NORMAN, Okla. – Kansas softball heads to Norman, Oklahoma, as the Jayhawks take on Michigan in the first round of the Norman Regional on Friday, May 15. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT from Love’s Field and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Kansas (35–19, 14-10 Big 12) is making its first NCAA Tournament since 2015, when the Jayhawks were the No. 2 seed in the Columbia, Mo. regional.
The Jayhawks’ 35 wins are the most under head coach Jennifer McFalls, and the most overall since 2015. Kansas has also set a program record in conference wins (14), home runs (81), doubles (94), runs scored (360) and RBIs (342).
“We played Michigan in the first weekend of the season, and unfortunately, we lost,” head coach Jennifer McFalls said. “We had the lead in that game, and probably should have won that game early on. So it’s exciting. I think it’s a great matchup for us to start off. Anything can happen, and we’ve got to be able to go in there and have a lot of faith and confidence in what we’re doing.”
In the series against No. 13 Oklahoma State, Kansas picked up a huge 10-1 win in game two. The Jayhawks got off to a hot start, scoring five runs on seven hits in the first inning. Kansas never looked back from there, picking up 16 hits and scoring 10 runs. Freshman Lila Partridge dominated in the circle, giving up one run on just two hits and threw her fifth straight complete game.
In the Big 12 Tournament game against UCF, the Knights took an early 4-0 lead through two innings. However, the Kansas bats were able to pull the comeback off and scored a run in each of the last five innings to beat UCF 6-5. In the game, Kansas was led by sophomore Ava Wallace, who hit a home run and picked up two RBIs, sophomore Kadence Stafford, who tied the game with an RBI single, and senior Campbell Bagshaw, who drove in the game-winning run in the seventh inning.
Michigan (34-20, 11-13 Big 10) enters the Norman Regional as one of the last four teams that made the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines are led offensively by sophomore utility player Lauren Putz. Putz leads Michigan in almost every offensive statistic with a .442 batting average, 1.541 OPS, 61 runs, 69 hits, 21 home runs, 77 RBIs, 154 total bases, a .987 slugging percentage and 41 walks. This is only the second time Kansas and Michigan have faced off in softball, with Michigan leading the series 2-0 and also winning the most recent matchup, earlier this season, 4-2, on February 8. Also in the Norman Regional are Oklahoma and Binghamton who Kansas has never played in softball.
First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT on ESPNU, with live stats available on StatBroadcast and updates available via the Kansas Softball X account. The second round of the Big 12 softball tournament will take place on Saturday, with game time and opponent dependent on the result of Friday evening’s game.
