Oklahoma City ? The Kansas University softball team couldn’t make it 2-for-2 on Friday.
That shortcoming means the Jayhawks are no longer alive in the 2007 Big 12 Tournament.
After needing eight innings to slip past 10th-seeded Iowa State, 2-1, in an opening-round game pushed back a day because of bad weather, No. 7 KU fell to No. 2 Oklahoma, 5-0, in the tournament quarterfinals, halting the Jayhawks’ hopes of making a surprising run to the tournament championship for a second straight season.
The early game saw KU (33-24) come out on the right side of a one-hitter, with senior right-hander Kassie Humphreys holding the Cyclones in check. She struck out seven, and passed Kara Pierce for fourth place on the school list with 135 pitching appearances.
Iowa State’s lone success was a leadoff home run by Alex Johnson in the top of the fourth inning, good for a 1-0 lead.
Humphreys atoned for her only miscue with a game-tying RBI double in the bottom half of the inning, then ended the contest in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single that scored Stevie Crisosto.
After an hour rain delay, KU returned to face the Sooners (49-6). Another one-hitter came to fruition – only with the Jayhawks on the wrong side of a strong performance by Oklahoma’s Lauren Eckerman.
By the time KU’s Dougie McCaulley singled in the top of the sixth to break up Eckerman’s no-hit bid, the Sooners had already pushed all of their runs across against Humphreys (19-14), chasing her from the game after 4 2/3 innings.
OU took a 3-0 lead in the second, using two hits, a walk and a KU error. Amber Flores added a solo home run in the fifth, and an error later in the inning brought in the final run.
Val George finished with 1 1/3 scoreless innings for KU.
The Jayhawks now must wait until Sunday to find out if they will be one of the 64 teams selected to participate in this year’s NCAA tournament.