Thursday, April 2, 2009
After getting run-ruled in game one by No. 11 Missouri to begin the day, the Jayhawks were in danger of being shut out again in game two. Facing a 1-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh, the Jayhawks’ bats heated up just in time.
Sophomore outfielder Liz Kocon led off the final frame with a homerun to right field to tie the score, and four batters later, junior first baseman Amanda Jobe launched a homerun of her own, giving Kansas the walk-off 4-1 victory.
After the game, coach Tracy Bunge spoke highly of the resiliency of her club. “For a lot of teams in our position, getting beat 8-0 in the first game, that would have been it,” she said. “But we really clawed our way through. The girls brushed it off and were focused on going out and getting game two.”
Kansas indeed shook off a rough first game, in which they were run-ruled by the Tigers in six innings. Senior pitcher Valerie George started strong, retiring the first nine batters she faced, fanning four. But Missouri batters got to the Jayhawk ace for two runs in the fourth inning and one more in the fifth to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Tigers then batted around in the sixth inning, exploding for five more runs.
Missouri pitcher Stacy Delaney was sharp from the circle, striking out eight, but the Jayhawks didn’t do themselves any favors. Despite six hits in the game, Kansas left eight runners on base – including a squandered bases-loaded opportunity in the fourth.
The Jayhawks didn’t fare much better at the plate in game two, mustering only one hit against Missouri freshman Kristen Nottelmann through six innings. But luckily for Kansas, softball is a seven inning game – which was just enough time for the clutch hitting of Kocon and Jobe.
“I just went up there relaxed,” Kocon said. “She had already got me twice, so I just stepped back off the plate and looked for something inside.”
The approach worked, as Kocon smashed a no-doubter over the right field fence. Jobe wasn’t as sure that her ball had enough behind it.
“It kind of hung up there,” she said. “I didn’t even care if it went out, I just didn’t want it to be caught – we needed that run to score.”
Not lost in the Jayhawks’ late inning rally was the strong effort from junior pitcher Sarah Vertelka. She worked seven innings, allowing only five hits and one run to the Tigers, who entered the game leading the Big 12 with a .334 team average.
“That was a very good effort from Sarah against a Missouri team with a lot of pop,” Bunge said. “She did what she needs to do to be successful – she kept the ball down.”
With the comeback, Kansas (11-20, 1-3) got their first conference victory, as well as a boost in confidence.
“This was big for both our overall psyche and our momentum,” Bunge said. “This was a huge win for us.”
Jobe agreed with her coach. “We’ve been struggling lately, no one can deny it,” she said, “but we can really build off of this win.”
— — Edited by Susan Melgren
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