Pille and Jayhawks Shut Out Baker, 7-0
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Junior Alicia Pille recorded a shutout in Kansas softball’s 7-0 win over Baker University on Thursday evening at Arrocha Ballpark.
Pille started in the circle and took control from the beginning sitting down the first three batters she faced in order. The offense gave her run support early scoring three runs right away.
“Pille came in and I thought controlled them very well,” said head coach Megan Smith. “Her pitches looked good. Defensively, again we looked strong and on the offensive side, Harli Ridling and Kylee Kennedy had a great game.”
Pille struck out 10 Wildcats as KU improved to 6-1 during the fall season. She limited Baker to two hits and sat the batters down in order in the first, fifth and seventh innings. Pille is the second KU pitcher to throw a complete game this fall. Sophomore Kelsey Kessler tossed the first last week against Iowa.
Kansas’ offense outhit the Wildcats 12-2. Five Jayhawks recorded a multi-hit game on Thursday night. Alex Jones, Ashley Newman, Lily Behrmann, Harli Ridling and Kylee Kennedy collected two hits apiece.
Newman drove in the first run of the game with a single to left field in the first inning. Newman’s RBI gave the Jayhawks a 1-0 advantage.
In the third inning, Ridling, a freshman from Sentinel, Okla., blasted a two-run shot over the centerfield fence extending KU’s lead 3-0 over Baker.
“We play these games to give the freshman their first taste of college softball and see how they look,” Smith said. “Harli has gotten better and better with every game. She had a good game at the plate and defensively.”
The Jayhawks added four more runs on three hits in the fifth inning. Freshman Taylor Dodson scored on error and on the next play, Newman stole second base which, allowed Jones to cross the plate for a run. Behrmann plated the third run of the inning with a single through the left side. Ridling followed with her third RBI of the game after driving in a run with a double down the left field line. Kansas took a 7-0 lead into the sixth inning.
The Wildcats got a runner on base in the sixth inning, but Pille and the Jayhawk defense sat down the next five batters in order to end the game.
The Jayhawks conclude the 2013 fall season on Sunday, Oct. 20 against Highland Community College at 3 p.m. in Arrocha Ballpark.
