The Walk-Off: Kansas sweeps Baylor, Duke clinches series over FSU

By
Brady Vernon
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Courtesy of Kansas Athletics

Top 25 Matchups

No. 18 Mississippi State 6, No. 13 Texas A&M 5

Aiyana Coleman and Madisyn Kennedy traded three-run homers in the first inning, but Aspen Wesley had a better day than Emiley Kennedy after that. Wesley only allowed four hits the entire day, three of them happened to be home runs. Kennedy battled through the entire game with her command. She surrendered 10 free passes and while she did a good job of avoiding huge innings, the Bulldogs did enough to pull out the win.

No. 17 Alabama 5, No. 6 Georgia 4

The Tide avoided the sweep but just barely. After Alabama raced to a four-run lead behind a five-run fourth inning highlighted by a Bailey Dowling double. The Bulldogs kept chipping away scoring a run in the fifth and sixth then loading the bases in the seventh inning. Kayla Beaver worked a full count with two outs against Jaiden Fields. Beaver won the do-or-die pitch as Fields swung through it to end the game.

No. 9 Tennessee 4, No. 11 Missouri 0

The Lady Vols had everything going this weekend with an overall dominating sweep over a good Missouri team. Karlyn Pickens was electric against the Tigers. She struck out 11 and yielded only three hits in the complete game shutout. There was no grand slam for Tennessee, but Laura Mealer, McKenna Gibson and Kiki Milloy all homered.

No. 21 Arizona 2, No. 8 Washington 0

There wasn’t much offense in Tucson on Sunday. The duos of Miranda Stoddard/Aissa Silva and Sidne Peters/Ruby Meylan kept the game scoreless for 5.5 innings. Olivia DiNardo finally changed that with a two-run blast on a riseball from Meylan in the sixth inning. Stoddard and Silva completed the three-hit shutout to turn the page on a rough pitching weekend the two games prior.

No. 5 Stanford 7, No. 19 Cal 4

The Cardinal earned the series sweep without using NiJaree Canady in the finale. Alyssa Houston and Regan Krause split the game. The duo did a good job as the score looks closer than it appeared as Lagi Quiroga hit a two-run homer late in the seventh. Taryn Kern led the game off with her second homer of the season. Caelan Koch hit two blasts to help power the Cardinal to a win.

Upsets and Close Calls

Auburn 2, No. 20 Arkansas 1

Nelia Peralta’s two-out, two-RBI single in the first inning proved to be the difference maker. Although, the biggest play of the day came on defense. The Razorbacks had already cut the lead and half in the sixth with the tying run on third. Kennedy Miller smoked a ball headed for the left field line, but Annabelle Widra snagged it and doubled up Reagan Johnson off of third.

Maddie Penta pitched better than her Friday outing despite only striking out four. Meanwhile, Arkansas starter Robyn Herron left the game in the first inning with discomfort in her throwing shoulder.

Kansas 1, No. 14 Baylor 0

The Jayhawks did it again. Kansas swept Baylor behind another gem from Katie Brooks. She worked around six hits by rolling up 14 groundouts. Sara Roszak was credited with the lone RBI again. She worked a two-out bases-loaded walk against RyLee Crandall.

The Jayhawks went 5-0 this week with two wins against Wichita State. They are 16-2 in their last 18 games, which includes a road win at Texas State.

Softball Around America

No. 3 Duke 9, Florida State 5 (F/8)

This series was never going to be easy for the Blue Devils. They had never won a series against the Noles and Florida State hadn’t dropped an ACC series since 2022. Despite not playing the cleanest game with four errors, they found a way to come out on top.

Every time Duke took the lead Florida State answered. The Blue Devils didn’t waver either. At times, they even looked a bit like the Noles, especially in their first run of the eighth inning.

Players of the Day

Alyssa Brito, Oklahoma

The third baseman homered twice in the 11-1 win over Texas Tech and made another great play that you will see below.

Kami Kortokrax, Ohio State

Kami Kortokrax kept it simple going 2-for-2 with two walks in a 12-6 win over Kentucky. She homered twice including a grand slam in a seven-run sixth inning to take the lead.

Plays of the Day

Milestone Moments

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Brady Vernon

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