Jayhawks Head To Sunshine State Tournament

Feb. 15, 2007

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

First Pitch
Kansas continues its early season non-conference slate Friday and Saturday at the Sunshine State Tournament in Tallahassee, Fla. The Jayhawks (2-2-1) will face host No. 22/22 Florida State, South Carolina, Memphis and Jacksonville at JoAnne Graf Field. Live Gametracker will be available for all KU games and some will feature online radio broadcasts.

The Jayhawks return 10 letterwinners from last year’s Big 12 postseason championship team, including senior All-Big 12 pitcher Kassie Humphreys. KU’s top four hitters through five games are two freshmen and two sophomores. Redshirt sophomore catcher Elle Pottorf leads the Jayhawk offense in 2007 with a .455 batting average after sitting out the 2006 season with a medical redshirt. Head coach Tracy Bunge is in her 11th season at KU with a 320-273-2 record.

The Sunshine State Tournament
Five teams will compete Friday and Saturday in the Sunshine State Tournament in Tallahassee, Fla., with Sunday being reserved for weather rescheduling. Game times were moved up on Wednesday due to an expected drop in temperatures for the night contests. Headlining the tournament are undefeated No. 22/22 Florida State and South Carolina. The Seminoles advanced to the 2006 NCAA Super Regionals and boast a 0.84 ERA and .386 batting average though their first four games. The Gamecocks (5-0) are hitting .320 and have compiled a 0.74 ERA in five victories. KU will also face Jacksonville and Memphis, which is in its second season of Division I competition.

Campbell-Cartier Classic Leftovers
Kansas opened its season at the Campbell-Cartier Classic last weekend in San Diego, Calif. The Jayhawks went 2-2-1 in the four-day tournament, defeating UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State, 3-2, and tying No. 23/24 UMass, 1-1, after five innings and a rain delay.

Kansas Quick Hits
-Senior pitcher Kassie Humphreys (Glendale, Ariz.) is the Big 12’s top returning pitcher. She is 2-0 this season with a 1.84 ERA and 14 strikeouts through 19 innings. Humphreys compiled a 1.19 ERA and held opponents to a .156 batting average in 234.2 frames last season.
-The 2007 Kansas squad consists of five upperclassmen — two seniors and three juniors — and 13 underclassmen — seven sophomores and six freshmen.
-The Jayhawks’ eight newcomers in 2007 are the most since the 2003 season.
-Kansas won its first-ever Big 12 Postseason Championship and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the second consecutive season in 2006.
-KU has made 10 trips to the NCAA Regionals in the last 26 years and gone four times under head coach Tracy Bunge in the past 10 seasons (most recently in 2006).

Up Next: Red & Black Tournament
If the weather cooperates, Kansas will head to Louisville, Ky., Feb. 23-25 for the 2007 Red and Black Tournament. The Jayhawks will face host Louisville, Kent State and Iowa in the three-day event at Ulmer Stadium.

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