Kansas City
Wichita State University
Errors Doom ?Roos in Loss to Wichita State
3/7/2014 12:06:00 AM | Softball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – Cinda Ramos belted her first homerun of the season and seven different players reached base with a hit, but the offensive output wasn't enough to overcome five errors in a 12-4 loss to Wichita State at Wilkins Stadium on Thursday night.
Kansas City jumped on the board in the top of the first after Brooke Parker and Ramos set the table with a single and double, respectively. Two batters later, Parker would score on a wild pitch, and the Kangaroos had a 1-0 lead.
Wichita State answered with a nearly identical sequence in the home half of the inning, piling up a single, a double, and a walk to load the bases before a single and a sacrifice groundout plated a pair to give the Shockers a 2-1 lead.
The 'Roos responded in the visiting portion of the second with a pair of two out hits by Alex Friloux and Kristi Lee. Friloux singled to right off a 3-1 pitch to keep the inning alive, and Lee followed with her first hit of the season, a missile down the left field line to plate Friloux from first and knot the score at 2-2.
The Shockers would return fire with two in the bottom of the second, followed by four in the bottom of the third – an inning aided, in large part, by three Kansas City fielding miscues – and three more in the fourth to put the notion of an abbreviated game into play.
Ramos had other thoughts, however, following Parker's infield single with a two-out, two-run shot deep into the Wichita night, cutting the Wichita State lead to 11-4.
The Shockers would plate a run in the home half of the frame to bump the margin back to eight and end the contest.
In relief, Ramos pitched 1.1 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits, parlaying the effort with her best hitting performance of the season. Katie Kelley took the loss for UMKC despite striking out six in 3.1 innings of work.
The 'Roos will return to the diamond tomorrow for a double header vs. San Diego State and North Dakota at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
