Clutch hits by Roane, McGinley lift Jayhawks over Panthers
SAN ANTONIO — Kansas softball scored a run in the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, to earn an extra-inning victory over Prairie View A&M on Friday afternoon at a windy Roadrunner Field on day one of the UTSA Softball Tournament.
Seniors Erin McGinley and Jessie Roane came through in the clutch with decisive RBI hits to help improve Kansas to 5-1 on the season.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, McGinley drove a walk-off base hit to left-centerfield, breaking a 1-1 tie. McGinley’s hit drove in sophomore Sam Dellinger, who started the inning placed at second base, per NCAA softball extra-inning rules.
Roane set up McGinley’s walk-off heroics with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at one run apiece. Roane drove in freshman shortstop Sydnee Ramsey, who reached base on a Prairie View fielding error.
Senior pitcher Sarah Miller (3-1) recorded five strikeouts in a career-high 8.0 inning pitched to earn the complete-game victory for the Jayhawks. Prairie View’s Vanessa Castro (0-1) also tossed a complete game with two strikeouts during the Panthers’ second of two games on Friday.
Prairie View took a 1-0 lead as Alyssa Garcia led off the fifth inning with a first-pitch home run. Another Panther reached base on a single in the fifth, but senior right fielder Mikayla Warren ended the inning with a diving catch in right field to snag the third out and leave a runner on base.
Freshman centerfielder Brittany Jackson extended her season-long (six-game) hitting streak as the only Jayhawk to reach base through the first six innings on a leadoff bunt in the fourth.
Friday afternoon marked the first meeting between Kansas and Prairie View A&M. The Jayhawks improve to 7-0 all-time against teams currently in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
NEXT UP
Kansas returns to Roadrunner Field on Friday night to conclude day one of the UTSA Softball Tournament, facing host UTSA at 7 p.m. Central.
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