 with 52 strikeouts in 105.1 innings. Opponents are hitting .416 against  the Tigers with a .582 slugging percentage and a .462 on-base percentage.

Meet the Coaches
Michala Cimino is in her second season at the helm of the Bruin softball program and guided Bellevue to the program’s fourth appearance at the NAIA Softball National Championship in her inaugural campaign in 2010. She has a 49-29 (.628) overall record at BU.

Cimino led Bellevue to a 32-17 overall record and a 10-0 leaguemark as BU claimed both the MCAC regular season and tournament titles. She also was named the 2010 MCAC Coach of the Year. Cimino is assisted by Kelly Cheshier, Julia Krejci and Katie Lefler.

Troy Baker begins his third year as the head softball coach at Hastings in 2011. In his first season, he led the Broncos to the NAIA National Tournament. Baker, who is assisted by Ashley Speak, Chelsey Woodside and Stacey Paladino, has an overall record of 72-49 (.595) at HC.

The Oklahoma Wesleyan softball program is led by first-year head coach T.J. Thomas who is assisted byBrittany Downard.

Brian Perry is in his first year as the head softball at Central Christian and is assisted by Ashley Schlicht. 

Neumann Earns Conference Honor
POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – Bellevue University pitcher and third baseman Amanda Neumann has been named the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference’s Player and Pitcher of the Week announced by the league office on Monday, April 11.

Neumann went 10-for-15 (.667) with four home runs, eight runs, one triple and nine RBIs helping the Bruins to four conference wins. In the circle, she earned all four wins, pitching 20.1 innings with 26 strikeouts.

MCAC Preseason Rankings
POINT LOOKOUT, MO. - Bellevue University has been picked as the favorite to win the 2011 MCAC Softball Championship according the MCAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Sunday, Feb. 6.

Peru State College earned the No. 2 position in the preseason poll with a 20-24 record in 2010 (6-4 MCAC), while York College was picked third (9-23 overall, 4-6 MCAC in 2010). Rounding out the poll are College of Saint Mary (4th), Haskell Indian Nations University (5th), Oklahoma Wesleyan University (6th) and Central Christian College (7th).

Last Game Recap
BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University softball team continued its hot-hitting streak on Friday, recording a doubleheader MCAC sweep over York College, winning 8-4 and 7-5. The Bruins have collected at least 10 hits in the last five games. Bellevue, which has won six-straight games, improved to 17-12 overall and 4-0 in the MCAC. York dropped to 3-19-1 on the season and 1-3 in league play.

Bellevue pounded out 14 hits and used homers by Brooke Ellis and Amanda Neumann to shoot past York, 8-4 in the opener. Ellis finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Neumann was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Melissa Ackley tallied two hits, two RBIs and a double in the win.

After relinquishing the lead by giving up five runs in the fourth inning, Bellevue scored three runs over the fourth and fifth innings to notch the 7-5 win in the nightcap and preserve the doubleheader sweep. The Bruins registered 10 hits in the win with Neumann, Kathryn Wardian and Kim Wees collecting two hits apiece.

Last Season Recap
Bellevue University finished the 2010 season with a 32-17 overall record and captured the MCAC regular season and tournament titles, while advancing to the NAIA Division National Tournament.

Kendra Gansz was named the MCAC Player of the Year, Alissa Crumley MCAC Pitcher of the Year and Jessica Guyle earned MCAC Newcomer of the Year honors. In her first season at BU, Michala Cimino was named the MCAC Coach of the Year after leading the Bruins to an undefeated 10-0 conference record.

Six Bruins were named to the MCAC first team including Gansz, Crumley, Guyle, Brooke Ellis, Allie Bartley and Erica McCoy. Kim Wees and Kara Erwin were named to the second team. Jenny Gawart and Katie Lefler gained honorable mention recognition.

Up Next
The Bruins will play their final regular season MCAC road doubleheader of the season next week when they visit College of Saint Mary on April 19 for a 3:00 p.m. twin bill. BU will also a open a four-game homestand with doubleheaders scheduled against Midland University on April 20 at 4:30 p.m. and Baker University on April 22 at 2:00 p.m.