Texas Tech, Oklahoma first for Kansas at Big 12 Championship

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas opens the Big 12 Championship against No. 4 seed Texas Tech and No. 1 seed Oklahoma Friday, May 10 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Texas Tech enters the tournament 38-12 and 8-10 in Big 12 play. The Red Raiders completed a two-game series against then No. 21 Kentucky, beating the Wildcats in both contests.

Oklahoma, the one seed in the tournament and the number one ranked team in the national, has won 38-consecutive victories and finished Big 12 play with an 18-0 record for the second straight season. OU completed a series-sweep of Oklahoma State May 4-5 to close out the regular season.

Fans can watch the first game against Texas Tech on FloSoftball and the second game against Oklahoma on Fox College Sports, or listen on the Jayhawk Radio Network via KUAthletics.com/Radio with Jackson Schneider calling the action.

SCHEDULE
(6) Kansas vs. (4) Texas Tech 
Friday, May 10 at 11 a.m. | Field 3
FloSoftball | Listen | Live Stats

(6) Kansas vs. (1) Oklahoma
Friday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m. | Integris Field
Fox College Sports | Listen | Live Stats

QUICK HITS
• In its final regular season series, KU lost all three games at Iowa State with two coming in extra innings on walk-off home runs. Freshman Morgyn Wynne hit her team-leading seventh home run of the season in the series finale.
• KU dropped all three games to then No. 11/12 Texas May 3-5 at Arrocha Ballpark. The Jayhawks finished the 2019 season 9-12 at home.
• In the second game of the series (4/27) against Texas, Kansas shattered its attendance record with 2,478 fans.
• Kansas stopped a six-game losing streak, beating No. 12/15 Texas Tech 6-4 Thursday, April 18. The Jayhawks dropped the final two games in the series (2-10 and 1-4).
• The Jayhawks earned their first victory over a ranked opponent since March 25, 2017 when KU beat then-No. 14 Baylor.
Brynn Minor recorded her 10th victory of her Kansas career with the win over Texas Tech on Thursday, April 18.
• Kansas tallied nine hits against Texas Tech (4/18) and it was the first time KU had nine-or-more hits since April 3 at Tulsa (11 hits), which was the Jayhawk’s last victory.
Madison Sykes hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning against Texas Tech (4/18), and is third on the team with four home runs.
• KU dropped all three games to No. 2/2 Oklahoma April 12-14 in Lawrence, Kan., and lost three games to No. 13/16 Oklahoma State on April 5-6 in Stillwater, Okla.

WHERE THEY RANK (as of 5/6)
Kansas ranks third in the Big 12 and 26th nationally in double plays per game (0.48).
• The Jayhawks rank sixth in the Big 12 and 124th in the NCAA in doubles per game (1.26).
KU is 180th in the NCAA in home runs per game (0.52) and sixth in the Big 12.
Lexy Mills is ranked 53rd in the NCAA and sixth in the Big 12 in strikeouts per seven innings (7.9).
Mills is also ranked 8th in the Big 12 and 86th nationally in hits allowed per seven innings (5.50).

Kansas Softball high fives team

ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12 TEAMS
• Sophomore utility/pitcher Tarin Travieso is one of six Big 12 softball student-athletes on the list with a 4.00 grade point average during the previous two semesters.
• KU’s first-team members include Travieso, senior outfielder Emily Bermel, sophomore catcher Shelby Gayre, senior utility/pitcher Brynn Minor, junior infielder Becki Monaghan, junior infielder Miranda Rodriguez and junior infielder Madison Sykes. Senior outfielder Jennifer Marwitz is KU’s lone second-team honoree.

VS RPI Top 75
Kansas has played 32 games against teams in the current RPI top 75. In those games, Morgyn Wynne is the team leader in batting average (.300), hits (24), RBI (12), total bases (39) and slugging percentage (.488). Wynne is also tied with Sydnee Ramsey for the team lead in home runs (4).

HOMECOMING
• Two Jayhawks – Sydnee Ramsey and Jennifer Marwitz – are from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Texas connection
• Five Jayhawks – Shelby Gayre (Mansfield), Shelby Hughston (Bastrop), Brittany Jackson (Mansfield), Kirsten Pruett (Bastrop) and Tarin Travieso (San Antonio) – are from the state of Texas. Head coach Jennifer McFalls is from Grand Prairie, Texas and was a four-year starter at shortstop for Texas A&M.

MCFALLS VS GREGORY | TEXAS A&M CAREER
• Both Kansas head coach Jennifer McFalls (1991-94) and Texas Tech head coach Adrian Gregory (2002-05) played at Texas A&M. McFalls is top 10 in seven Aggie career record categories including first in hits (279), tied for second in doubles (48), second in triples (24) and second in batting average (.379). The two former Aggies are top 10 in triples (2. McFalls: 24 | 9. Gregory: 8) and runs (4. McFalls 168 | 10. Gregory: 130).

23.1
• Senior pitcher/utility Brynn Minor pitched 23.1 consecutive innings from April 28 to May 4. In that span, Minor tossed three complete games, including an 8.1 inning outing against Iowa State May 3.

ku softball sunflowers rcw

TEXAS TECH EARLIER THIS SEASON …
• Kansas captured the series opening game against No. 12/15 Texas Tech, 6-4, at Rocky Johnson Field Thursday,
April 18. The Jayhawks earned their first win over a ranked opponent since March 25, 2017, when KU beat then-No. 14 Baylor. After mounting an early attack, Kansas held a 4-0 lead after the second inning. KU added two more runs on a Madison Sykes home run in the fifth before Texas Tech scored four runs total between the fifth and six innings. Brynn Minor, the KU starter, was replaced by Hannah Todd, and later returned to complete the game.
• In the second and third game of the series, Texas Tech used solid pitching efforts from their top-two pitchers to hold the Kansas attack at bay. KU was only able to score three runs in the two games combined, while TTU scored 14.

OKLAHOMA EARLIER THIS SEASON …
• Kansas dropped all three games to No. 2/2 Oklahoma April 12-14 at Arrocha Ballpark. In game one against OU, the Sooners were aided by 11 walks by the Kansas pitching staff. The first three innings between the Big 12 schools was scoreless and the Sooners opened scoring with a five run fourth inning. OU added another run in the fifth and four in the sixth. Sam Dellinger earned the only KU hit of the game.
• In the second game of the series, Kansas only allowed five runs and three walks, but again only managed one hit. Becki Monaghan earned her first hit of the series in the seventh inning, while OU was limited to five hits in the seven inning contest.
• Oklahoma captured the series finale over KU 8-0, but the Jayhawks were able to tally three hits in the contest. OU scored all eight of its runs on four home runs, which included a three-run home run in the first inning. Hannah Todd tied a career-high three strikeouts against the Sooners.

TEXAS TECH SERIES NOTES
• Kansas holds a 37-27 edge over Texas Tech in the all-time series.
• TTU head coach Adrian Gregory (2002-05) and KU head coach Jennifer McFalls (1991-94) both played softball at Texas A&M.
• Kansas posted a 12-game winning streak over TTU from 2004-09, including four wins in Lubbock.
• On April 7, 2013, Kansas freshman Kelsey Kessler pitched a no-hitter against the Red Raiders.
• In the last three series (1998, 2011, 2012) between the two schools when Texas Tech was ranked in the NFCA top 25 poll, the Jayhawks and Red Raiders split the series with one win each. The most recent series in 2012, then-No. 24 Texas Tech won the first game 1-4, while Kansas won the second contest 5-4.

OKLAHOMA SERIES NOTES
• Head coach Jennifer McFalls was an assistant coach under Patty Gasso at Oklahoma for the 1998 season.
• At OU, McFalls was an assistant coach when Jennifer Rocha was a student-athlete. Rocha is the current Oklahoma associate head coach.
• On March 6, 1998, the Sooners defeated top-ranked Arizona 4-3 in Tucson for the Sooner’s first-ever win over the nation’s No. 1 team. McFalls was an assistant coach on the staff.
• Oklahoma is 115-8 in Big 12 play in the previous seven seasons. Of the eight Sooner loses, Kansas has claimed three victories, including OU’s lone loss in 2016. The Sooners never lost another game that season after the loss to KU.

VS TEXAS TECH
• Texas Tech enters the Big 12 Championship with a 38-13 overall record, and is 8-10 in conference play. TTU played four non-conference games last week against New Mexico State and then-No. 21/18 Kentucky. The Red Raiders finished 3-1 and beat Kentucky 7-5 Saturday, May 4 and 9-6 Sunday, May 5.
• The Red Raiders are led at the plate by Karli Hamilton, who has started in all 51 games and is the team leader in hits (73), runs (54), total bases (121), triples (7) and slugging percentage (.708). Hamilton is one of three Red Raiders with 40-or-more runs batted in this season. Jessica Hartwell has a team-high 46 RBI and Taylor Satchell is second with 41 RBI, while Hamilton has 40.
• In the circle for Texas Tech, Missy Zoach and Erin Edmoundson each hold a sub-3.00 earned run average. Zoch has a team-low 2.51 ERA and is the team leader in appearances (36), games started (25) and strikeouts (150). Edmoundson is a close second in all of the aforementioned categories and is the team leader in wins (18), complete games (12), saves (2) and innings pitched (152.1)

Kansas Jayhawks

VS OKLAHOMA
• Oklahoma enters the tournament with a 48-2 record and have rattled off 38 consecutive wins, including an 18-0 mark in Big 12 play. The Sooners enter as the one seed in the Big 12 Tournament and recently swept the two seed Oklahoma State May 4-5.
• The Sooners have four batters that have a .400 batting average or greater, and are led Sydney Romero (.431), who was selected third overall in the 2019 National Pro Fastpitch Draft by the USSSA Pride. Romero also is the team leader in hits (72), doubles (15), home runs (17), RBI (51) and total bases (144). Outside of Romero, three Sooners are tied for second on the team in home runs with 14 – Caleigh Clifton, Jocelyn Alo and Grace Green.
• OU has a team ERA of 1.17 and have three pitchers with sub 1.50 earned run averages. Shannon Saile has a team-low 1.08 ERA and a 10-1 record in 71.1 innings of work. Giselle Juarez has a 21- record with a 1.31 ERA, while leading the Sooners in innings pitched (122.1), strikeouts (175), complete games (9), appearances (27) and games started (21).  Mariah Lopez is equally as talented as the other two Sooner pitchers, and has a 1.10 ERA with a 17-1 record in 24 appearances over 101.2 innings pitched.

AT THE BIG 12 TOURNAMENT
• Kansas has been to the Big 12 Tournament 15 times and has been the six seed four times.
• KU last played in the Big 12 Tournament in 2010, and have not played in Big 12 postseason play since the tournament was brought back in 2017.
• The Jayhawks have a 15-21 overall record and had a five-game winning streak in tournament play from 2006-07.
• KU won its first and only Big 12 Tournament in 2006, beating fifth seed Oklahoma 4-2 in the championship game.
• At the Big 12 Tournament, Kansas holds a 2-2 record against Texas Tech. In the Jayhawk’s last Big 12 Tournament, KU was eliminated by Texas Tech.
• Oklahoma holds a narrow 4-3 edge over Kansas in Big 12 Tournament play, and the teams last played in 2007.
• Kansas beat both Texas Tech and Oklahoma in the 2002 Big 12 Tournament.

UP NEXT
• After playing Texas Tech and Oklahoma, Kansas is slated to play one additional game at the Big 12 Championship. Pending results of the first two games, KU could play at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. or 4 p.m.
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