LJWorld.com

No one on Kansas University's softball team was hungrier for a hit than Betsy Wilson.

Wilson went into this weekend's Jayhawk Invitational with a tepid .100 batting average, but her 10th-inning RBI single gave KU a 3-2 win over North Dakota State Saturday at Arrocha Ballpark.

"It will look like a screaming line drive in the scorebook," KU coach Tracy Bunge said of Wilson's dunker into center field that scored Ally Stanton from third with the winning run.

Wilson, a junior from Salina who patrols center field, had another description for her two-strike, one-out safety.

"It's what's called a bitty-punch," Wilson said with a smile.

Wilson, who raised her batting average to .132, was also involved in a crucial play in the bottom of the eighth after the Bison had taken a 2-1 lead on Grete Peterson's RBI double.

Under the tournament format, the tie-breaking procedure of starting an inning with a runner at second base began in the eighth inning instead of the 10th.

Bunge tapped Wilson for the role, and Dougie McCaulley quickly sacrificed Wilson to third. Minutes later, when Stevie Crisosto launched a medium-depth fly ball down the left-field line, Wilson tagged and raced for home.

It appeared the throw from left fielder Lynnae Foshag might beat Wilson to the plate, but the ball bounced off Wilson's shoulder, and she scored to forge a 2-2 tie.

"I think it would have been close if it hadn't hit me on the shoulder," Wilson said.

Bunge knew the play would be close, too, but she didn't hesitate to send the runner from third.

"That's a tough angle for the left fielder to throw to the plate," Bunge said. "We were trying to make something happen. We were trying to be aggressive, and we had a little bit of a break when it hit her in the back."

Photo by Megan True

KANSAS UNIVERSITY'S SARA RAMIREZ dives back into third base ahead of the tag by New Mexico's Analise Rubalcava. The Jayhawks beat the Lobos, 5-0, on Saturday at the Jayhawk Invitational.

Two innings later, Wilson singled in the clincher, and made a double-winner out of senior pitcher Kassie Humphreys.

Earlier in the day, Humphreys tossed a two-hitter, fanning 12, in a 5-0 win over New Mexico. Against the Bison, Humphreys replaced starter Valerie George to start the ninth, and pitched two innings of hitless ball to hike her record to 9-2.

"That's the best relief appearance Kassie has made for us," Bunge said. "Georgie pitched well, too."

George, a sophomore right-hander, had a no-hitter through five innings. She wound up surrendering four safeties in her eight-inning stint.

Saturday's victories put the Jayhawks into today's tourney championship game against either New Mexico or Drake. Saturday's nightcap between the Lobos and Bulldogs was suspended because of darkness after five innings with the score knotted at 4-4.

That game will resume at 10 a.m. today with the third-place contest to follow at 11 a.m. and the championship at 1 p.m.