| Sophomore Chaley Brickey launched her first home run of the season against SIUE. |
Kansas 4, SIUE 3
Jackson State Softball Stadium // Jackson, Miss. |
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
R |
| SIUE |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| KU |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
Box Score (.pdf)
|
| Batting Leaders |
| Kansas |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
BB |
HR |
| C. Brickey |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
| A. Jones |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| SIUE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| K. Riggs |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| R. Gray |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Pitching |
| Kansas |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| K. Kessler (W) |
10 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
| SIUE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| H. Chambers (L) |
9.1 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
|
|
JACKSON, Miss. – Every time a run crossed home plate the other team had an answer, until the 10th inning when senior outfielder Alex Jones plated her third RBI of the season giving Kansas (5-4) the win 4-3 over Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville on Friday morning at the Jackson State Softball Stadium.
With the winning run at third base, Jones came to the plate and recorded her first hit of the game. Her RBI single to left field gave KU it’s fifth win of the season and first of the Jackson State Tournament. The extra-inning win improves the Jayhawks to a perfect 5-0 record under head coach Megan Smith in extended games.
Sophomore pitcher Kelsey Kessler made her seventh start of the season and saw another pitcher’s duel. She gave up one early hit and, with the help of KU’s defense, retired six-straight batters from the second to fourth innings.
Kessler struck out 11 batters in her third victory in the circle. The Blue Springs, Mo. native has tossed 10 or more Ks in three games this season. She allowed two earned runs, two walks and four hits and improved to 3-2 on the season. Her complete-game performance is the fourth of the 2014 campaign for Kessler, who has an ERA of 2.33 after 42 innings of work.
In the second inning, sophomore Chaley Brickey launched a solo long ball over the left-center field fence, her first of the 2014 season. Brickey’s fifth career home run gave Kansas a 1-0 lead after two innings of play.
Kansas threatened in the next inning after junior Chanin Naudin led off the third frame with a double to center field for the second KU hit of the morning. Naudin and Jones, who reached on an error and stole second base, were stranded as SIUE was able to end the inning unscathed.
The Cougars strung together a pair of base hit in the fourth inning for a two-out rally. SIUE’s Kayla Riggs drove in the tying run with a single to left field. SIUE left two more runners stranded in the fourth inning as Kessler’s fifth strikeout of game ended the frame and Kansas headed to the fifth inning tied 1-1.
Brickey drove in the go ahead run for KU with a single to second base in the sixth inning. Her second RBI and hit against the Cougars gave Kansas the lead, 2-1, heading into the seventh inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, SIUE’s Rebecca Gray doubled on a misplayed ball in left field to tie the game at 2-2. The Jayhawks were unable to answer in the bottom half of the frame as the game went to extra innings.
The international tie breaking rule went into effect in the eighth inning. The Cougars struck first in the top half of the inning to take the lead for the first time after Chelsea Yankolovich scored without SIUE recording a hit. Kansas answered in the next half inning with a RBI single from freshman Harli Ridling, sending the game into the ninth inning.
Kessler kept the SIUE bats at bay in the ninth and 10th innings before Jones recorded the game-winning RBI.
The Jayhawks continue the Jackson State Tournament against Southeastern Louisiana with their second game of the day at 2 p.m. at the Jackson State Softball Stadium.
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