OKLAHOMA CITY ? Quietly, very quietly, went Kansas University’s softball team Thursday in the Big 12 Conference tournament.
First, Texas edged the Jayhawks, 1-0, in eight innings, then Oklahoma posted a 5-0 triumph that sent the tourney’s No. 6 seed packing in the double-elimination meet.
Kansas had won 10 of its last 11 games and 11 of its last 13, but the Jayhawks’ bats went silent at Hall of Fame Stadium.
In the first game, right-hander Meagan Denny, the Longhorns’ No. 2 pitcher, silenced the Jayhawks on three singles. KU freshman Christina Ross was the hard-luck loser.
Tina Boutelle started UT’s game-winning rally by coaxing a leadoff walk after being down 0-2 in the count. Chez Sievers followed with a bunt that went for a single when the Jayhawks left first base uncovered.
Minutes later, the two runners were sacrificed to second and third, and Boutelle scored when Megan Willis struck a sacrifice fly to center.
The Jayhawks came back about 30 minutes later and, apparently disheartened by the narrow defeat, promptly surrendered four runs in the first inning to the Sooners, a team they had swept a few weeks earlier in Lawrence.
OU scored the four runs on three singles, an intentional walk and errors by third baseman Nettie Fierros and center fielder Jackie Vasquez.
Kansas, meanwhile, again managed just three hits — singles by Ashley Frazer and Nicole Washburn and a double by Serena Settlemier. Frazer and Washburn also had singled in the first game. KU’s other hit against OU was a Vasquez single.
Ross pitched the first two innings of the second game and was saddled with the loss. OU’s Kami Keiter struck out only two Jayhawks and surrendered four walks, but inflated her record to 28-5.
The two losses left Kansas (30-22) with only a remote chance of earning an NCAA Tournament bid.
KANSAS | ab | r | h | bi |
Heather Stanley rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jackie Vasquez cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Jessica Moppin 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Destiny Frankenstein ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Elle Pottorf c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nettie Fierros 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Serena Settlemier dp | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nicole Washburn 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Ashley Frazer lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Totals | 27 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
TEXAS | ab | r | h | bi |
MicKayla Padilla cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jaclyn Daniels ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Tina Boutelle lf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Chez Sievers 2b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Desiree Williams ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Megan Willis dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Wynter Turner 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Amber Hall rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Jacqueline Williams c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Alexis Garcia 1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Monica Askew ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Totals | 25 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Kansas | 000 | 000 | 00 — 0 | ||
Texas | 000 | 000 | 01 — 1 |
Two outs when winning run scored. E–Frazer, Turner, J. Williams. LOB–KU 9, UT 8. SB–Vasquez. Goodrich. SH–Vasquez, Moppin, Boutelle, D. Williams, Willis. SF–Willis.
IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
KANSAS | ||||||
Christina Ross L, 11-7 | 72/3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
TEXAS | ||||||
Meagan Denny W, 9-2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
HBP–By Denny (Pottorf). T–2:06. A–N/A.Oklahoma 5, Kansas 0
KANSAS | ab | r | h | bi |
Heather Stanley rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jackie Vasquez cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jessica Moppin 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Destiny Frankenstein ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Serena Settlemier dh/p | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Nettie Fierros 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Elle Pottorf c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ashley Frazer lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Nicole Washburn 1b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Totals | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
OKLAHOMA | ab | r | h | bi |
Norrelle Dickson 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Kristin Vesely cf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Christina Enea 1b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Heather Scaglione c | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Jessica Leslie lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Jamie Fox rf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Kami Keiter p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Alison Horne dh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Susa Ogden ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Nicole Denes ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Tayl’r Hollis 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Savannah Long ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 24 | 5 | 8 | 4 |
Kansas | 000 | 000 | 0 — 0 | ||
Oklahoma | 401 | 000 | x — 5 |
E–Vasquez; Fierros. DP–KU 1, OU 1. LOB–KU 5; OU 5. 2B–KU: Settlemier; OU: Scaglione, Hollis. SH–Vesely, Enea.
IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |
KANSAS | ||||||
Christina Ross L, 12-8 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Serena Settlemier | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
OKLAHOMA | ||||||
Kami Keiter W, 28-5 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
PB–Pottorf. T–1:49. A–N/A.