After losing two out of three in a road series at Oklahoma State over the weekend, the Kansas softball team finished fifth in the 11-team Big 12.
The Jayhawks will face No. 4 seed UCF in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
KU, which is in the midst of its most successful season in the eight-year tenure of head coach Jennifer McFalls, concluded its season with a 34-18 record and a 14-10 mark in Big 12 play. The Knights, one of two teams (along with OSU) to take a series from the Jayhawks all season, wound up at 38-15-1 and 14-9-1 in the Big 12.
The fact that KU managed to at least win one game in its road series with the Cowgirls — a 10-1 run-rule blowout on Saturday — bolstered the Jayhawks’ NCAA Tournament chances somewhat as they hunt their first regional bid since 2015. They don’t have too much to lose from a matchup with UCF, which was No. 21 in RPI as of Sunday morning, but could earn some additional security and favorable positioning with another victory in Oklahoma City. The winner of KU’s matchup with UCF gets a date with either No. 1 seed Texas Tech or No. 8 Baylor on Friday at 3 p.m.
That lone victory for the Jayhawks at Cowgirl Stadium was quite an outlier compared to the rest of the weekend. KU piled on five first-inning runs on Saturday against OSU starter Preslee Downing, who did not record an out, thanks to five consecutive hits by Presley Limbaugh, Anna Soles, Hailey Cripe, Ella Boyer and Campbell Bagshaw. Rosie Davis hit a solo homer for the Cowgirls in the bottom of the first, but otherwise KU freshman pitcher Lila Partridge allowed just one hit on the day.
The Jayhawks kept building on their lead, including with Boyer’s 18th home run of the season (the second-best total in program history), and managed to clear the run-rule threshold and lock down a dominant victory.
Contrastingly, KU did not manage much offense at all on either Friday or Sunday. On Friday, the Jayhawks were contained by OSU’s All-American ace Ruby Meylan. Chloe Barber kept pace for three innings but gave up a pair of two-RBI singles in the fourth and two home runs in the fifth. By the time Lizzy Ludwig replaced her it was too late, and KU ended up losing 8-1.
Meylan did her thing again two days later, this time going the distance with just two hits and zero walks allowed. Meanwhile, given their second chance at Partridge, the Cowgirls got to the freshman pitcher, and also had some success against her classmate Blakely Barber, who returned for her first appearance in two weeks. The Jayhawks found themselves on the receiving end of a 7-0 shutout.
Now it’s on to the Big 12 tournament. KU and UCF have played some hard-fought matchups since the Knights joined the league. Three of their nine games over the last three years have gone to extra innings, and all three have resulted in victories for UCF. KU did win the most recent matchup between the two teams, though, a series closer on April 19, by a score of 4-2.
The Knights are led by pitcher Isabella Vega, a redshirt sophomore with 20 starts in 35 appearances who has maintained a team-high 2.88 ERA, as well as five hitters with double-digit home runs: catcher Beth Damon, shortstop Aubrey Evans, second baseman Sierra Humphreys, left fielder Izzy Mertes and designated player Kendall Yarnell (an Olathe native with some big plays against the Jayhawks in recent years).
