April 14, 2005
Columbia, Mo. - Reaching the halfway point of the competitive Big 12 softball season, the 18th-ranked Tigers dropped a 5-3 game to Kansas tonight on University Field. With the loss, Missouri falls to 31-7 overall and 5-4 in league play, while KU improves to 18-16 and 2-5. Kansas was awarded 1.5 points for the Border Showdown victory, presented by the Midwest Ford Dealers and increased the Jayhawk lead to two points over Missouri (14.5-12.5).
Sophomore Leanne Bowers (Arnold, Mo.) scored two of Missouri's three runs on the night. Opening the bottom of the first inning as leadoff batter, Bowers walked to first and remained on the bag as junior Janessa Roening (Port Angeles, Wash.) suffered her first strikeout of the evening. Up next for Missouri, redshirt freshman Micaela Minner (Sanger, Texas) grounded out to first, sending Bowers to second and eventually third after KU first baseman Nicole Washburn tagged Minner out at first and overthrew to second baseman Jessica Moppin on an attempted double play. With two outs on the board, Tiger freshman Amanda Renth (Mascoutah, Ill.) knocked a single to left field advancing Bowers home while taking credit for her 27th RBI of the season.
The Jayhawks answered Missouri's one-run inning with three runs of their own in the top of the second. After giving up back-to-back singles, senior MU pitcher Erin Kalka (Chandler, Okla.) was able to shutdown Washburn and KU starting pitcher Serena Settlemier for two outs, but gave up a three run homer over the center field fence to third baseman Nettie Fierros, sending Kansas ahead 3-2. Kalka brought the inning to an end after striking out right fielder Heather Stanley. On the night, Kalka struckout six batters, but gave up five runs off six hits in 4.1 innings of work. The loss drops Kalka to 4-4 on the season.
Battling back and attempting to keep the game close, Bowers came up with a one-out homer over the center field fence to bring the Tigers within one run of Kansas. The blast was Bowers' eighth homer of the season and moves her to ninth in the MU career record book with 12 bombs in two years. Bowers currently leads her teammates with 41 runs this season.
Scoreless through the fourth inning, Kansas scored two runs in the fifth, the first coming on a one-out single by Moppin, the second on a bases loaded play in which MU relief pitcher, sophomore Erica Peterson (Irving, Texas) hit KU catcher Elle Pottorf to walk in the final Jayhawk run.
Battling to the end, freshman Jen Bruck (St. Peters, Mo.) scored Missouri's final run of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, with a two-out shot over the center field fence. It was Bruck's eighth yard ball of the season.
"We played very tentatively tonight," Head Coach Ty Singleton said. "I give credit to the Kansas pitching staff for what they accomplished tonight on the mound. Our team just didn't take a good approach and that made all the difference in the ball game."
Continuing the homestand, Missouri will host No. 4 Texas in a two-game series opening Saturday, April 16, at 2 p.m. (CT), on University Field and wrapping up Sunday, April 17, at noon.