Kansas Softball Picks Up Two Wins In First Day of CCU Classic
March 18, 2011
CONWAY, S.C. –
Kansas 4, Providence College 2 Box Score 
Kansas softball took advantage of four Providence College errors to score two unearned runs and help the Jayhawks to a 4-2 win versus the Friars as KU went 2-0 during its first day of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleer Classic while improving to 23-3 overall.
Kansas edged Lipscomb 2-1 earlier in the day.
Providence College struck first when it loaded the bases in the top of the third inning. From there, a single up the middle drove home the Friars’ only two runs of the contest. A hit batter later in the inning loaded the bases back up for PC but a wild pitch from senior Allie Clark quickly turned into an out when catcher Brittany Hile tossed the loose ball back to Clark at the plate to tag out the runner attempting to steal home.
The Jayhawks responded in their next at-bat when freshman Laura Vickers came in to pinch hit in the bottom of the fourth inning and drove in KU’s first run of the game. Vickers, who is 3-for-5 as a pinch hitter, sent a bases loaded fly ball to deep center field to plate sophomore Maggie Hull.
In the fifth inning Kansas took over the lead as sophomore Mariah Montgomery singled through the left side scoring sophomore Rosie Hull. One out later, freshman Ashley Newman drove in senior Brittany Hile on a single that bounced over the pitcher’s head to give KU a 3-2 edge.
Hull’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning added one more insurance run. Freshman Kendra Cullum singled to reach base and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt paired with an error before scoring on Hull’s fly ball to left field.
Montgomery led the KU offense going 2-for-3 from the plate and one RBI. Six additional Jayhawks collected a hit as KU out-hit ProvidenceCollege 8-6.
Sophomore Alex Jones pitched the first two and two thirds innings and allowed both of the Friars’ runs before senior Allie Clark came in for the final four and one third frames. Clark struck out five batters and allowed no walks to improve to 9-1 from the circle.
Kansas is back in action Saturday, March 19 when it takes on Georgia Tech at 11 a.m. and Coastal Carolina at 5:30 p.m. CST.
Kansas 2, Lipscomb 1 Box Score
Freshman pitcher Kristin Martinez tossed her sixth complete game limiting Lipscomb to just four hits and adding five strikeouts as the University of Kansas softball team defeated the Bison 2-1 Friday morning in the opening game of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleer Classic.
While Martinez did her part from the circle, the Kansas offense made the most of its opportunities from the batter’s box as junior Liz Kocon batted in both of KU’s runs while the team matched Lipscomb with four hits in the contest despite suffering 14 strikeouts from one of the country’s top pitchers in the Bison’s Whitney Kiihnl.
Senior Brittany Hile hit a line drive to left field in the fourth inning to break up a no-hitter while simultaneously putting sophomore Rosie Hull in scoring position at second base. Hull, who reached base on a walk, advanced to third when an attempted pickoff sent the ball into the outfield. Junior Liz Kocon then cleared the bases when her double to left field landed just under the glove of Lipscomb’s sliding left fielder to give the Jayhawks a 2-0 lead.
Martinez, who improved to 11-1, retired eight of the first nine Bison batters before Lipscomb got its first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, when it also scored its first run. Lipscomb led off the inning with a double to shallow left field before an RBI single to center field plated the runner. The Bison eventually put runners on the corners later in the frame but sophomore Mariah Montgomery prevented additional runs when she barely got a hold of a line drive over her head to end the inning.
Lipscomb managed just one more hit for the remainder in the game in the seventh inning and eventually had runners on second and third to potentially win the game but Martinez shut down the Bison with a strike out and then forced an easy pop fly to freshman Kendra Cullum at first base.
