Friday, April 3, 2009
Junior pitcher Sarah Blair and Senior catcher Elle Pottorf talk to softball head coach Tracy Bunge during a March 7 game against Northern Iowa University.
Kansas softball coach Tracy Bunge needs one more win to reach a career milestone of 400 victories. The Jayhawks will travel down to Lubbock, Texas to play a pair of games against Texas Tech this weekend — with that milestone in sight. Since her first game on February 15th, 1997, an 8-0 win over Illinois-Chicago, Bunge has become the all-time winningest coach in Kansas softball history. During her tenure, the Jayhawks have reached the NCAA regionals four times and have won the Big 12 postseason championship once, in 2006.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the girls,” said coach Bunge. “We need to continue to step forward and win ball games. To be honest, I didn’t even know about the record.”
No game is guaranteed in any sport, but the Jayhawks have a prime opportunity to get their coach a couple of wins over the weekend. The Red Raiders currently reside in the basement of the Big 12, with a conference record of 1-6 and an overall record of 11-28 and the Jayhawks come into this weekend’s series riding an eleven-game winning streak against the team.
The Texas Tech offense is led by senior Liz Eiman who, thus far through the season, has 44 hits and a .379 average. On the other side of the ball, though, the Red Raiders have been less than stellar. Defensively, Texas Tech has accumulated 49 errors, second most in the Big 12. The Red Raider pitchers have a staff ERA of 4.79 and have given up 315 hits on the way to 178 earned runs.
breakbox
Kansas vs. Texas Tech
Two-game series Lubbock, Texas
Game 1 2 p.m., Saturday
Game 2 Noon, Sunday
At 11-20 overall, 1-3 in conference and 4-4 against the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25, Kansas hopes to ride the momentum from their walk-off victory over No. 11 Missouri into the games against Texas Tech.
“The win against Missouri was a big boost for our team confidence,” Bunge said. “I sound like a broken record, but we need to continue getting timely hitting, quality defense and solid pitching.”
Val Chapple leads the Jayhawk offense, posting a .354 average and .400 on base percentage, as well as recently being recognized by the Big 12 as an exemplary student athlete. Kansas ace Valerie George leads the pitching staff with 111 innings pitches and 121 strikeouts, after racking up 18 in her last two appearances.
— — Edited by Chris Hickerson
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