The Big 12 softball scene has a unique place in college softball for a couple of reasons.
On one hand, it’s a ridiculously competitive league in which multiple teams often find themselves playing for a national championship at the Women’s College World Series down the line – testaments to both the amount of sheer talent throughout the league and how iron sharpens iron, resulting in teams getting the best out of each other as conference play goes along.
On the other hand, there’s been one dominant force in the league in terms of gathering silverware for over a decade now – and at the moment, it’s going to take a historic effort to knock it off of its perch.
Here’s a look at where each Big 12 softball team stands headed into the season, with games featuring some of the teams listed below being broadcast throughout the year on FloSoftball.
2022: 20-36 overall (3-15 Big 12), lost in semifinals of National Invitational Softball Championship
The lowdown: When compared to the average team, the Jayhawks were a solid squad a season ago, as evidenced by their run to the National Invitational Softball Championship semis – an event comparable to college basketball’s NIT.
Kansas logged wins over the likes of seeded NCAA Tournament team and rival Missouri and another tourney qualifier in Nebraska.
But against the powers of the Big 12, KU often was merely a step or two behind.
The Jayhawks ranked at, or near, the bottom of the league in essentially every major pitching category, giving up double-digit runs in five conference games and allowing opponents to hit .299 on the rotation overall.
The offense had some pop at times (55 home runs, fourth in the Big 12), but KU too often was playing catchup and unable to string together a complete performance against many of the mighty teams in its lea
One of the best freshmen in the Big 12 a season ago, the in-state product from Topeka is a type of recruiting win the Kansas program can build around.
Bruno rocketed out the gates in her first year with the Jayhawks, leading the team in home runs (13) and RBIs (44), with a .353 batting average on top of those stats, and she was the only non-Oklahoma player in the top 8 of the Big 12 in slugging percentage at .687 (good for sixth), beating out major Sooner contributors, such as Jayda Coleman and Jana Johns.
Bruno can pitch in a pinch, too, carrying a 4.96 ERA across 29 2/3 innings in 2022, merely adding to her soaring value and potential on a Jayhawks roster trying to be competitive in a loaded conference.
