photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU senior Olivia Bruno winds up to fire a pitch to an Arizona batter during the Jayhawks' game at Arrocha Ballpark in Lawrence, Kansas on Sunday, April 13, 2025.

No. 13 Arizona finished off a three-game series sweep of the Kansas University softball team with an 11-1, five-inning win in a Big 12 Conference game Sunday afternoon at Arrocha Ballpark.

“Things got off to a tough start (Sunday),” said Kansas head coach Jennifer McFalls. “(Kansas starter Olivia Bruno) had trouble finding the strike zone and attacking hitters and Arizona took advantage of that. Arizona is one of the best hitting teams in the country right now and it showed today.”

A day after scoring seven runs in the top of the first inning against Kansas (17-20, 4-11), the Wildcats plated five runs in their first at-bat Sunday and added another run in the second to build an early 6-0 lead. The biggest blows in the early outburst were an inside-the-park solo homer by Regan Shockey, a two-run double by Paige Dimler, and a two-run single by Sydney Stewart.

Kansas got its run in the bottom of the second when Bruno led off the inning with a solo homer that bounced off the left field foul pole to cut the Arizona lead to 6-1. It was Bruno’s sixth homer of the season, tying her with Hailey Cripe for the team lead.

Arizona (36-7, 13-5) – which has now won five straight games and has 17 wins via the run rule so far this season – got its bats going again in the top of the fourth, scoring four more runs. Dakota Kennedy had an RBI single to bring home pitch-runner Zaedi Tagalog and later in the inning, Devyn Netz smacked a three-run homer (her 14th of the season) to give the Wildcats a 10-1 lead.

The Wildcats got their final run in the fifth when Kennedy singled to score Dimler, who reached on a single and moved to third on a throwing error by the Jayhawks.

“We need to turn things around,” said McFalls, whose team has lost four straight overall and is 1-8 in its last nine conference games. “We’re out of sorts and not playing like we’re capable of. We need a game to get our confidence back and get back to playing our kind of softball. We need to have a short memory after this series and refocus on ourselves.”

Netz (17-4) got the win in the circle for Arizona, throwing three innings and allowing one run on two hits. Kennedy and Dimler each went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, Kaiah Altmeyer was 2-for-4 with a double and Jenna Sniffen finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Wildcats, which had 12 hits in the game.

The Jayhawks had two hits in the loss, with Ava Wallace’s single in the bottom of the third accounting for the other Kansas hit besides Bruno’s solo homer. Bruno (3-3) took the loss, allowing six runs – all earned – on seven hits with two walks in two innings of work.

Despite the recent struggles, the Jayhawks are only halfway through their conference slate, having played 15 of 24 games. With three Big 12 series still to go, McFalls said her team is still capable of making some noise in the conference race.

“We’ve still got some series here at home and we finish (at Arrocha Ballpark),” said McFalls, whose team is currently tied for ninth in the Big 12 standings. “We just have to get the ball rolling and start feeling good about ourselves again. We’re missing the consistency and the confidence, and that’s big.”

Kansas is back in action Tuesday, hosting Missouri State in a nonconference game. First pitch at Arrocha Ballpark is scheduled for 5 p.m. The Jayhawks return to Big 12 play on Thursday, going to Ames, Iowa, for a three-game series at Iowa State from April 17-19.

SEE MORE PHOTOS: KU falls to Arizona