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Kangaroo outfielders Amanda Kinn, freshman, Carli Slagle (16), sophomore, and Ashley Whiteside (7), another freshman, hop it up before getting down to business against Oakland University.

Roos fall in first Summit League series of season

By: Elyssa Brogdon

Posted: 3/17/08

The Roos began their Summit League season with a pair of losses, 2-3 and 2-12 to the Oakland University (OU) Golden Grizzlies. UMKC played OU in a double header Friday at Cleveland Park.

In the first game, the Roos took an early lead and picked up some early momentum.

Freshman center-fielder Amanda Kinn walked to first base in the bottom of the first inning. Kinn was able to advance to second and third before stealing home, and gave UMKC the lead 1-0.

In the third inning, junior Samantha Hurst struck out the Golden Grizzlies first two batters and freshman shortstop Lauren Cross caught the third batter's ball closing the top of the third.

Sophomore right-fielder Carli Slagle gave UMKC what would turn out to be the squad's final run of the game in the bottom of the third. Slagle advanced to first base after a hit to right field and moved to second during a bunt.

Senior Monica Canisales hit a single. And, after a Grizzly error, Canisales proceeded to second as Slagle touched home.

Oakland struggled early against UMKC junior Samantha Hurst. But heading into the sixth inning, their first batter up to the plate junior Caitlin Lynch, hit a homerun to pull the Grizzlies within one.

Then, with one player on first, another Golden Grizzly, this time junior Roberta Ches, hit the second homer of the inning for OU. The two homeruns gave Oakland the lead 3-2.

The first game came to an unexpected end when Oakland head coach Glenn MacDonald questioned a Roo unreported player. Though it seemed like the umpires were going to let the infraction go, MacDonald protested and the game ended. According to Rule 8.3.3.1 in the NCAA Softball Rulebook, an unreported player must be called out if the error is not caught before the first pitch to that player is thrown.

When freshman Lauren Rodrigues was inserted to pinch hit for Kinn, UMKC head coach Meredith Smith failed to report the substitution to game officials.

The game was delayed nearly 10 minutes as the umpiring crew consulted the rule book to ensure they made the correct call.

"We were actually on the other side of this earlier in the season," Smith said. "The umpire called it the other way, so I was under the impression that it wasn't a big deal."

After an intermission the Roos took the field for the second game. Oakland carried over their energy from the previous game with their first batter, freshman Kelsey Krych, hitting a triple then later stealing home in the top of the first. Sophomore Angela Righetti hit a homerun in the top of the second.

In the third the Golden Grizzlies scored three runs ending the inning with a lead over the Roos of 5-0.

Things got worse for UMKC in the bottom of the fifth inning when Oakland junior pitcher Jessica Granger hit Roo freshman pitcher Taya Upkes with a pitch on her throwing arm. Upkes didn't play the rest of the game and was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

It wasn't until the bottom of the sixth inning that UMKC found a way to score.

Baker and Slagle crossed home plate before the game ended in favor of Oakland 12-2.

"I thought we came out very well and played to the level we should have," Smith said. "I feel like we are going to need to work on adversity a little bit. Once things start going the wrong way we tend to slide in a different direction."

ebrogdon@unews.com