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

KU junior Emma Tatum waits for a pitch during the Jayhawks' game against UCF on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at Arrocha Ballpark in Lawrence, Kansas.

The University of Kansas softball team was one out away from a Big 12 Conference win over UCF Sunday afternoon at Arrocha Ballpark, but for the second straight day, the Knights found a way to come back and thwart the Jayhawks in their final at-bat.

Kendall Yarnell hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer with two outs in the top of the seventh to erase a 6-5 Kansas lead and lift UCF (32-21-1, 12-12 Big 12) to an 8-6 win over the Jayhawks (22-27, 6-18) in the regular season finale for both teams.

“Walks came back to bite us all weekend and they have this whole season,” said Kansas head coach Jennifer McFalls, whose team issued eight walks on Sunday, including four in the top of the seventh. “You can’t give teams like UCF free chances and it got us in trouble. We did the job offensively today and played good defense, but we’ve got to shut the door when we have the chance to.”

Kansas went into the seventh with a 6-4 lead after a two-out, two-run single by Emma Tatum in the bottom of the sixth broke a 4-4 tie. Tatum went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, the two-run single and a run scored for the Jayhawks in the loss.

“There were a lot of things about this loss that hurt, but we got some good contributions from some of our younger players today,” said McFalls. “We got a great spark from (Tatum). She works hard all of the time and it was great to see her get a reward from the work she’s been putting in.”

In the top of the seventh, Kansas reliever Kennedy Diggs got a strikeout, but also handed out three walks, leaving the game with the bases loaded and one out. Olivia Bruno came in to replace Diggs and induced a sacrifice fly that brought home a run to make it 6-5 Jayhawks with runners on first and third with two outs.

That’s when Yarnell, a freshman from Olathe with no extra-base hits and only three RBI in 54 at-bats coming into Sunday’s game, stepped to the plate and smacked a pitch from Bruno over the fence for a three-run homer to give the Knights the lead for good.

Bruno – one of five seniors honored before the game – got Kansas on the board in the bottom of the second inning when she drove a 2-2 pitch from UCF starter Yessenia Lopez over the wall in left center field for her team-leading 12th homer of the season, putting the Jayhawks in front, 1-0.

Later in the inning, Campbell Bagshaw drew a walk, moved to second on a groundout by Anna Soles, and came home on a two-out single by Natalie Marshall, the other senior in the lineup for the Jayhawks Sunday. One batter later, Tatum launched a shot over the right field fence for her fourth homer of the year, extending the Jayhawk lead to 4-0.

The homer chased Lopez, who allowed four runs on three hits with one walk and one strikeout in just 1 2/3 innings of work.

UCF replied in the top of the third, getting a walk and back-to-back singles to score a run and force the Jayhawks to replace starter Lizzy Ludwig, who left after allowing one run on three hits with one walk in 2+ innings. Reliever Kaelee Washington got out of the two-on, no-out jam by getting a double-play ground ball and a flyout to keep the Kansas lead at 4-1.

However, in the top of the fourth, the Knights got to Washington and tied the game. After a pair of walks and a popup, Beth Damon lined an RBI double to trim the deficit to 4-2 and two batters later, Coco Jaimes had a two-out, two-run double to even the score before Tatum’s single in the sixth.

Bruno was 2-for-3 with her homer and two runs scored and Marshall had a hit and RBI for Kansas in the loss.

Kansas now turns its attention to the Big 12 Conference tournament, which gets under way Wednesday at OGE Field at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. The Jayhawks are the No. 9 seed in the tournament and face No. 8 seed Baylor (26-26, 11-13) in the opening round on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

Kansas and Baylor faced off in a three-game series earlier this year, opening the conference slate against each other in Waco back on March 7-9. The Jayhawks took two of three games from the Bears, losing the opener, 3-2, before taking the final two games of the series, 3-2, and 12-2 in six innings.

“We feel like we’re right there,” said Marshall of her team, which faced seven of the top eight teams in the Big 12 standings this season. “We’ve played some tough competition and we’ve been right in there with them. We’re going to use that experience to make ourselves get better (for the conference tournament).”