Kansas to host No. 2/2 Oklahoma
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas returns to Lawrence to host No. 2/2 Oklahoma April 12-14 at Arrocha Ballpark. Friday’s competition is Pack the Park Night with fans encouraged to wear their Kansas blue to the 5 p.m. game against the Sooners. Saturday is Star Wars Day with a first pitch slated for 2 p.m., while in the series finale on Sunday at noon, fans can take part in the Cartoon Classics day.
The Jayhawks enter the series with a 2-4 record in Big 12 play, while OU enters atop the conference standings with a 6-0 mark. KU recently dropped the series at then-No. 13/16 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., but earned its first road win of the season on Wednesday, April 3 at Tulsa.
Fans can watch the Friday and Sunday games on ESPN+, or listen on the Jayhawk Radio Network via KUAthletics.com/Radio with Jackson Schneider calling the action.
QUICK HITS
• Kansas lost its last three games to No. 13/16 Oklahoma State on April 5-6 in Stillwater, Okla.
• The Jayhawks earned their first away victory of the season, beating Tulsa 7-4 at the Collins Sports Complex Wednesday, April 3.
• Senior Jennifer Marwitz was named Big 12 Player of the Week on April 2.
• Marwitz hit her second home run of the season against Tulsa, and second in three games.
• Freshman Lexy Mills earned her team-leading sixth win of the season after pitching 4.2 innings against Tulsa on April 3.
• The series victory over Baylor is the first Big 12 opening series win for the Jayhawks since March 28-30, 2014, when Kansas swept Oklahoma State.
• The series win over Baylor is the first since April 13-14, 2001. Kansas beat Baylor 6-2 (4/13) and 6-0 (4/14).
• Brynn Minor pitched her fifth complete game of the season against Baylor in game one of the doubleheader.
• Jennifer Marwitz hit her first career home run in a Kansas uniform against Baylor (3/31).
• Kansas tallied 12 hits in the second game of the doubleheader against Baylor, the seventh timethis season KU has had 10-or-more hits.
• Lexy Mills tallied seven strikeouts against Baylor and has seven games of seven-or-more strikeouts this season.
• KU earned its first Big 12 opening game win after beating Baylor (9-8) since March 28, 2014 when the Jayhawks beat Oklahoma State, 1-0, in Lawrence, Kansas.
WHERE THEY RANK (AS OF 4/8)
• Kansas ranks second in the Big 12 and 32nd nationally in double plays per game (0.47).
• The Jayhawks rank fifth in the Big 12 and 81st in the NCAA in doubles per game (1.39).
• KU is 123rd in the NCAA in home runs per game (0.63) and sixth in the Big 12.
• Lexy Mills is ranked 49th in the NCAA and sixth in the Big 12 in strikeouts per seven innings (8.3).
• Mills is also ranked 9th in the Big 12 and 70th nationally in hits allowed per seven innings (5.19).
• Becki Monaghan is fourth in the conference and 81st in the NCAA for toughest to strike out (19.3).
STIFF COMPETITION
• In the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, Kansas is scheduled to play or have played six teams (No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 11 Texas, No. 14 Oklahoma State, No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 24 Arizona State) in 2019. Three other KU opponents (Stanford, Missouri and Tulsa) are receiving votes in the poll.
OKLAHOMA CONNECTION
• Two Jayhawks – Sydnee Ramsey and Jennifer Marwitz – are from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
RECAPPING TULSA
• Two three-run innings helped Kansas earn its first road victory of the season, beating Tulsa 7-4 to avenge two early season losses to the Golden Hurricane.
• Lexy Mills earned the start and pitched 4.2 innings, while allowing four earned runs for her team-leading sixth victory of the season. Hannah Todd pitched the final 2.1 innings to earn the save.
• Redshirt-freshman Sydnee Ramsey hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning and Jennifer Marwitz hit a solo home run in the seventh inning. Marwitz, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, hit her second career home run and second home run in three games.
RECAPPING OKLAHOMA STATE
• Kansas dropped all three games to No. 13/16 Oklahoma State April 5-6. Originally scheduled to be three games over three days, the schedule was altered due to potential weather in Stillwater, Okla. KU and OSU played a doubleheader Friday, and a single game Saturday.
• In the first game of the series on Friday, April 5, Kansas lost to OSU by a score of 8-1. Sydnee Ramsey hit her sixth home run of the season in the first inning. The final game of the day was a 5-0 Oklahoma State victory.
• The final game of the series proved to be more competitive with Kansas plating three runs and loading the bases in the seventh inning. Despite runners in scoring position, Kansas was unable to produce in the seventh and were swept by the Cowgirls.
VS. 2/2 OKLAHOMA
• Oklahoma enters the series with a 35-2 record, including a 6-0 mark in Big 12 play. OU leads the nation in batting average (.380), scoring (8.24), slugging percentage (.691), while ranked second in home runs per game (1.92), earned run average (1.31) and win/loss percentage (.946).
• The Sooners boast five batters with a .400 batting average or greater, and are led by Sydney Romero. Romero is the team leader in batting average (.455), at bats (123), runs (45), hits (56), doubles (10), home runs (14), RBI (38), total bases (112) and slugging percentage (.911).
• In the circle, Oklahoma has a team 1.31 ERA with all five pitchers with a 1.69 earned run average or lower. Shannon Saile has a team-low 1.11 ERA, while Giselle Juarez leads OU in strikeouts (115), innings pitched (85.1) and games started (16). Juarez has a 15-0 record, while Mariah Lopez is 13-1 and Saile is 7-1.
UP NEXT
• Following the Jayhawk’s second Big 12 home series against No. 2/2 Oklahoma, Kansas travels to Texas Tech to play the Red Raiders April 18-20.
