Jayhawk Softball Falls 7-1 to No. 13/16 Nebraska
April 3, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Box Score in PDF Format 
Junior Liz Kocon hit her 10th home run of the season in the second inning but it wasn’t enough as No. 13/16 Nebraska defeated the Kansas softball team 7-1 Sunday afternoon at Arrocha Ballpark.
With the loss, Kansas dropped to 27-10 overall, including 0-6 in conference play. Nebraska improved to 30-4, including 3-1 in league play.
Despite the loss, KU head coach Megan Smith was optimistic after the game.
“We’re doing something big here,” said Smith. “We’re rebuilding. It’s not going to happen in one year. It’s not going to happen in two years. (The team) has to understand that.”
Coach Smith also indicated that the team has to be more focused on themselves instead of their opponents moving forward.
“We are concerned about ourselves. We’re concerned about fighting. Yesterday we didn’t fight, we gave up. Today we kept fighting, and we’ll try to keep building on that and move on to Wednesday,” Smith said.
Nebraska scored all seven runs over the final four innings with freshman Tatum Edwards leading the way for the Huskers, notching a home run, two RBI’s, and 3 runs scored off of four hits.
Brooke Thomason led off the top of the seventh for Nebraska with a home run to left-center, which kicked off a four-run inning for the Huskers.
Nebraska pitcher Ashley Hagemann gave the KU hitters problems for the second-straight day, allowing only one run off of five hits and striking out 11.
Freshman Kristin Martinez pitched six strong innings for Kansas, keeping the Jayhawks in the game until she allowed a lead off home run and hit a batter to lead off the seventh before senior Allie Clark came in to end the game. Martinez recorded four strikeouts and one walk over six innings pitched as she dropped to 12-4.
KU stranded a runner on base five time throughout the game, including freshman Ashley Newman, who hit a one-out triple in the seventh. Hagemann retired the last two Kansas batters with strikeouts to prevent a run.
The Jayhawks will be in action again on Wednesday, April 6 for a doubleheader against No. 14/15 Oklahoma. First pitch is set for 4 p.m at Arrocha Ballpark in Lawrence.
