LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas fell to BYU 8-6 in a back-and-forth affair Thursday night at Arrocha Ballpark in the first game of a three-game series.
Kansas out-hit BYU 10-7 and got the go-ahead run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t extend the game. The Jayhawks left 11 runners on base and fell to 27-22-1 and 11-14 in the Big 12 as BYU improved to 28-22 and 9-16 in conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Kasey Hamilton got her 25th start of the season. After giving up a hit to the first batter of the game, Hamilton earned two groundouts and a flyout to leave a Cougar stranded on second.
- Kansas got its bats going early. Presley Limbaugh and Aynslee Linduff started the game with back-to-back doubles to left to put runners on second and third. Lyric Moore followed that up by reaching base off a BYU fielding error to load the bases. With one out, Olivia Bruno hit a deep fly ball to center, which was narrowly caught but was enough to bring Limbaugh home. In the next at-bat, Campbell Bagshaw smoked a two-run single to right center to give Kansas the early 3-0 lead.
- BYU responded in the next frame. The Cougars opened the second inning with a single and followed that up with a double to right center to cut into KU’s lead, 3-1. With runners on first and second, the Jayhawks were able to turn a double play off a flyout to end the scoring threat.
- BYU tied the game in the top of the third. After opening the inning with two-straight walks, Kansas earned its second double play of the game as a runner advanced to third. With two outs, BYU hit a single up the middle and forced a Kansas error to tie the game at three apiece.
- The Cougars took their first lead of the game in the top of the fourth. With two outs and runners on first and second, BYU singled to center to take the 4-3 lead.
- KU got a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth. Sara Roszak singled and Limbaugh drew a walk, but both runners were left stranded to end the scoring threat.
- BYU added to its lead in the fifth. After reliever Lizzy Ludwig struck out the first batter, she hit the next batter to put a runner on. With two outs, Kansas recorded two-straight errors in back-to-back plays to give BYU another run to make its lead 5-3.
- The Cougars added two more in the sixth. BYU opened the inning with a walk and after a strikeout, a Kansas error and a hit by pitch loaded the bases. Another KU error gave BYU the 7-3 lead.
- The Jayhawks closed the gap in the bottom of the sixth. Pinch hitter Addison Purvis was the first to reach in the frame with a walk, followed by a Limbaugh single. In the next at-bat, Aynslee Linduff singled up the middle to give Kansas two more runs on the board and to make BYU’s lead 7-5.
- BYU added an insurance run in the top of the seventh with back-to-back singles to take an 8-5 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
- Kansas tried to mount a rally in the last inning of the game. With two outs, Ashlyn Anderson drew a walk and pinch hitter Anna Soles followed suit with a walk of her own. Limbaugh singled up the middle to bring one run home, but it was not enough as BYU came away with the 8-6 victory.
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Chloe Temples (9-6)
Final line: 4.1IP, 6 H, 3R, 1BB, 3SO
Loss: Kasey Hamilton (10-13)
Final line: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 1 SO
QUOTABLES & NOTABLES
“I think we had some routine outs that we make everyday in practice and just didn’t execute in those situations. We let some pressure situations get to us and eat us up tonight. I think our compete factor in the box got better. We had opportunities early on again but we didn’t get the job done. Sometimes you need a little spark to get things going. Aynslee (Linduff) had a big two-run at-bat in her previous at-bat, and here we are right back in the seventh inning with her up. She smokes the ball down the line and they (BYU) make a great play. Bottom line is they made the plays on defense tonight and we didn’t.” – Head Coach Jennifer McFalls
- Limbaugh and Moore both extended their hitting streaks to four games. Limbaugh also increased her multi-hit game total to a team-best 12 games.
- Linduff recorded two hits and two RBI as she increased her multi-hit game total to nine and her multi-RBI total to three.
- With her pair of hits and two RBI, Bagshaw increased her multi-hit total to 11 and her multi-RBI total to eight.
UP NEXT
Kansas will face off against BYU in the second game of the series tomorrow, May 3, with first pitch set for a 5 p.m. CT start.
