Monday, February 18, 2008
The Jayhawks got off to a great start in the desert, but suffered two late-inning losses on their final day of the UNLV Invitational tournament.
The Jayhawks’ offense exploded for four home runs and 14 runs in the first three games of the tournament. The tables turned on Sunday when the Jayhawks could muster a mere three runs in two games.
Brittany Hile, freshman catcher, Betsy Wilson, senior outfielder, Ally Stanton, sophomore outfielder and Amanda Jobe, sophomore first baseman all hit home runs in the tournament.
Courtesy of Kansas Athletics
Sophomore Sarah Vertelka is the top pitcher for the Kansas softball team.
On Sunday, though, the Jayhawk offense had a tough time gaining any momentum against Seton Hall and host UNLV. The Jayhawks could only manage five total hits in those two games compared to 20 hits during the first three games of the tournament.
Coach Tracy Bunge said the offensive struggle was due to poor offensive adjustments made by the Jayhawks in the final two games.
Coach Bunge was very pleased with the pitching staff, as she continued to see improvement by all three of the Jayhawk pitchers. “Our pitching continues to be very good across the board,” Bunge said. She was especially pleased with freshman pitcher Allison Clark, who she said continued to improve in her first few games as a Jayhawk.
The pitching staff is very balanced, as Clark, sophomore pitcher Sarah Vertelka and junior pitcher Valerie George all earned a victory in the tournament. “All three of them at times have looked like our number one,” Bunge said.
The two losses the Jayhawks suffered were tough because they came in the late innings of the ball game. Seton Hall took the Jayhawks into extra innings and scored three runs in the top of the eighth. The Jayhawks came back and scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but they fell short in their rallying effort.
The Jayhawks had an early one-run lead on UNLV, but a homerun by UNLV’s sophomore shortstop Jaci Hull in the bottom of the seventh inning spoiled the victory for the Jayhawks.
“We didn’t take advantage of what opportunities we had,” Bunge said. The late inning losses will prepare the Jayhawks for more adversity as the season rolls on. “I hope that it gives them a little motivation to work even harder,” Bunge said.
Both losses were tough for the Jayhawks, but they have been playing a high level of competition. UNLV is ranked 23rd in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll. The Jayhawks also beat two teams, Oregon and Brigham Young University, who were just outside of that poll. Bunge was happy with the win against BYU because they were such a tough team. Bunge complemented BYU’s offense and said it was a good quality win, where the offenses were battling back and forth.
Bunge said the Kansas defense improved in the UNLV tournament and she was happy about that. The offensive inconsistencies are one thing Bunge hopes to improve upon going into the next tournament. She said the team needed to make quicker adjustments on offense. “Different kids are stepping up at different times,” Bunge said.
Next up, the Jayhawks head to Texas for the Houston Invitational tournament. Bunge said the competition will continue to get tougher as the Jayhawks get further into the season, which will help them prepare for the tough competition they’ll face in the Big 12 conference.
— Edited by Katherine Loeck
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