photo by: AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

Kansas pitcher Katie Brooks (16) during an NCAA softball game against Weber State on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Phoenix, Ariz.

The Kansas softball team allowed just 15 earned runs through its first six games of the 2024 season against six different opponents.

But that strong start in the circle has only equated to two wins, three losses, and one tie through the first stretch of nonconference play.

Standout performers in the field so far include new starting shortstop Hailey Cripe, who is already 7-for-17 with three RBIs. Outfielder Presley Limbaugh and catcher Lyric Moore are both north of .300 in the early going. Moore hit a two-run home run in a seventh-inning rally that fell short as KU dropped the opener Friday evening 5-3 to No. 15 Oregon.

The Jayhawks bounced back later that night with a 6-1 victory over St. John’s behind the strong pitching of Katie Brooks (who has a 1.10 ERA so far this season). Top pitcher Kasey Hamilton leads KU in innings at 17 1/3, though has given up 10 earned runs so far.

“I thought we competed really well against Oregon,” said head coach Jennifer McFalls in a press release that day. “It’s tough to come right out of the gate and play someone that strong. Again, I think it was a good measuring stick for us to truly see where we are at. It was close, the game could have gone in a lot of different directions. I was proud of our fight at the end. I loved our answer in game two, just coming out and attacking. I said we needed to make a statement and we did.”

Saturday was another day of highs and lows, as in the top half of KU’s doubleheader, Indiana’s Brooke Benson hit a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the seventh inning and the Jayhawks weren’t able to bring Kadence Stafford home from scoring position, sustaining a 2-1 loss.

But they came back and run-ruled Central Arkansas, a team that had beaten them 13-0 in Lawrence last year. This time, KU emerged with a 9-1 victory in six innings on a two-run double by Campbell Bagshaw.

“Again, I challenged them to answer back against UCA and I thought we did that tonight offensively,” McFalls said in a release. “We settled into the plate a little bit, got more confident at the plate and took care of business.”

KU’s stint at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater ended in anticlimactic fashion Sunday as it had to settle for a 2-2 tie with Western Kentucky because the Hilltoppers hit their travel deadline before they could play a full seventh inning.

The Jayhawks then lost a standalone game at South Florida 4-1 on Monday after a three-run fifth inning by the Bulls.

They will remain in Florida for The Spring Games tournament as they play five more teams between Thursday and Saturday, beginning with UC Riverside on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Central Time.