While the Kansas softball team will look to keep its season alive this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament against 4th-ranked and 2nd-seeded Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, it will be doing so with an all-Big 12 performer on its side.
Senior catcher Lyric Moore was named second-team all-Big 12 on Wednesday.
Up to that point, Moore’s awards as a Jayhawk had been limited to weekly honors and all-tournament picks. But her play in her final season in Lawrence made sure that she went out with some elite individual hardware on her way out the door.
Known for her fiery play and infectious personality, Moore was a force for the Jayhawks on both offense and defense this season.
A native of Mountain House, California, Moore ranked third in average (.297) and entered the week leading the team with 28 runs scored and 6 home runs while adding eight stole bases, as well.
While her 80% success rate as a base stealer was among the best on the team, KU’s opponents did not have nearly as much luck with Moore trying to gun them down.
She leads the Big 12 with 11 runners caught stealing — one better than her season total from last year — and also secured a .972 fielding percentage with 186 put-outs, 26 assists and just six errors all season.
Moore is the 64th Jayhawk to be named to an all-Big 12 team and the first since junior Olivia Bruno was named to the second team in 2022 after her freshman season.
Here’s a look back at an earlier story that traced Moore’s competitive demeanor to her early days back in California and the influences she encountered along the way.
The Jayhawks and Sooners are slated to get started around 1:30 p.m. this afternoon from USA Hall of Fame Stadium, with the winner advancing to the semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday against the winner of No. 6 BYU and No. 3 Oklahoma State.
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