The RoundHouse | 3/21/2023 9:49:00 PM
By Paul Suellentrop
The Shockers trailed by two runs and Kansas was smacking softballs out of Wilkins Stadium on a windy night.
No. 22 Wichita State needed, in the words of catcher
Lainee Brown, a dog on the mound.
Most important, a dog who kept the ball low in the strike zone to get the Jayhawks bats cooled off. Enter
Alison Cooper, who limited Kansas to four hits over a scoreless six innings in Wichita State's 9-3 win on Tuesday.
"She's ready to fight when she comes in, especially today and knowing that it's KU," Brown said. "She's got a big attitude on the mound. She's a dog."
The Shockers (24-6) defeated Kansas (17-12) for the third straight time with the bottom of the order coming up big. No. 7 hitter
Sami Hood went two for three with a two-RBI single that started the scoring in a five-run fifth inning and a home run. Brown, batting eighth, hit a two-run home run to tie the game 3-all in the second and singled in a run in the fifth.
Confident in the Shocker bats, Cooper worked down in the strike zone and produced a series of ground balls after relieving
Lauren Howell in the second inning. She retired the Jayhawks in order to keep it 3-1 and didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning. She allowed two one-out singles in the sixth, with the Shockers up 8-3, and ended the threat with two groundballs.
"She keeps the ball down," Wichita State coach
Kristi Bredbenner said. "She was able to really work the knees and get them to attack some pitches, but on the ground."
Cooper, a sophomore from Granbury, Texas, struck out one and walked one. She produced 13 ground-outs from the 24 batters faced to keep shortstop
Sydney McKinney and second baseman
Sami Hood busy.
"I knew they were going to be coming out aggressive and swinging, so I tried to keep it low and just let them get themselves out," Cooper said. "Let my defense work. Syd McKinney is a wall. She doesn't let anything get by her. Sami at second is really good at keeping it in front of her."
Cooper takes Brown's label as a compliment. Her goal is to get outs and keep the enthusiasm level high.
"I get fired up and I try and give energy to my team," she said. "When I see (Brown) fired up, it fires me up. I want them to know I'm doing everything possible. I'm giving my all every single pitch."
The Shockers offense took over in the fifth with a one-out rally started by
Zoe Jones' walk and helped by two Jayhawks errors and additional sloppy fielding.
Lauren Mills and
Bailey Urban reached base without hitting the ball out of the infield.
Hood smacked a ball to the wall in the centerf ield and off the glove off center fielder Shayna Espy. Mills and Jones scored to put the Shockers up 5-3. Brown followed with a single to drive in another run and the next two Shockers reached on errors.
Addison Barnard's infield hit pushed across the inning's final run.
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
