“I grabbed my bat. I was excited,” Smith said. “I love hitting.”

Smith, a reserve infielder, stroked a walk-off pinch single in the bottom of the seventh to give KU a 2-1 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday at Arrocha Ballpark.

Second baseman Jessica Moppin started the rally with a one-out single to right-center, then moved to second when right fielder Sylvia Pfeiffer coaxed a walk — the only free ticket issued by Tech right-hander Erin Crawford all afternoon.

Then with third baseman Nettie Fierros due up next, Bunge opted to switch to Smith.

Jared Soares/Journal-World Photo

“Sandy’s been aggressive at the plate, but she hadn’t had much to show for it,” Bunge said. “And Nettie has been struggling, so I went with the senior over the sophomore.”

Smith’s ground ball up the middle just eluded Tech shortstop Heather Parker and Moppin was able to score easily.

“Oh, gosh, this was big,” Smith said. “It’s a conference win and it’s a step forward.”

Kansas was off to an 0-3 start against Big 12 Conference foes and another loss, particularly to the 19-21 Red Raiders, would have been a bitter pill.

“It was extremely important,” Bunge said. “Obviously, it’s a confidence issue, too. I think we played two of the best teams in the league to start the season (Baylor, Nebraska), but losing three games can hurt your confidence, so we needed that.”

Kansas (22-16, 1-3 in the Big 12) bolted to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Heather Stanley stroked a leadoff double to right and one out later scored on Serena Settlemier’s double to right-center.

“Those doubles really helped relieve the pressure,” Bunge said. “A lot of our players have been tight because we haven’t been scoring.”

KU collected only one other hit — Stanley’s single in the third — before the seventh-inning rally.

Senior right-hander Kara Pierce pitched out of a couple of jams to record her 13th victory in 20 decisions. Pierce gave four hits and three walks, but the only run she surrendered was unearned because of one of two errors by shortstop Destiny Frankenstein. Pierce stranded seven Red Raiders.

After playing two games last week that were halted by darkness, Bunge was delighted this one didn’t go deep into extra innings.

“We finally got a clutch hit,” the KU coach said. “We didn’t want to be out here ’til dark.”

The two teams will meet again at noon today in the final game of the two-game set.