By JASON KETZ
Sports Editor
(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — Starting pitcher Emily Robinson picked up three wins in the circle during a six-game stretch while also contributing at the plate with a .285 average, collecting five hits and four RBI.

The Jennies outscored their opponents 29-19 to go 4-2 on Friday, Saturday and Monday to open up their MIAA conference schedule at Hays, Kansas, and Kearney, Nebraska.

Jennies split with Fort Hays State

In game one on Friday, Robinson picked up the win throwing a complete game, allowing just two earned runs and striking out six, while also going 1-3 at the plate and driving in the game’s first run in the fourth inning.

Senior Alex Leonhart followed with an RBI double that gave the Jennies a 2-0 lead after the fourth. In the top of the fifth, shortstop Ali Jo Rogers added an insurance run. Robinson gave up two runs in the sixth inning and faced the winning run on second base in the bottom of the seventh but redeemed herself by striking out the next two batters to preserve the 3-2 win.

“Honestly it wasn’t (Robinson’s) best performance,” said Susan Anderson, Jennies head softball coach. “She worked through the game, and her pitch count was really high, but she still found a way to work herself out of jams with the help of the defense behind her.”

Central Missouri found itself down 5-1 in game two heading into the top half of the seventh inning. Lauren Mabe reached on base by error that scored a run, followed by a two-RBI single from Madison Hood to cut the Tiger lead to one. With two outs and the tying run 60 feet away, pinch hitter Katie Giacone singled up the middle to tie the game at five. But in the bottom of the eighth inning, Fort Hays’ Erin Elmore hit a walk-off single to give the Tigers the 6-5 win.

Even though the Jennies lost that game, Anderson said she was pleased with the team’s approach heading into the final inning down by four.

“The big thing was trying to go up and try to have quality at bats,” Anderson said. “It was a matter of getting runners on and advancing them. We were able to take advantage of some of their errors but we also put the ball in play to give us a chance.”

She went on to say that it showed a lot of character from her team to battle back into the game after being down to their final three offensive outs and forcing extra innings to a good Fort Hays State team.

Rogers leads Jennies’ sweep of UNK

In game one, Rogers went 3-4 at the plate driving in five RBI while leading off her second straight game with a home run, which was the first time in program history since UCM began collecting digital statistics in 2003. King followed by being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which gave the Jennies a 2-0 lead after the first inning. The Lopers responded to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning.

With the bases loaded again in the top of the second inning, Leonhart’s bases-clearing double gave UCM a 5-2 lead. The Lopers scored two more runs in the fourth inning, but Rogers platted an insurance run in the third and a three-run home run in the fifth as the Jennies won game one 9-4.

“(Rogers) had a great weekend,” Anderson said. “It helps out our team getting her on base because she can do so much damage when she is on the base paths, and it usually means a run for our team.”

In game two, Rogers continued her hot streak by going 2-2 at the plate with two RBI while starting pitcher Jordan Johnson went the distance allowing four hits and one earned run to improve her record to 4-1 on the year. The Jennies started the scoring in the top of the first as Robinson’s RBI double scored Rogers. In the second, Makayla Schoonover’s RBI fielder’s choice scored Austin Eickleberry, followed by a Rogers double that scored Giacone to give UCM a 3-0 lead. The Jennies scored two runs the rest of the game as the Lopers were only able to push across a single run in the bottom of the seventh as the Jennies completed the sweep with a 6-1 win.

“(Johnson) did a great job of mixing her pitches to get ahead of hitters,” Anderson said. “It was probably one of her better performances, and it is something that she can build off of to continue to get better.”

Jennies split with Truman in home opener

After being on the road for the first 19 games of their season, the Jennies played at the South Recreational Complex for the first time this season in a double header on Monday against the Truman State Bulldogs. With winds blowing at 20-25 mph toward left field, the conditions made it a hitter’s dream and a pitcher’s nightmare.

In game one, Mabe got the Jennie offense going as she hit her first homerun of the year that bounced off the top of the fence in right-centerfield to give UCM an early 1-0 lead. In the third inning, Robinson helped her own cause as she hit a single up the middle to score Mabe from second, followed by a solo home run from Allie Dishinger in the fourth to give the Jennies a 3-0 lead. The Bulldogs pushed across a run on two errors in the fifth.

The Jennies scored two more runs in the sixth with back-to-back solo home runs from Giacone and Dishinger as the home team won 5-1. Robinson threw a complete game, allowing just two hits and striking out five as she picked up her sixth win of the season.

In game two, the winds turned in favor of Truman as the Bulldogs scored four runs in the first three innings. The first two came off a swing from Lex Van Nostrand in the top of the first, followed by a single run in the second and again in the third. The Jennies’ only run of the game was on a solo home run from King in the bottom of the fourth before the Bulldogs added another run in the top of the fifth in a 5-1 Bulldog victory.

The Jennies are back in action with two conference double-headers at home starting Friday against Missouri Western with first pitch set for 3 p.m. and Saturday against Northwest Missouri State starting at 1 p.m.

“This is going to be a really tough series coming up,” Anderson said. “They are both at the top of the conference and they both have senior pitchers in the circle for them and they both have very solid lineups.”