Friday, March 19
Wichita State 4, UTSA 2/Wichita State 9, UMKC 3
A day after upsetting the No. 6 team in the nation, it would be understandable if there was a let up the following day. That was not the case, as Wichita State won both games on day two of the Mizuno Classic.
Wichita State (16-3) defeated UTSA, 4-2, to begin the day and ended with a 9-3 victory over Kansas City.
Erin McDonald received the win vs. the Roadrunners, improving to 6-1 on the season. She threw 4.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, while walking three and striking out eight. Bailey Lange picked up her second save of the season in 2.1 innings of relief work.
Madison Perrigan's home run was the highlight on offense, while Neleigh Herring was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double. Sydney McKinney drove in a run on a 2-for-4 day at the dish.
Perrigan's eighth home run of the season broke up a scoreless affair after the first two innings. Her two-run shot in the top of the third gave the Shockers an early 2-0 lead. UTSA came right back with a run of its own in the bottom half behind an RBI triple. McDonald was able to escape the third inning without any further damage.
Both teams added a run each in the sixth inning. McKinney's RBI single drove Camryn Compton in to score for the Shockers. UTSA tallied its run on a bases loaded walk.
Huecker gave the Shockers an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a single, scoring Herring.
In game two, Wichita State again waited until the third inning to score its first runs. Compton's RBI double and Kaylee Huecker's two-run single made it 3-0. The Roos would threaten to do some serious damage in the bottom half, but would only get one run after Bingham induced an inning-ending lineout double play to McKinney at shortstop.
A five-run top of the fifth stretched the lead to seven. Lauren Mills scored the first run on a sac fly to left, followed by McKinney's RBI single up the middle. The very next batter, Addison Barnard, unloaded the bases on a three-run jack to straightaway center field.
Kansas City led off the bottom of the sixth with a two-run home run to pull within 8-3, but Barnard's RBI double in the seventh stretched the margin back to six where it would stay.
Caitlin Bingham was solid again in the circle. She moved to 3-0 after throwing a complete game, allowing two earned runs on six hits and two walks.
McKinney was 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI and Barnard finished 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and four RBI. Huecker went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI and Compton tallied a double, an RBI and two runs.
USF 12, North Dakota 0 (5)
The University of South Florida softball team's offense was the driving force in a 12-0 victory against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Friday afternoon.
The Bulls tallied 14 hits in the victory including six hits in the fourth inning. Georgina Corrick (Sanford, Fla.) limited North Dakota to just two total baserunners and earned the complete-game win.
Corrick struck out the side in the top of the first and sat the Fighting Hawks down in order in the following frame. The Bulls scored their first runs of the game in bottom of the second. Kyndall Williams (Trenton, Fla.) doubled to left-center field and then scored on the next at-bat as Josie Foreman (West Palm Beach, Fla.) doubled to center. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Foreman scored off an Alexis Johns (Sarasota, Fla.) single to give USF a 2-0 lead.
South Florida added another two runs in the third. Corrick doubled home Brooke Hartman (Port Orange, Fla.) and later scored on a Megan Pierro (Lutz, Fla.) single.
In the fourth inning, Bethaney Keen (Bradenton, Fla.) kicked off an offensive surge with a three-run home run. Williams homered in the next at-bat, extending USF's lead to 8-0. Alanah Rivera (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Jordyn Kadlub (Wesley Chapel, Fla.), Alexis Swearingen (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Madison Epperson (Tampa, Fla.) would also score in the fourth to give USF the 12-0 run-rule victory in five innings.
Notables
The last time USF earned a run-rule victory in five innings was on March 9, 2019, a 12-2 win over St. Johns.
Bruni stole two bases in the game, the second time she's swiped multiple bags in one game this season.
Corrick is now tied with Bree Spence (2005-09) for fifth on USF's all-time victories list with 57.
Corrick also tied UCF's Shelby Turnier for third on the conference's all-time shutouts list with her 22nd career shutout.
Pierro has now reached base in her last 13 games dating back to March 4, 2020 against Detroit Mercy.
Quotable
Head coach Ken Eriksen on the win…
"Any time that you can keep a team that swings pretty aggressively like North Dakota at zero to give your team a shot, it makes it a little bit easier and more relaxed at the plate. Georgina did that for our team today. We weren't really swinging big today. We were under control and it's the first time this year that I've seen us under control at the plate. Hopefully we can bring that into tomorrow. "
Tulsa 4, South Dakota 0/Kansas 3, Tulsa 1
The Tulsa softball team opened the first day of the Jayhawk Invitational splitting two games. The Hurricane scored a 4-0 victory over South Dakota before falling 3-1 to the host Kansas Jayhawks at the Arrocha Ballpark Friday.
Tulsa jumped out to a quick lead in the first contest, using a stellar performance by Samantha Pochop to capture the victory over the Coyotes.
After a home run by Alexis Perry late in the game against the Jayhawks, Kansas pulled away to take the second matchup of the day.
Tulsa's record moved to 5-5 on the season, while South Dakota fell to 4-16 and Kansas improved to 12-8.
Tulsa will continue play in the Jayhawk Invitational tomorrow as the Hurricane takes on South Dakota at 10:00 a.m. and North Dakota State at 5:30 p.m. before concluding the tournament against North Dakota State Sunday morning.
GAME 1
Tulsa jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning and added 1 run in the bottom of the 4th for its 5th win of the season with a 4-0 shutout over the Coyotes.
Kylie Norwood started things off for TU in the first inning with a leadoff double to center field. After Imani Edwards walked and Haley Morgan was hit by a pitch, a fielder's choice from Alexis Perry scored Tulsa's first run of the game.
Chenise Delce and Aubree Seaney continued the hot start for the Hurricane with back-to-back singles scoring two more for TU.
The three runs is all that Pochop needed throwing 6 innings, allowing only 4 hits in the game. She struck out a season-high 12 batters, sitting down the first 15 Coyote hitters.
In the bottom of the fourth Sarah Briers was driven in by Edwards to give Tulsa a comfortable 4-0 lead.
Kassidy Scott came in and closed out the game for Tulsa, picking up her first save of the season. The save placed Scott third all-time in career saves at Tulsa with 8.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SD. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tulsa 3 0 0 1 0 0 X
WP: Pochop, S. (3-1) LP: Lisko, S. (2-7)
S: Scott, K. (1)
GAME 2
Alexis Perry tied the game in the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run to center field, but the Jayhwaks scored two in the bottom of the inning to defeat TU 3-1.
The second game of the Jayhawk Invitational was a pitching duel between Chenise Delce and Kansas's Tatum Goff.
Delce went 5 innings allowing 5 hits and 3 runs, only one being earned. She faced 22 batters striking out 7 Jayhawks. Sara Llamas-Howell pitched one inning in relief not giving up a hit or run.
The Hurricane struggled to hit the ball against Goff, as a Morgan single, Briers double and Perry home run is all TU could muster; however, Tulsa did not record a strike out in the contest.
Tulsa kept the Lobos off the scoreboard for the next two innings.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Kansas 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
Tulsa 0 0 0 0 0 1 X
WP: Goff, T. (5-1) LP: Delce, C. (2-3)