KU softball falls to Tigers, but earns rematch

By Blake Toppmeyer/Special To The Journal-World     May 17, 2015

Missouri’s Sami Fagan, left, connects on a hit against Kansas University in the Tigers’ 5-3 victory Saturday in Columbia, Missouri. KU rallied with a 2-0 victory over Indiana State late Saturday night to set up a rematch with the Tigers at noon Sunday.

? Kansas University softball pitcher Alicia Pille said after the Jayhawks’ 5-3 loss to Missouri on Saturday afternoon she planned “to throw until I cannot throw any longer.”

That time hasn’t come yet.

Pille took the ball in an elimination game Saturday night against Indiana State and powered the Jayhawks’ season forward for at least another day.

She tossed her third complete game in the first two days of the NCAA regional and posted a two-hitter in lifting KU to a 2-0 victory over the Sycamores at University Field.

Pille, a senior from Royse City, Texas, has thrown 294 pitches and 20 innings during the regional. Pille, who has amassed 2081/3 innings for the season, said she’d be ready for today’s championship-round rematch against Missouri.

The Jayhawks (40-14) would have to beat MU (41-14) in back-to-back games to win the regional. Missouri needs to win only once.

“There’s no fatigue this late in the season,” Pille said after the Indiana State game. “I’m just going to keep throwing as long as my team needs me.”

The Sycamores’ Yvette Alvarez limited Kansas to one hit through five innings, but Kansas came alive in the sixth. Daniella Chavez led off with a single to left field, and Chanin Naudin followed with a walk. After Alvarez retired Shannon McGinley, Jessie Roane smacked a two-run double into left field. Roane had been 0-for-8 in the regional before that hit.

“I can’t look at the past at-bats,” Roane said. “I have to look at the present and take one pitch at a time.”

Pille struck out seven and walked two. She faced the minimum through three innings. Indiana State (27-31) never advanced a runner past second base. Pille retired the last seven batters she faced.

“She looked as strong this game as she did the first game (Friday),” Kansas coach Megan Smith said.

In the second-round matchup earlier in the day, Missouri used a three-run fifth inning to rally to victory after Kansas had used a two-run home run by Naudin and a solo home run from Chavez to establish a 3-2 lead.

The Jayhawks entered Saturday 26-0 in games it led after the fourth inning, but the Tigers won for the eighth time this season when trailing after four innings.

Emily Crane led off Missouri’s fifth-inning rally with a one-out infield single. Crane would have had an extra-base hit if Naudin hadn’t made a nice stab of the sharp grounder. Naudin made several brilliant stops of ground balls throughout the day.

Sami Fagan, who hit a two-run home run earlier in the game, followed Crane’s single with a walk.

Amanda Sanchez singled home Crane to tie the game, and Kelsea Roth hit a two-run double that bounced just out of Naudin’s reach and went over the third-base bag and down the left-field line.

“We have done a good job (protecting leads) all season,” Smith said. “We’ve won a lot of close games all season. I think you’ve got to give credit to Missouri and their hitters. They came through in that inning. They got multiple quality at-bats in a row.”

Kansas threatened in the seventh but couldn’t score. Naudin ended Tori Finucane’s streak of eight consecutive retired batters by hitting a one-out single to center field. After Finucane struck out Taylor Dodson, McGinley reached on a single to left field that put the tying runner aboard.

Erin McGinley followed by hitting a sharp grounder to the right of MU shortstop Corrin Genovese. The slick-fielding Genovese made a sliding stop and threw to second base from the edge of the outfield grass for the force out.

Missouri also beat KU 6-3 in the second-round of last year’s regional in Columbia.

The Tigers have won nine straight in the Border War series.

“We’re fighting for every play because we know it could be our last, so I think that’s very motivating,” Pille said.

Missouri 5, Kansas 3

Kansas 201 000 0 — 3 9 0

Missouri 200 030 x — 5 8 0

W — Tori Finucane, 21-8. L — Alicia Pille, 24-7.

2B — Taylor McElhaney, KU; Amanda Sanchez, Kelsea Roth, MU. HR — Daniella Chavez, Chanin Naudin, KU; Sami Fagan, MU.

Kansas highlights — Chanin Naudin 3-for-3, R, 2 RBIs; Shannon McGinley 3-for-4.

Kansas 2, Indiana State 0

Kansas 000 002 0 — 2 4 0

Indiana State 000 000 0 — 0 2 0

W — Alicia Pille, 25-7. L — Alvarez, 6-15.

2B — Maddie Stein, Jessie Roane, KU.

Kansas highlights — Pille 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 Ks; Roane 1-for-3, 2 RBIs.

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