Kansas City Softball Sweeps First Day of Husky Classic Tournament

Friday, February 23

Houston, TX

1:00 PM

Kansas City

3-8

Prairie View A&M

3-7

Prairie View

Kansas City

Photo by: Michael Sudhalter

Kansas City Softball Sweeps First Day of Husky Classic Tournament

2/23/2024 11:45:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Two-win day highlighted by a 14-strikeout performance from Camryn Stickel in 10-inning game one

HOUSTON, Texas - Kansas City Softball (4-8) earned two wins over Prairie View A&M (4-9) notching the first in ten innings 4-3 and the second 12-6. In game one, the Roos and Panthers opened the matchup defensively, with both teams going scoreless in the first three innings. Sydney Nichols got things rolling for KC, with a two-RBI home run, extending the Roos' home run streak to four games. Lexy Smith led the Blue and Gold at-bat with three hits —including one triple— and was backed up by Nichols's two RBIs and another from Katie Noble. Thanks to a 14-strikeout career-high day from Camryn Stickel in the circle and an error with two on base the Roos were able to eke out the extra-inning win in the bottom of the tenth.

Going into the second matchup, Kansas City built off its momentum from the end of game one. The Blue and Gold immediately got to work scoring four runs in the first two innings and ultimately earning runs in three of the seven innings. Five Roos had multi-hit games with Noble leading the charge with three hits. Along with a strong offensive performance, Noble played a critical role on defense throwing four strikeouts in three innings. Bailey Brumley added three of her own strikeouts and documented her second win of the season. Thanks to the momentum they had built up, the Roos got ahead first and maintained their lead, putting up a six-run fifth inning to ultimately secure the back-to-back win.

KEY MOMENTS | GAME ONE

Top 3 / 0-0 | Stickel struck two batters out swinging and forced a fouled out from another. This inning marked her third consecutive inning of earning two strikeouts. She went three up, three down in the first two Prairie View A&M at-bats not allowing a hit until this inning.
Bottom 4 / 2-0 |The Roos went three up, three down in the top of the inning and immediately got something going in their at-bat. Smith started things off with a single to left field, but a fielder's choice from Woods caught her out at second. Nichols smashed a home run down the center, to get KC on the scoreboard.
Top 7 / 2-2 | Prairie View A&M was not ready to go down without a fight, opening the at-bat with a double. They knocked one out of the park to tie, but Stickel kept them in check, striking out the next two batters swinging. The Roos had a chance to retaliate in the bottom of the inning, with a runner reaching third, but were not able to convert.
Bottom 8 / 2-2 | Smith lined her first-career triple with one out and a chance to close the game, but the Roos were not able to get another hit to bring her home. The Panthers worked a play together in the top of the ninth, eventually scoring on an error to give themselves the upper hand by one run.
Bottom 9 / 3-3 | Following an offensive push from Prairie View A&M the Roos were not ready to give up, with one out, Lauren Parker singled to shortstop and Abby Husk singled to third base to get Kansas City in scoring position. Noble then singled to center field, bringing in the tying runner. The Panthers got out number three on the next play, sending the game to the tenth.
Top 10 / 3-3 | Stickel kept the Kansas City momentum up, notching a huge three up, three down. She opened the inning by striking out the batter looking, forced a ground out and closed their at-bat with a swinging strikeout. The Panthers walked a batter in the bottom of the inning, and a single from Amelia Fitzgerald moved the Roos into scoring position. Lauren Parker then reached first on an error, bringing in the winning run for the Blue and Gold.

KEY MOMENTS | GAME TWO

Top 1 / 1-0 | Husak got right to work, hitting a single to shortstop, a ground out from Kadin Vire on the next play allowed her to advance to scoring position. Nobel then knocked a double just right of center, allowing Husak to score.
Top 2 / 4-0 | Once again, the Roos brought the momentum from the jump. Nichols opened the at-bat with a double to right center. The Panthers walked Elleana Navarro and Derika Castillo followed her up with another double, allowing Nichols to score and pushing Navarro to third. On the next two plays, Prairie View A&M caught runners out at home on a fielder's choice. Another single from Noble allowed two more runners to score bringing KC to six. In the top of the third, the Panthers hit a two RBI home run to bring them within two.
Top 5 / 10-2 | The Roos had a huge fifth inning, Woods smashed a double to left center with no outs, bringing in the runners on second and third. Then Navarro hit a single, pushing Woods to third. A wild pitch allowed Woods to score and Navarro to move to second; another error gave Navarro a chance to score and allowed Castillo to reach first. Espy Daniels then knocked a double and Husak smashed a single after her bringing in runs nine and ten of the innings. The Panthers got the last two outs they were looking for closing Kansas City's six-run scoring push. Prairie View A&M made a move of their own bringing in three runs in the fifth, but Bailey Brumley held them to that with two strikeouts.
Top 7 / 12-6 | The Roos closed the game in the seventh bringing in two more unearned runs to secure themselves the victory. Woods notched her second double of the game to left field helping to build Kansas City's six-run cushion.

STATS TO NOTE

The 14 strikeouts notched by Stickel is the most Kansas City has documented since its 13-8 win over UTSA on March 20, 2021, when the Roos threw 14 strikeouts. In that win, Stickel threw five of the 14 strikeouts. Stickel improved her previous career record (Feb. 2, 2022, vs. UPAB) by a margin of five strikeouts, making her the first Roo pitcher since Deanna Friese on March 13, 2013 (15 strikeouts) to document 14 or more strikeouts.
Smith earned three hits in the first game, including her first-career triple, along with another hit in the second game to extend her hitting streak to eight games. She is joined by Woods who earned a hit in the first game and two in the second to extend her hitting streak to eight games as well. The Roos' longest hitting streak last season was eight games, earned by Amelia Fitzgerald.
Nichols notched her seventh-career home run in the first game, extending Kansas City's home run streak to four games, officially making it the longest home run streak for the Roos since Feb. 2022. Last season, Kansas City notched ten home runs total, and so far this season they have earned five, Wood and Smith lead the team with two each.
The two wins over Prairie View A&M today mark the first time since Feb. 2023 that the Roos have notched two wins over one opponent. The Roos defeated UT Martin 3-2 on Feb. 18, 2023, and 8-7 on Feb. 19, 2023. It marks the first double-header win since May 6, 2022, when the Roos beat South Dakota 9-3 and again 9-5.

UP NEXT
Kansas City opens its second day of the tournament, facing Houston Christian (3-2) at 11 a.m. followed by another matchup with Prairie View A&M at 1 p.m.