March 08, 2017

Kansas begins homestand with Jayhawk Invitational

Jayhawk
Invitational

Date March 10-13, 2017
Location Lawrence, Kan.
Notes Game Notes

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio Audio Stream
Stats Live Stats

LAWRENCE, Kan. — After starting out the 2017 campaign with 21-straight road games, Kansas softball returns to Lawrence and begins a 10-game homestand at Rock Chalk Park with the Jayhawk Invitational March 10-13. The Jayhawks will host Green Bay, Drake and Iowa in a round-robin style nonconference tournament. KU will play five games in four days during the fifth weekend of the season.

FOLLOWING THE JAYHAWKS
Listen to every pitch, home and away, all season long as part of the Jayhawk Radio Network, in partnership with KJHK, the University of Kansas’ student radio station, KLWN and KWOD. All of KU’s contests will be carried live, for free, at KUAthletics.com/radio or by clicking the link on the online schedule. Fans can also get in-game updates via twitter by following @KUsoftball.

LEADING OFF FOR KANSAS

Kansas’ pitching staff has posted a 1.83 ERA through 21 games in 2017, good for the lowest ERA in the Big 12 Conference.
Individually, two of the top three ERAs in the league belong to a KU arm. Sophomore hurler Alexis Reid has the second-lowest ERA (1.53) in the Big 12, followed by freshman Mandy Roberts’ 1.75 ERA. The duo has combined for 60 of KU’s 91 strikeouts this year.
Junior utility Jessie Roane has been productive at the plate in the early goings of the 2017 campaign. She has recorded a Big 12-leading 21 RBIs in 21 starts. She also has hit the most home runs in a single game this season by anyone in the Big 12 after launching three over the fence against Savannah State (2/11).
On the base path, junior outfielder Erin McGinley has stolen a league-leading 11 bases. She owns a perfect 11-for-11 mark when attempting to steal bases in 2017.

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
Kansas returns to the comfort of its home field for 10-straight games after starting the season with 21-consecutvie road contests. The Jayhawks enter their first nonconference tournament at Rock Chalk Park with a 12-9 record and have won two of their last six ballgames.

The Jayhawks are hitting .272 collectively with 24 doubles, 16 home runs and 60 walks. KU has posted a .403 slugging percentage and a .363 on-base percentage entering its first weekend at home. Junior utility Jessie Roane continues to be productive at the plate and leads the Big 12 with 21 RBIs. She also leads the Jayhawks with 23 hits, including five home runs. Senior utility Lily Behrmann has posted a team-best .367 batting average and leads the squad with 14 walks. Five Jayhawks have registered above .300 batting average through 21 games.

Sophomore hurler Alexis Reid continues to build off of the momentum from her rookie Big 12 season with four shutouts in 11 starts, which ranks seventh in the country in shutouts pitched. Reid has posted a 1.53 ERA, the second-lowest ERA in the league, and has struck out a team-best 37 batters. She is 6-4 in the circle with eight complete games thrown. Freshman pitcher Mandy Roberts is making a name for herself in the circle in 2017. She has thrown a 1.75 ERA in 10 appearances and has the third-best ERA in the conference. Roberts has struck out 23 batters, while allowing just 10 walks in 28 innings of work. KU’s pitching staff has registered a 1.83 ERA through 21 games, which is the top ERA in the Big 12.

SCOUTING GREEN BAY
Green Bay enters the weekend with a 1-9 record in 2017. Under first-year head coach Scott Wachholz, the Phoenix were voted to finish the Horizon League in seventh place. Green Bay is looking to snap its five-game losing skid this weekend at the Jayhawk Invitational.

Offensively, the Phoenix are batting .250 on the season with 14 doubles, a triple and two home runs. Additionally, Green Bay has recorded 27 walks and 26 RBIs in 10 games. Freshman catcher Chyanne Onstad is batting a team-high .452 with three doubles, a triple and a home run in 10 starts. Senior infielder Allie Taylor recorded Green Bay’s other home run and is just behind Onstad in RBI’s recorded with six.

The Phoenix’s pitching staff has posted an 8.44 ERA after giving 55 earned runs in 58 and two-thirds innings of work. Green Bay has combined for eight strikeouts and allowed 40 walks. Junior hurler Katie Rossmann is 1-6 in the circle after seven starts. She has a 7.47 ERA with two strikeouts in 31 and one-third innings pitched.

SCOUTING DRAKE
Going into the Jayhawk Invitational, Drake has won two of its last three games and is 14-8 on the season. The Bulldogs haven’t strayed from tough competition to start the 2017 campaign as they have played five nationally-ranked programs in their first 22 games. The favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference, the Bulldogs return 10 starters, while adding just four newcomers to the roster this year.

At the plate, Drake is hitting .242 on the year with 19 doubles, a triple and 13 home runs, while also recording 72 walks and 74 RBIs. Junior pitcher Nicole Newman leads the offensive charge at the plate with a .333 batting average. Freshman utility Sarah Maddox is also hitting above .300 with a .317 average. She leads the squad with 20 hits, including six home runs, and 18 RBIs.

Newman, the 2016 MVC Pitcher of the Year, has a 7-3 record in the circle with a 1.27 ERA after giving up 10 earned runs in 55 innings of work. She has struck out a team-best 94 batters in eights starts and has recorded two shutouts. The Bulldogs’ pitching staff has posted a 4.15 ERA with a total of 134 strikeouts, while allowing 75 walks.

SCOUTING IOWA
Iowa enters the Jayhawk Invitational with a 2-12 record on the season and looks to end its 12-game losing streak. The Hawkeyes return 14 letterwinners from last year’s roster, including 10 players with 30 or more starts on their resume in 2016. In addition to 14 returners, fifth-year head coach Marla Looper added eight newcomers to the team in 2017.

Offensively, the Hawkeyes have struggled to get the momentum swinging in its favor early in the season. Iowa is batting .190 collectively with nine doubles, two triples and five home runs. In 14 starts, senior first baseman Kaitlyn Mullarkey has registered a team-high .293 batting average with 12 hits, including four doubles, and a team-best six RBIs. Junior outfielder Allie Wood has recorded two of Iowa’s five long balls and is just behind Mullarkey with five RBIs in 2017.

In the circle, Iowa’s pitching staff has posted a 3.49 ERA after giving up a combined 45 earned runs in 90 and one-third innings pitched. The Hawkeyes have struck out a total of 62 batters, while allowing 25 walks. Redshirt senior hurler Shayla Starkenburg has thrown a team-high 38 innings in five starts. She is 1-4 in the circle with a 2.76 ERA and 24 strikeouts. Rookie Allison Doocy owns a 1-5 mark in six starts with a 3.84 ERA and a team-best 28 strikeouts.

AROUND THE NATION
After a strong start to the 2017 campaign, Kansas ranks among the top of several national statistics. KU’s .980 fielding percentage is 10th in the nation. The Jayhawks have the 32nd-best ERA in the country after Kansas’ pitching staff has posted a 1.83 ERA. Junior infielder/catcher Jessie Roane is 25th in the nation in RBIs (21) and 39th in home runs hit (5). Sophomore hurler Alexis Reid is seventh in the country in shutouts pitched (4).

UP NEXT
Kansas continues its 10-game homestand with its second tournament of 2017 at Rock Chalk Park. The Jayhawks host UMKC, LSU, Southeast Missouri State and Omaha in the fourth annual Rock Chalk Challenge March 16-19.

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