It’s hard to win when you don’t hit. It’s even harder when you don’t make plays defensively. When you don’t do both, it’s near impossible.

The Jayhawks came away from Thursday’s 7-1 loss to the Drake Bulldogs with twice as many errors, four, as they had hits, two. The Jayhawks committed all of them in the first two innings, costing Kansas four runs.

“We set a poor tone defensively at the beginning,” coach Tracy Bunge said. “We put ourselves in a huge hole.”

The errors didn’t do starting pitcher Valerie George any favors either. Stranded in the circle, the senior hurler gave up one run on four hits through the first two frames.

The Bulldogs scored right out of the gate, capitalizing on a leadoff double by Elena Leon in the top of the first inning. Not wasting any time to add some insurance, Drake’s Rose Magaddino hit a two-run blast over the left field wall with one out in the second; it was her first extra base hit on the season. Drake would add on an additional run before the end of the inning, bringing the score to 5-0.

George, as well as the defense, battled back and held Drake to four consecutive scoreless innings thereafter. Senior outfielder Dougie McCaulley stymied a potential rally for the Bulldogs in the third. McCaulley robbed a hit from Drake third basemen Carrie Hatfield, fully extending for a lay-out catch in shallow center field.

The Jayhawks added a run of their own in the sixth inning when senior third basemen Val Chapple hit a towering home run to lead off the inning, the team’s second hit of the ball game and only run. The first hit came off of the bat of right fielder Allie Clark in the second inning.

Strong performances from Bulldog pitchers Brynne Dordel and Jenna DeLonge thwarted the Kansas offense.

“Their pitchers did a good job of mixing speeds, which throws you off balance. It was easy to get defensive up there,” McCaulley said.

The Jayhawks also struggled with a recurring problem Thursday evening, a lack of confidence. The early defensive struggles seemed to take the strut out of the Jayhawks step.

“Having defensive lapses early really hurt our confidence,” McCaulley said. “At this point in the season we’ve got to figure out a way to work through it.”

Kansas dropped to 17-27 overall with the loss to Drake. This weekend the Jayhawks return to conference play, hosting Baylor for a two game series. The two games against Baylor mark the last two games that will be played in Arrocha Ballpark for the 2009 season.

— — Edited by Sam Speer