An up-and-down start for the Kansas softball team continued at The Spring Games tournament in Leesburg, Florida, as the Jayhawks won two games and lost two more — all decided by three runs or fewer — then had both of Saturday’s games canceled due to inclement weather.
With matchups against Big Ten Conference foes Iowa and Ohio State wiped off the schedule, KU (4-5-1) will proceed to the Texas A&M Invitational beginning next Thursday against UTSA.
The opening day of Spring Games action this past Thursday featured a long-scheduled game against UC Riverside that was converted into a doubleheader via the addition of a matchup with Coastal Carolina.
The tournament started poorly for the Jayhawks, as the Highlanders — picked eighth in the Big West Conference — went up 4-1 through three innings and tacked on a fifth run in the fifth frame. Campbell Bagshaw hit a bases-clearing triple and then came home on a wild pitch to even the score, but Samiya Jones plated two runs with a single to right field in the seventh inning to give UCR a 7-5 victory.
KU did bounce back that night behind seven innings of one-run, five-hit ball pitched by Katie Brooks, plus an inside-the-park home run from senior Sophia Buzard, and beat Coastal Carolina 4-1.
“It’s a long season,” head coach Jennifer McFalls said in a press release that night. “I loved our response tonight. We’re fighting and battling and sometimes you just need a little luck to fall your way. Every team that we face is good. It can be anybody’s night (on) any given day, and I’m just really proud of some players. Sophia Buzard stepped up when her name was called and answered for us. We just need to keep celebrating the little things and doing things right. I thought Katie Brooks responded really well for us in game two and gave us a big win.”
Friday saw KU split two games again by the narrowest of margins, losing to Penn State 5-4 and beating Illinois 8-7.
The Nittany Lions jumped ahead of the Jayhawks with a three-run fifth inning as pitchers Mady Volpe and Bridget Nemeth shut out KU in relief for 5 2/3 innings.
The Jayhawks found themselves in a different position up 7-1 against Illinois, led by a two-RBI double from Hailey Cripe and key singles by Buzard and Presley Limbaugh.
However, Free State graduate Sara Roszak’s sixth-inning solo home run for KU ended up making a significant difference, as the Illini put up two runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to put themselves on the brink of a massive comeback. Brooks held on in the precarious final frame and got a final strikeout to seal the victory.
“We’re competing, there’s no doubt we’re competing,” McFalls said in a release. “Kasey Hamilton is grinding and doing a great job for us in the circle. We just have to find a way to finish those close ones. We answered back and I thought we did a really nice job in game two by getting our bats to come through with timely hits. Obviously, it’s always a great opportunity to get some of our reserves and our younger kids in. We’re going to continue to try and figure out where we can get those answers right now. We’re close, we just have to figure out how to finish.”
Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics
