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The story of the week was the way Jayhawk pitching struggled against the Longhorns, and the offense just couldn't keep up.
Friday, March 27 - Texas 6, Kansas 0
The Longhorns stunned Kansas with a three-run bomb in the top of the first inning, and KU never did muster any offense to oppose the 'Horns. SP Alicia Pille (2.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 BB) picked up her first loss of the season after getting roughed up in the first two innings of the game. Sophia Templin (5.0 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 8 K) was stellar in relief, holding the Longhorns down. Unfortunately, the Jayhawk bats just did not get going, as only one KU hitter, C Jessie Roane (2/3) had more than one hit. The Jayhawks only managed four hits on the evening.
Saturday, March 28 - Texas 11, Kansas 5
Once again, UT struck in the first two innings. Each time, KU answered, but it just wasn't enough. The Jayhawks were held to seven hits, but two were home runs. SP Alicie Pille (0.1 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB) was ineffective against Texas once again, and was pulled in the first inning. Two more Jayhawk pitchers failed to hold Texas at bay while the 'Horns racked up 11 runs on 13 hits. KU was led offensively by SS Chaley Brickey (1/3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB) and 1B Maddie Stein (1/4, HR, R, RBI).
Sunday, March 29 - Texas 7, Kansas 5
Kansas took an early 2-1 lead in the second inning on Sunday afternoon, but three-spots by Texas in the third and fifth innings were enough to overcome the KU offense. KU loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7th with two outs, but couldn't get the key hit to extend the game. SP Sophia Templin (2.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, BB, K) didn't make it out of the third inning, but Alicia Pille (4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, BB, 4 K) finally had a decent outing against Texas only giving up three unearned runs in almost five innings of relief. All of KU's five runs came on solo home runs, led by DH Daniella Chavez (3/4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI).
Head coach Megan Smith commented, "We were all about winning innings today and we really only won two, so that's not going to be enough to win the game. Lily (Behrmann) coming through that first inning was big because we had struggled in the first inning in the first two games. We had a lot of home runs, but no one was on base when we hit them, which is why we couldn't pull it out."
Up Next
The KU softball team hit some real adversity this past weekend, and it will be interesting to see how they react. The Jayhawks will travel to Stillwater, OK, for a Thursday-Saturday three-game set against Oklahoma State. You can catch all KU softball games (home and away) on the Jayhawk Radio Network.