Jayhawks’ top pitcher nursing sore shoulder

By Chuck Woodling     Apr 10, 2001

Several players are suffering from bronchitis.

Her top pitcher has a sore arm.

Still, Kansas University softball coach Tracy Bunge must press on.

“We’re not a real healthy group of young ladies right now,” Bunge said.

Primarily, Bunge is concerned about the ailing pitching arm of Kara Pierce, a freshman from Mesa, Ariz., who leads the Jayhawks with an 12-7 record and a 1.89 earned run average. Pierce was able to pitch only two innings is last weekend’s two losses at Texas Tech.

“She’d been having some soreness and tightness for the last three weeks and hadn’t told anybody about it,” Bunge said.

Pierce had an MRI on Friday before the Jayhawks left for Lubbock, then made the trip with the team. Normally, she would have started Saturday’s first game of the series, but junior college transfer Kirsten Milhoan opened in her place.

Milhoan, who is recovering from a bout of bronchitis that has struck a handful of teammates, also started Sunday’s game, but ran out of gas after four innings.

Enter Pierce, who hadn’t been expected to pitch at all against the Red Raiders.

“The miraculous thing was that Kara’s strength was back on Sunday,” Bunge said. “She said she felt pretty good, but I didn’t want to start her. I’m glad I had to use her just two innings.”

Kansas is scheduled to play a doubleheader at 5 p.m. today at Wichita State, and it’s likely Milhoan and Kelly Campbell will do all the hurling against the Wheatshockers.

With a key two-game Big 12 Conference series against Baylor scheduled on Friday and Saturday at Jayhawk Field, Pierce may be held out today.

“If she feels good we may let her throw three or four innings,” Bunge said. “I’ll go by what the training staff decides. We’ll err on the side of caution because these aren’t Big 12 games.”

That 1-0 loss to Texas Tech was, Bunge said, “one of the most frustrating I’ve had in a long, long time.”

Kansas wasted eight hits and two walks against Tech’s Amanda Renfro, one of the Big 12’s best pitchers.

“We had eight hits and a lot of loud outs,” Bunge said. “We hit Amanda Renfro as hard as she’s been hit all year.

“The most frustrating thing is we had our leadoff hitter on in every inning but the seventh.”

Despite the two defeats, Kansas stands in fourth place in the Big 12 with a 4-4 record, one game behind third-place Texas Tech (5-3).

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