🥎 Jayhawks Split Action with Kansas City
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Redshirt junior Sydnee Ramsey and junior Morgyn Wynne each finished the night with two home runs as Kansas softball split doubleheader action against Kansas City on Friday, April 9. The Jayhawks took game one, 11-6, before dropping the evening clash, 8-6.
With the results today, the Jayhawks move to 18-15 on the year as the Roos are 18-14.
On the day, Kansas finished with 18 hits and 17 RBIs between the two games. The Jayhawks were led by Ramsey and Cheyenne Hornbuckle tallying three hits. Wynne led the team with five RBIs to move her season total to 41.
Game One – Won 11-6
Eight different Jayhawks tallied a hit in the first game of the afternoon that started in the bottom of the first inning with Ramsey hitting a solo-home run out of right center in the leadoff position. Brittany Jackson was hit by a pitch to put a runner on for Wynne to clock her 14th home run of the season that was sent out of right field to give KU a 3-0 lead after one.
The Roos answered back in the top of the second inning with three runs of their own to even the field.
KU struck against in the bottom of the second beginning with Sophia Buzard drawing a walk. Macy Omli executed a sac bunt to advance Buzard into scoring position. Ramsey knocked a double into left field to bring Buzard home and reclaim the Jayhawk lead. Jackson singled through the left side to put runners on the corners for Wynne to hit a sac fly and score Ramsey. Kansas held a 5-3 lead after two.
The Jayhawks added another run in the third inning after Cheyenne Hornbuckle singled and advanced around for Tarin Travieso to bring her home.
In the top of the fourth, KC tied things up with a three-run home run.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth that KU reclaimed the lead that began with Hornbuckle and Ashlyn Anderson both getting on with no outs. Travieso advanced them into scoring position on a ground out. With runners on second and third, Buzard sent a three-run homer out of right giving KU a 9-6 lead after five.
Kansas kept the momentum going in the sixth inning as Jackson led off with a double. Wynne drew a walk and was replaced by Haleigh Harper as a pinch runner. Shelby Gayre dropped a hit into shallow right to bring home Jackson. The final run of the game was scored after Anderson drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Harper.
Lexy Mills started in the circle for the Jayhawks and pitched 3.0 innings with two strikeouts before being replaced by Hailey Reed. Reed finished with 4.0 innings pitched and two strikeouts on her way to improving to 5-2 on the year.
Game Two – Lost 8-6
Action started slow in the evening matchup on both sides. Kansas City was the first team to score after getting a run home in the top of the third. The Roos extended their lead in the top of the fourth with an additional two runs.
The Jayhawks responded in the bottom of the fourth with Hornbuckle drawing a one-out walk. Wynne tabbed her 15th home run of the season and 27th of her career to move into fifth on KU’s career list and cut KC’s lead down to one. KU continued to record hits and runs with Anderson and Tarin both getting on base and coming home off of RBI singles from Jordan Richards and Omli. KU maintained a 4-3 lead after four.
The Roos came back in the sixth to score one to tie the game. KC added another four runs in the seventh to reclaim the lead, 8-4.
Kansas looked to respond with Omli getting a base hit to leadoff the seventh. Ramsey clocked her second homer of the day with a shot out of left field. Unfortunately, the two runs scored in the seventh weren’t enough as KU fell to Kansas City in the second game.
Freshman Savanna DesRochers pitched 3.1 innings for the Jayhawks before being replaced by Kasey Hamilton. Hamilton pitched 2.2 innings in relief with two strikeouts as she falls to 3-7 on the season. Reed pitched the final inning in relief and picked up one strikeout.
Moment of the Day
Buzard made her first collegiate start game one of the day. In her second appearance at the plate today, the freshman blasted a three-run homer out of right field. The hit allowed the Jayhawks to reclaim the lead in the fifth inning and served as the momentum swing for KU as Kansas scored two more in the sixth to capture the victory.
Stat of the Day
Hornbuckle went 3-for-6 at the plate and scored two runs. The three hits in the first game marks the most for her in a single game in her career in the Crimson and Blue.
Quoting Jennifer McFalls
“We got off to a great start offensively in the first game, especially since we hit two home runs. A strong start had been our goal coming into today. Unfortunately, we let them back in the game but luckily our bats stayed hot. In the first game, I’m proud that we got on the board in every inning but one. Every time KC scored, we responded. In game two, we only had one big inning. Against a team like Kansas City that swings the bat well, we can’t try to play catch up and that was the position we put ourselves in. We weren’t able to get a stop in that second game and in the seventh inning, we ran out of hits.”
Up Next
Kansas will look to claim the weekend series against Kansas City when the two teams meet for a single game on Saturday, April 10 at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ or can be listened to on the Jayhawk Radio Network.
