Thanks, Courtney Wright says, but no thanks. Wright doesn’t want to be named Big 12 Conference softball player of the week again.
“The funny thing was I had a bad practice after I found out,” said Wright, Kansas University’s junior shortstop, “so I don’t know if it was a curse or not. But I’d rather a teammate win.”
Kansas 6, Missouri 1
LOBMissouri 6, Kansas 6. 2BCampbell (12). 3BMusser (4). HRTabb (9). SBUrquhart (6). SHAllister, May. SFHansen.
WPWerner, Milhoan. HBPMettlach (by Milhoan). T1:48. A360. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wright and teammate Leah Tabb had two hits apiece to pace an 11-hit attack that carried the Jayhawks to a 6-1 triumph over Missouri on Thursday afternoon at Jayhawk Field.
Wright, in fact, is surprised Tabb hasn’t been honored by the conference office this season. Tabb slugged her ninth home run Thursday and that tied the school single-season record held by former first baseman Shannon Stanwix and KU coach Tracy Bunge.
“I’m sure they’ll put her up for it,” Wright said of Tabb. “Hopefully, she’ll get it.”
Wright, a Tucson, Ariz., product, boosted her batting average to .331, just .005 behind team leader Erin Garvey, with two singles.
Kansas boosted its team batting average to .287 with the onslaught against two MU pitchers. And this is basically the same group of KU players that hit a moribund .228 as a team last year.
“Good moods are contagious,” Wright said, “and bad moods are contagious.”
Last year’s bad hitting spread like the measles. This year’s good hitting has spread like wildfire.
“In the last couple of weeks none of the kids has been thinking they have to carry the load,” Bunge said. “That creates a relaxed state for our hitters. It’s contagious because they’re all relaxed.”
Nine different players had hits and six different players drove in runs against the Tigers.
Tabb opened the scoring in the second with a rocket that barely cleared the left field fence against a stiff breeze. Then Wright singled and Katie Campbell doubled, and MU coach Jay Miller hooked starter Stephanie Falk, a 20-game winner, for Ingrid Werner who prevented further damage.
But Christi Musser started the third with a triple and scored on Megan Urquhart’s single. Urquhart later stole second and scored on Amy Hulse’s single up the middle.
Kansas added another run in the fourth on Leah Hansen’s single, Dani May’s sacrifice bunt and Erin Garvey’s RBI single to left. KU plated an insurance run in the fifth on back-to-back singles by Tabb and Wright, a walk to Campbell and Hansen’s sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, KU freshman pitcher Kara Pierce allowed only one hit until the Tigers manufactured a run on three hits in the sixth. Kirsten Milhoan hurled the seventh.
In winning her ninth straight decision, Pierce lowered her earned run average to 1.65 while boosting her record to 18-7.
Kansas, 7-4 in the Big 12 and 27-20 overall, will play afternoon games at Iowa State on Saturday and Sunday. Missouri is 4-7 in the league and 25-22 overall.
Notes: Kansas played its fourth straight game without ailing outfielder Shelly Musser (left shoulder) Perry-Lecompton High product Erin Erickson played third base for Missouri. She walked twice and fouled out in three plate appearances. Missouri’s Rachael McGinnis, a Blue Valley Northwest grad, was scratched after she was hit above the left eye during warm-ups and required stitches.
