Kansas Travels To Sacramento For Capital Classic
March 14, 2007
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
First Pitch
After seven consecutive home contests, Kansas will hit the road again Friday for a six-game stint in Sacramento, Calif. The Jayhawks (17-7-1), winners of 10 of their last 12 games, will face Cal Poly, Idaho State, Georgia Southern, Pittsburgh and Colorado State in the 2007 Capital Classic at the Sacramento Softball Complex. After a day’s rest, KU will play Sacramento State Tuesday to wrap up its spring break trip. Live Gametracker will be available for all KU contests.
The Jayhawks return 10 letterwinners from last year’s Big 12 postseason championship team, including senior All-Big 12 pitcher Kassie Humphreys. Redshirt sophomore catcher Elle Pottorf paces the offense with a .356 batting average in 2007. Head coach Tracy Bunge is in her 11th season at KU with a 333-278-2 record.
The Capital Classic
Sacramento State serves as host for the 2007 Capital Classic Softball Tournament Friday through Sunday, March 16-18, at the Sacramento Softball Complex. In its 15th year of existence, the Capital Classic boasts a lineup of teams from throughout the nation. In all, 15 teams will be at the tournament, encompassing 11 states and eight conferences. The entire tournament field includes BYU, Cal Poly, Colorado State, Georgia Southern, Idaho State, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Mercer, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Sacramento State and Santa Clara.
The Capital Classic features a round-robin format with a total of 37 games being played over three days. A tournament champion will be declared on the final day of competition based on record. Should two or more teams be tied for the top record in the tournament, a series of tiebreakers will be used to declare the tournament champion.
Of the 15 teams, five will be making their first appearance at the Capital Classic (Georgia Southern, Idaho State, Iowa State, Mercer and Santa Clara). Besides Sacramento State, Iowa has made the most tournament appearances (11), followed by Kansas (five), Illinois (three), BYU (two), Cal Poly (two), Minnesota (two) and Purdue (two).
Jayhawk Invitational Leftovers
Kansas posted a 4-1 showing at its home-opening Jayhawk Invitational last weekend, taking the tournament title with a 4-0 victory over New Mexico on Sunday. Senior pitcher Kassie Humphreys (10-2) was impressive in the home tournament, going 3-0 on the week with a 0.00 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 18 and one-third inning. The Glendale, Ariz., native hit .333 and posted a home run in Sunday’s championship game while tossing her first no-hitter of the season against the Lobos. Sophomore shortstop Stevie Crisosto led the Jayhawks at the plate last week, hitting .385 with five hits.
Up Next: Jayhawks Open Big 12 Play at Oklahoma State
The Jayhawks continue their 10-game road swing and open Big 12 Conference play March 24-25 at Oklahoma State.
