Kansas snaps Wichita State’s win streak in regular season finale

LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 18 Wichita State saw its seven-game win streak come to an end in a 3-1 loss at Kansas Wednesday night.

Wichita State (43-9) managed only four hits in the final game of the regular season.

Lauren Mills had two of the four hits and the lone RBI. Sydney McKinney and Lauren Lucas had one hit apiece.

Lauren Howell (18-3) cruised through the first 3.0 innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth. She finished the game, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks. Alison Cooper threw the final 2.0 innings out of the bullpen and held the Jayhawks to just one hit.

The first runs didn’t come until the bottom of the fourth when Kansas scratched two across on back-to-back RBI singles to grab a 2-0 lead.

Kansas then made it 3-0 in the fifth on a sac fly.

Wichita State scored its lone run in the top of the sixth on Mills’ two-out, RBI single through the right side.

Wichita State head coach Kristi Bredbenner said that she felt the loss in the season finale is one the Shockers can learn from heading into postseason play.

“I think we’re pressing a little bit. We’ve got a target on our backs, theres a lot of pressure, and I think we talk a lot about postseason,” Bredbenner said. “At some point we just have to take a deep breath, play the game and have some fun. Today wasn’t fun.”

Up Next: No. 18 Wichita State has the weekend off before traveling to Tampa for the 2023 American Athletic Conference Championship.