Angela Price put a ball in play in the bottom of the eighth inning to score Ashlyn Anderson, as the Kansas softball team was able to turn a fielding error by Wichita State into a walk-off win at Arrocha Ballpark Tuesday night.
The 6-5 victory, in which Campbell Bagshaw hit a grand slam as part of a five-run first inning but the Jayhawks didn’t score again until extra innings, allowed KU to sweep its doubleheader with the Shockers — it had also won 6-3 earlier in the afternoon.
“I said this in the huddle. It’s about their grit and their fight, and I love that we found a way to win,” KU coach Jennifer McFalls said in a press release. “They’re a great team (Wichita State) and have a great program and I have a lot of respect for what they do. That’s a team that never goes away.”
Kasey Hamilton pitched all eight innings for the Jayhawks and improved her record to 6-5 on the year, following in the footsteps of Katie Brooks (7-1), who tossed a complete game in the top half of the doubleheader.
That game had featured another five-run frame from KU, which included two-RBI singles by Bagshaw and Hailey Cripe.
By winning both halves of the midweek doubleheader, the Jayhawks improved to 16-7-1 on the year.
They had dropped their first Big 12 Conference series of the season at UCF over the weekend. The Knights were picked fifth to the Jayhawks’ eighth in the preseason poll, and held KU to just four combined runs in three games in Orlando. In the third, though, Hamilton threw a complete-game shoutout, Price hit a sacrifice fly and that was all KU needed in a 1-0 result.
The Jayhawks will now continue Big 12 play with a tough Baylor team (No. 13 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll) coming to Arrocha for a three-game series beginning Friday.
Baseball suffers rivalry loss
After trailing rival Missouri 3-2 for half a game, the KU baseball team was finally able to tie it up on back-to-back doubles by John Nett and Kodey Shojinaga in the eighth inning.
Unfortunately for the Jayhawks, that progress was all for naught, as Missouri scored two runs in the top of the 10th that KU couldn’t quite match in the bottom half.
Shojinaga singled, Jake English doubled and Michael Brooks hit a one-out sacrifice fly to make it 5-4, but with runners on second and third, Ben Pedersen was able to strike out Ben Hartl looking on a full count to give the Tigers the win.
KU will face Missouri again at Kauffman Stadium next Tuesday but for now travels to Cincinnati for a weekend series starting Friday.
Tennis gets a streak going
Iowa State had to forfeit multiple matches, but the result counts all the same as a 5-2 victory for KU on Sunday. The Jayhawks have won back-to-back matches and have a chance to continue their streak as they get two challenging foes ahead at home in Lawrence: No. 27 Texas Tech on Thursday and No. 35 BYU on Saturday.
Three first-team All-Americans, two second-teamers for indoor track
Devin Loudermilk was the top finisher for Kansas at 2024 NCAA indoor nationals, as he completed a 2.21-meter high jump for a bronze medal. He and pole vaulter Clayton Simms (sixth place, 5.50 meters) earned first-team All-American honors, while Ashton Barkdull (men’s pole vault), Mason Meinershagen (women’s pole vault) and Michael Joseph (400 meters) made the second team by finishing in the teens in their respective events.
Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World
