Feb. 19, 2003
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas - It was a night where anything that could go wrong did go wrong for Baylor's softball team Wednesday. Texas-Arlington scored four runs in the second and six more in the third en route to a 10-0 victory over the visiting Lady Bears. Baylor falls to 9-7 with the loss, while UTA improves to 5-7.
Amber Petrino got the scoring started for UTA with a one-out RBI. Ali Lommel followed with a run-scoring single, and two batters later she scored on a Melanie Williams single. That is when things got strange. Williams, now at second, tried to steal third. Baylor catcher Carrie Leerberg fired to third, but the throw hit Jenna Fortune's bat and sailed over the fence down the third-base line. With the ball out of play, Williams was awarded home.
UTA loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning, setting the stage for another odd play. Lommel bounced a ball to second baseman Stacey Hundley that looked to get the Lady Bears out of the inning. However, the ball took a bad hop three feet in front on Hundley and hit her in the face. Two runs scored, and Hundley was forced to leave the game after nearly a 10-minute delay. UTA added four more runs in the inning, all coming on singles up the middle.
Joni Miller (1-2) started and took the loss for Baylor; she lasted just two innings and was touched for four runs, three earned, on four hits with one walk and no strikeouts. Katie Decker spelled Miller and was touched for five runs on three hits with two walks and no strikeouts in just two-thirds of an inning. Sarah Caudle pitched the final four outs and allowed one run on two hits and one walk.
Meanwhile, Katie Cox (4-3) kept Baylor's bats off balance all night. She scattered four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Kelly Osburn, Kim Wilmoth, Hundley and Caudle contributed Baylor's four hits. Osburn also drew a pair of walks, reaching base safely in all three plate appearances.
Baylor returns to action this weekend, hosting Alabama-Birmingham, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa for the Compass Bank Invitational. Play in the three-day, double round-robin tournament gets underway Friday at 11 a.m.
