🥎 Jayhawks to Compete in last Tournament before Conference Play

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas Softball team is hosting the Rock Chalk Challenge this weekend at Arrocha Ballpark. This marks the last non-conference tournament for the Jayhawks before beginning Big 12 play next weekend. 

Kansas will play a total of four games with two on Saturday and two on Sunday. The Jayhawks start on Saturday, March 19 with a matchup against South Dakota. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. CT. They follow immediately with a game against Tulsa and first pitch set for 5:30 p.m. CT. 

On Sunday, the Jayhawks will wrap up the weekend with another doubleheader and a repeat of Saturday’s opponents. They start the day at 2 p.m. CT with another game against South Dakota and close out the weekend with a 4:30 p.m. CT first pitch against Tulsa. 

Lyric Moore currently leads the Kansas offense with a .440 batting average. Moore ranks fourth in the Big 12 Conference with that mark. Moore is also joined by teammates Ashlyn Anderson and Macy Omli on the top 10 list for most doubles in the big 12. Anderson leads the team and the league with nine and is followed closely by Omli and Moore who are both part of a five-way tie for the number three spot with seven doubles apiece. 

Anderson also leads the team with five home runs. She is joined by Shelby Gayre who also has five home runs to her name this season and 34 in her career. The 34 homers put Gayre fourth place for most career home runs by a Jayhawk. 

Kasey Hamilton leads the team with 42 of its 83 strikeouts so far this year to her name. Last year, the lefty had 59 of the team’s 211. 

South Dakota currently has a 14-8 record, which puts them at number two in the Summit League Conference. South Dakota’s junior third baseman Aleesia Sainz was named the Summit League Player of the week for this week (3/14/22). She also leads the league in a number of categories including home runs with eight and slugging percentage with .810. South Dakota has eight players hitting over .300 including six starters. Jordyn Pender and Sainz both rank in the top 10 for batting average in the Summit League hitting .349 and .345, respectively.

Tulsa is 9-15 overall so far this season, which places them in sixth place in the American Athletic Conference. Cleste Wood of Tulsa leads the American Athletic Conference in doubles with nine and comes in tied for second in triples with three so far this season. Wood has also batted in 24 runs which puts her in fourth place in the conference individual standings. Pitcher Samantha Pochop takes the number 10 spot for overall individual pitching as well as tying for the number seven spot in wins with four. She has thrown 63.0 innings which is the fourth most in the conference and she has thrown 73 strikeouts which puts her in the third place spot in the conference. 

Up Next

The Jayhawks will take a quick road trip to Wichita to play a one game midweek against the Wichita State Shockers. The game will take place on March 26 at 6 p.m. CT.