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Jayhawks rebound after poor start, finish weekend 3-2

By Zach Getz

Monday, February 22, 2010

Senior shortstop Sara Ramirez said she didn’t know about the first one, but knew the second one was gone.

“I was just thinking base hits, base hits, and it turned out to be home runs,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez, who hit only one home run all of last season, hit two during the weekend at critical times, each helping to seal a victory.

While the Jayhawks won three games throughout the weekend, they needed a big inning in each contest to put the game away. Head coach Megan Smith said she thought the offense is still finding its groove and would progress.

“We’ve been moving some people around in the lineup and inserted some new players into our lineup,” Smith said. “Once they got some time to settle in, they put up a lot of runs against a good Marshall team.”

The Jayhawks are now 5-5 on the season and will see action again Feb. 26-28 at the UTC Frost Classic, where they will play Kentucky, Tennessee at Chattanooga, Tennessee Tech, Lipscomb and Austin Peay.

Lipton Invitational

Friday

Marshall 7, Kansas 3

Kansas had a rough start as an error and a wild pitch helped Marshall take a three-run lead in the second. Marshall stretched its lead to 6-0 in the fifth, and Kansas’ comeback attempt was too little too late. Junior catcher Brittney Hile and freshman outfielder Maggie Hull both recorded one run on two hits for the game.

No. 9 Florida 12, Kansas 4

It looked like it might have been a close match as Florida was up 3-2 after the second. Florida then scored four runs in the third, one in the fourth, and two in the fifth and sixth to run-rule Kansas in the sixth. Kansas’ offense just never had an answer to last year’s national runner-up team. Freshman outfielder Rosie Hull showed how invaluable and versatile the freshmen class has been this season as she racked up two runs on three hits.

Saturday

Kansas 2, Campbell 1

In spite of 13 hits between Kansas and Campbell, the game was a defensive struggle. Kansas was down 0-1 in the fifth until senior shortstop Sara Ramirez had a two-run homer to give Kansas the edge over Campbell. Freshman pitcher Alex Jones pitched seven innings with just one earned run, and offensively had one run on two hits.

Kansas 3, East Carolina 1

Even though Kansas gave up seven hits and had two errors, East Carolina only mustered one run. Another defensive match, the score was tied 0-0 going into the sixth when East Carolina scored its lone run. Kansas then responded by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth, two from another homerun from Ramirez.

Sunday

Kansas 7, Marshall 3

The rematch with Marshall was nearly a mirror of the first game. Marshall had a couple of errors and Kansas’ bats were hot, hitting a season high 13 hits. Kansas was down 1-3 when it scored two runs in the fourth and four in the fifth to break the game open. Sophomore infielder Marissa Ingle got her first collegiate hits, going 3-for-3 in the game after being 0-17 over her two-year career. She had four RBIs and two runs from her three hits. Ingle said that it all finally came together and she told herself to stop pushing and just relax. Freshman infielder Mariah Montgomery also had three runs on three hits for the game.

— Edited by Drew Anderson

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