Kansas Upsets No. 5 Softball, 5-4

LAWRENCE, Kan. The No. 5 Oklahoma softball team (42-11, 10-4) fell into third place in the Big 12 with a 5-4, nine inning loss to Kansas (21-19, 4-7) on Saturday afternoon at Arrocha Ballpark in Lawrence.

With one out in the seventh inning, freshman Tayl'r Hollis tied the game at 2-2 with a solo home run to right field. The clutch blast by Hollis was her first in 20 games. She has six on the season.

The Sooners jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning behind a solo home run by Heather Scaglione and a RBI single by Alison Horne.

The winning pitcher, Serena Settlemier (9-7), kept the Jayhawks hopes alive with a game-tying two-run homer with one out in the eighth.

Box Score

The Sooners went down in order in the top of the ninth inning but the Jayhawks did not. Jessica Moppin's fourth hit of the game decided the contest. With two outs she drove one up the middle to plate Nicole Washburn, who reached on a leadoff single.

“We are not where we need to be in order to compete for the conference title right now,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso.

KU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Jessica Moppin two-run homer.

OU answered with one run in the second inning when Jamie Fox's double play allowed Heather Scaglione to score from third base. Scaglione led off with a double and moved to third base on a single by Christina Enea.

Senior Kami Keiter worked 7.1 innings and allowed four earned runs, all via the long ball. She allowed 11 hits, one walk and recorded eight strikeouts.

She was relieved by Stacy Braddock, who took the loss and fell to 7-5 on the season. She worked out of a jam in the eighth inning but allowed a leadoff single to Washburn in the ninth. After a pair of sacrfices to moved Washburn to third base, freshman Jadyn Smith was called upon to face, Moppin, who is KU's hottest hitter. Smith gave up the decisive single on a 2-2 pitch.

The loss may have killed the Sooners chances at the Big 12 regular season title. The Sooners are two losses behind first place Texas A&M in the Big 12 standings and one behind Texas. OU has four remaining league games against Kansas, Oklahoma State and No. 22 Nebraska.

The Sooners will attempt to salvage a split with the Jayhawks and snap their current three-game losing streak on Sunday at 1 p.m.