Jayhawks Host No. 14 Baylor

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas welcomes Baylor for its final set of home games of the 2015 season. The Jayhawks will kick-off the three game series Friday, May 1 at 5 p.m., inside Arrocha Ballpark at Rock Chalk Park.
 
AROUND THE DIAMOND
Friday is Fan Appreciation Day at Arrocha Ballpark, anyone wearing blue will receive $5 admission. On Saturday, Kansas will recognize its four seniors and will be giving away Big Jay bobbleheads while supplies last. For the series finale, KU will hand out the last set of trading cards and the team will sign autographs postgame. Children will also be given the opportunity run the bases at the conclusion of Sunday’s game.
 
SENIOR SALUTE
This weekend’s series will mark the last time four Kansas players are guaranteed to wear the Crimson and Blue uniform in front of their home crowd at Arrocha Ballpark. Veterans Alicia Pille, Chanin Naudin, Maddie Stein and Beth Wilson have seen Kansas become one of the nation’s top teams over the course of their tenure as a Jayhawk. They have been an integral part of four-consecutive seasons with 30 or more victories, KU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in eight years, and most recently, they helped Kansas back into the Top-25 for the first time since 2011. Aside from Wilson, who joined the Jayhawk family for her final two seasons, the seniors have sported Kansas across their chests for the past four years.
 
LEADING OFF FOR KANSAS
• Head coach Megan Smith recorded her 300th career win after the Jayhawks defeated Georgia State, 5-4, on March 22. During the Oklahoma State series, the Jayhawks recorded their 30th win of the year, marking the fifth-straight season that Smith has guided Kansas to the 30-win plateau.
• The Jayhawks have registered a combined 189 walks during the 2015 season, setting a new team single-season record. The previous mark was 173 walks collected by the 2011 squad. This season marks the seventh time in Kansas history that the Jayhawks have tallied more than 150 base on balls in a season.
• In the last three seasons, Kansas has recorded three top-10 wins including a victory over then-No. 1 Oklahoma, 2-0, in 2013. This season, KU continued its tradition of upsetting OU with a 4-2 win over the fifth-ranked Sooners last weekend. 
• Kansas pitchers combined to hurl 22 and two-thirds innings of scoreless softball as they tossed three-consecutive shutouts from Feb. 8-14. The Jayhawks nearly threw a fourth-straight shutout, but Weber State scored a run in sixth inning, ending the KU pitchers’ streak an out shy of 23 scoreless innings.
• Six members of the Jayhawk starting lineup are hitting above .300 in 2015 and contributing to KU’s .326 batting average, which is the second-best team average in the Big 12 Conference. Junior Chaley Brickey is hitting over .400, posting a .421 batting average.
• Kansas has recorded 47 home runs on the season from seven different Jayhawks. Of the 47 homers, nine have been grand slams. Junior infielder Chaley Brickey leads the team with 13 long balls. Freshman Daniella Chavez has hit a team-best three grand slams, which is three shy of tying the national record.
• Senior hurler Alicia Pille has been making her mark in the circle all season. Her latest feat was reaching 20 wins in a single season, making her the first Jayhawk to do so since 2001. Only 15 previous Jayhawks have reached the milestone.
• Senior utility Maddie Stein became the all-time RBI leader in Kansas softball history on March 22 after recording her 141st career RBI with a home run to left field. She currently has 149 RBIs in her career and 40 on the season.
 
FOLLOWING THE JAYHAWKS
Listen to every pitch, home and away, all season long as part of the Jayhawk Radio Network, in partnership with KJHK, the University of Kansas’ student radio station. For the first time ever, all of KU’s contests will be carried live, for free, at KUAthletics.com/radio or by clicking the links on the online schedule. Fans can also get in-game updates via twitter by following @KUsoftball.
 
SCOUTING BAYLOR
The Bears head north with an overall record of 34-12 and are 8-4 in Big 12 play. Baylor is currently ranked 14th in the nation in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and 17th in the nation by the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll. BU is coming off a series win, 2-1, over conference foe Iowa State. Both of Baylor’s wins against the Cyclones came via shutout, recording a 6-0 victory in the series finale (4/26).
 
Collectively, the squad has registered a batting average of .323 with 62 doubles and 41 home runs. The Bears are led by sophomore infielder Ari Hawkins who has earned a .418 batting average, the only Bear currently hitting over .400. Hawkins has tallied 51 hits in her 122 at-bats, seven of those hits coming from extra-base knocks. Freshman Shelby Friudenberg has proven she can launch the ball, recording a team-best 15 home runs on the season. Also on the offensive end, sophomore Lindsey Cargill has stolen 23 bases in her 24 attempts on the season.
 
In the circle, the Bears’ pitching staff has combined for a 2.56 ERA in 303.0 innings of work, striking out 276 batters in their 46 contests. Junior Heather Stearns leads the staff, hurling 153.0 innings and striking out 193 batters. Stearns has a mark of 16-9 in the circle and a 2.47 ERA during her junior campaign. Redshirt freshman Sara Beth Toben boasts a perfect 8-0 record in the circle, throwing 38.2 innings and striking out 16 batters.
 
SENIOR SALUTE
This weekend’s series will mark the last time four Kansas players are guaranteed to wear the Crimson and Blue uniform in front of their home crowd at Arrocha Ballpark. Veterans Alicia Pille, Chanin Naudin, Maddie Stein and Beth Wilson have seen Kansas become one of the nation’s top teams over the course of their tenure as a Jayhawk. They have been an integral part of four-consecutive seasons with 30 or more victories, KU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in eight years, and most recently, they helped Kansas back into the Top-25 for the first time since 2011. Aside from Wilson, who joined the Jayhawk family for her final two seasons, the seniors have sported Kansas across their chests for the past four years.
 
NO PRESSURE, NO DIAMONDS
Kansas has proven to come up clutch in close games all season long. The Jayhawks have recorded four walk-off victories so far this season, including last weekend’s win over No. 5 Oklahoma, 4-2, in the bottom of the eighth inning (4/24). Two such victories have come in the form of a home run, including senior utility Maddie Stein’s grand slam to defeat Nebraska-Omaha, 5-4 (3/15). The other two wins were against Arkansas, 4-3 (2/7), and Stony Brook, 5-4 (2/27). 
 
WALK IT OUT
In 45 games this season, Kansas has recorded a combined 189 base on balls, averaging 4.2 per game. The Jayhawks’ 189 walks set a new team single-season record. Previously, the most walks recorded in a season was 173, which was achieved during the 2011 campaign. Sophomore utility Lily Behrmann leads the team with 38 walks, moving her into second in the single-season records. Last season, junior infielder Chaley Brickey drew a team-high 42 walks, setting a new single-season record after surpassing the previous mark of 35 set by Tracy Bunge in 1985. The Jayhawks recorded a game-high seven walks against Oklahoma State on March 30, 2014.
 
EXTRA, EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT
The Jayhawks have played five extra-inning games during 2015 and have a perfect 5-0 record in those games. KU’s most recent extra-inning victory came on April 24 against No. 5 Oklahoma with help from freshman Daniella Chavez’s walk-off home run. Kansas is 12-3 all-time under head coach Megan Smith in extended contests. Kansas has an overall record of 84-77-1 in extra-inning games. The longest game in KU history is 24 innings against Oklahoma State on May 2, 1994, which is the third-longest game in NCAA history.
 
HOME RUN FUN
The Jayhawks have launched a total of 47 balls over the outfield wall in 2015, which is the third-most home runs among teams in the Big 12 Conference. Seven different Jayhawks have recorded at least one home run this season. Junior infielder Chaley Brickey has hit 13 long balls to lead KU in that statistical category. Brickey needs two more home runs to set a new record for homers in a season by a junior. Kansas has also posted nine grand slams so far this season by six different members of the roster, including a walk-off from senior utility Maddie Stein against Omaha (3/15). Freshman Daniella Chavez leads the squad with three grand slams this season and is four away from setting a new national single-season record. Twice this season, Kansas has recorded five home runs in a game, which is one homer shy of a KU single-game record.
 
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will close-out conference play with a trip to Ames, Iowa, May 8-10, where they will play a three-game series against the Cyclones. First pitch is scheduled for Friday, May 8 at 4 p.m., at the Cyclones Sports Complex.
 
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