COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Kansas Softball topped UTSA for the second consecutive time Friday morning, topping the Roadrunners 9-0 in a run-rule win at Davis Diamond. Pitcher Katie Brooks earned a career-high 10 strikeouts in just five innings pitched, giving the Jayhawks the victory after topping UTSA 12-0 on Thursday.
The Jayhawks extended their win streak to three games, its longest of the season, and earned its second-straight shutout victory. Kansas improved to 6-5-1 on the season, while UTSA fell to 2-11.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Brooks got her fifth start of the season in the circle. After walking the first two batters, Brooks forced back-to-back outs before sitting down the final batter of the inning on strikes to leave two runners stranded.
- Kansas got the bats going early. Presley Limbaugh singled and reached second on a UTSA fielding error and was brought home thanks to an RBI double by Aynslee Linduff. In the next at-bat, Olivia Bruno hit a clutch two-out RBI double to give Kansas a 2-0 lead going into the second.
- UTSA put pressure on Brooks again in the third after loading the bases with a single, a walk and a fielding error. With two outs, Brooks came up clutch with a strikeout to keep UTSA scoreless.
- Kansas kept its foot on the gas in the third. After Linduff added another hit, Campbell Bagshaw continued her breakout season with an RBI triple, her second of the season. Hailey Cripe extended her hitting streak to nine games with an RBI double to give KU a 4-0 lead after the third.
- The Jayhawks added their fifth run of the game in the fourth inning. Ashlyn Anderson opened the frame with a single, which was followed a single hit right back at the pitcher by Angela Price. Limbaugh laid down a textbook bunt and beat the throw at first for a single. The throw got away from UTSA’s first baseman as Anderson scored to extend KU’s lead to 5-0.
- The sophomore duo of Bagshaw and Cripe kept striking while they were hot. Bagshaw opened the bottom half of the fifth with a walk, followed by a Cripe single to right center. In the next at-bat, Anna Soles drew a walk to load the bases, and Abby Carsley drew another to keep the bases loaded and to extend KU’s lead to 6-0. September Flanagan kept the walk-streak going with one of her own to extend the Jayhawk’s lead by one more. Angela Price hit her second single of the game to force the 9-0 run-rule victory.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Katie Brooks (5-0)
Final line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 10 SO
Loss: Jamie Gilbert (1-4)
Final line: 4.1 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 4 BB, 3 SO
PLAYER OF THE GAME
In just five innings of action, Brooks struck out a career-high 10 batters and only allowed two hits in the shutout victory. Brooks has won every game she has started and has a season ERA of 0.92 and a total of 32 strikeouts in 30.1 innings pitched.
QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
“I was really proud of Katie Brooks today. I thought the strike zone was pretty tight, and I thought she did a nice job of continuing to stay within herself and the zone. Ten strikeouts in five innings is pretty significant for our pitching staff. I thought we came out swinging and we were really aggressive early. We didn’t let off the gas and got some really quality at-bats today. We drew some significant walks late in the game and those are difference makers for us.” – Head Coach Jennifer McFalls
“I got off to a rough start, but I trusted my defense and let them work behind me. I have changed my warmup and I really like it, so I think I’ll stick with it.” – Katie Brooks
- Cripe extended her hitting streak to nine games after hitting a RBI double to right center. She now has 11 RBI and five doubles on the season.
- Brooks set a new career-high eight strikeouts with a strikeout looking in the fourth inning, topping her previous best of seven against St. John’s (Feb. 9).
- Kansas got its second run-rule of the season. The first one came yesterday (Feb. 23) against the same opponent, UTSA, when Kansas won 12-0 in five innings.
- KU got its second-straight shutout of the season while scoring its second-most runs of the season.
UP NEXT
Kansas will compete in its first doubleheader of the weekend as it takes on North Dakota State at 2 p.m. CT before facing off against No. 18 Texas A&M at 4:30 p.m. Fans can watch the game against the Aggies on ESPN+ and are encouraged to follow live statistics throughout both contests.
