Jayhawk Softball Travels to Florida For Lipton Invitational This Weekend
Feb. 17, 2010
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
Kansas softball will head south for the second-straight weekend to participate in the Lipton Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., Feb. 19-21. KU (2-3) will play five games during the three-day tournament highlighted by a contest versus 2009 national runner-up No. 3/9 Florida on Friday.
The Jayhawks begin play at 12:30 p.m., Friday versus Marshall followed by their contest with the Gators at 5 p.m. On Saturday, Kansas faces Campbell and East Carolina at 3:45 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. KU wraps up the weekend with a 9 a.m. game versus Marshall on Sunday morning.
Live stats are available for all contests via Gametracker on the KU Athletics website at www.KUAthletics.com. Additionally, a radio broadcast of the Kansas-Florida game will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
► About Kansas
The Jayhawks finished their opening weekend 2-3 in the Marriott Hobby Invite last week in Houston. Despite beginning the season with a pair of losses, Kansas bounced back with two wins in its second day of play and eventually ended the tournament with a close 4-2 loss to No. 14/16 Ohio State. Through the first five games, freshman Alex Jones leads the squad with a team-best 2.76 ERA and also leads the Jayhawks with a .375 batting average going 6-for-16 in five games. Senior Sara Ramirez hit .357 (5-for-14) over the three-day tournament and batted in a team-high four runs along with juniors Liz Kocon and Allie Clark.
► Last Time Out
Freshman Mariah Montgomery batted in her first career RBIs to bring the Kansas softball team to within one run of No. 14/16 Ohio State but the Buckeyes’ pitching staff shutdown KU’s hitters as the Jayhawks were defeated 4-2 in their final day at the Marriott Hobby Invite.
The Buckeyes quickly scored three runs in the first two innings to take a 3-0 advantage. Kansas answered back in the bottom of the second frame when junior Allie Clark led off the inning with a base on balls and junior Brittany Hile followed with a single into left field. Both runners scored on Montgomery’s double through the right side. It marked Montgomery’s first career RBIs as the KU third baseman cut KU’s deficit to 3-2.
After Montgomery’s hit, Ohio State brought in pitcher Melanie Nicholls and she held the Jayhawks hitless through the rest of the contest. OSU tacked on an insurance run in the top of the sixth with its second RBI double of the contest.
► Young Guns
Kansas featured a young lineup last weekend in its opening games as four freshmen made at least two starts. In the outfield, freshman Maggie Hull started all five games in left field while fellow newcomer Alex Jones made three starts in center field. Jones also made two starts at pitcher during the tournament. On the dirt, freshman Mariah Montgomery started every contest at third base. In addition, senior Alicia Irwin made five starts at second base. Irwin, who transferred from Coastal Carolina last season, made just one start in 2009.
► Jobe Moves Up Career Walks List
Senior Amanda Jobe drew six walks during the Marriott Hobby Invite, which ranks second in the Big 12, to move up to places into the No. 5 spot on KU’s career base on balls list with 76 career walks..
► Up Next
The Jayhawks continue their road swing at the UTC Frost Classic next weekend, Feb. 26-28, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Kansas will play Kentucky and Chattanooga on Friday in the first day of action. On Saturday, KU faces Tennessee Tech and Lipscomb and wraps up the weekend with a single game on Sunday versus Austin Peay.
