Jayhawks suffer heartbreaking defeat at NC State

RALEIGH, N.C. – An inopportune weather delay. A heartbreaking defeat.
 
Only a small sample of words that describe how Kansas (3-11) must be feeling following their 4-1 loss to North Carolina State (8-6) at Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Softball Stadium.
 
The 4-1 final score is misleading and the explanation is not in the box score.  
 
After falling behind 4-1, the Jayhawks were faced with a tough task to mount a comeback in the seventh inning against tournament host NC State.
 
Shelby Hughston started the inning with a double to right center field and Jennifer Marwitz laced a hard hit ball to the left fielder, which plated Hughston and allowed Marwitz to advance to second.
 
After another mistake by the NC State shortstop, KU had runners on first and third with one out, and Sydnee Ramsey approached the plate.
 
Ramsey settled into the at bat with the Wolfpack pitcher, and with a 2-2 count, sent the ball sailing over the left field wall and protective netting that is placed to guard the NC State track and field complex.
 
Shortly after the momentum-swinging plate appearance, the skies split open and drenched the already soaked field.
 
Two batters later commenced a weather delay that later stopped the game completely.
 
With NC State not having the opportunity to defend their half of the inning, the score reverted to the sixth inning and ended an improbable comeback that the Jayhawks had completed less than an hour before.   
 
Lexy Mills pitched four innings and earned the loss despite seven strikeouts. Mills allowed three earned runs, while Kirsten Pruett allowed one.
 
The Jayhawks only official run of the game came in the first inning off a leadoff double by Ramsey and a RBI double with one out by Shelby Gayre.
 
NOTES

  • Lexy Mills tallied seven strikeouts against NC State and become the first pitcher since Andie Formby completed the task in 2016 to throw seven or more strikeouts in back-to-back games.
  • The Kansas pitching staff logged a season-high 10 strikeouts against the Wolfpack.
  • Shelby Gayre tied Becki Monaghan for the team lead in RBI after her RBI double in the first inning.

 
UP NEXT
Kansas will again have an altered tournament schedule, playing Mississippi State at 9 a.m. (CT) and Duke at 3 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, March 2 in Durham, North Carolina. The Jayhawks are slated to conclude the weekend schedule on Sunday, March 3 against Campbell at 8 a.m. (CT) in Raleigh, N.C., before playing Charleston Southern at 12 p.m. (CT) in Durham.

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