Feb. 23, 2003

Box Score

WACO, Texas - Baylor needed a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the eighth inning to get past Louisiana Tech in the semifinals and then unloaded 14 hits in an 8-1 victory over Tulsa here Sunday in the championship game of the Compass Bank Invitational. The Lady Bears moved to 14-7 on the season and finished the weekend 5-0.

Earlier in the day, Tulsa defeated UAB 4-2 in the other semifinal game. Louisiana Tech then defeated UAB 4-1 in the consolation game; that was the only victory of the weekend for Louisiana Tech.

Baylor, which hit .401 as a team over the weekend, placed six players on the all-tournament team. Sarah Caudle, Kelly Levesque, Kelly Osburn, Harmony Schwethelm, Kim Wilmoth and Cristin Vitek were all so honored. Other all-tournament selections were Maren Genow (Tulsa), Stephanie Sliepen (Tulsa), Kerri Foster (UAB), Candice Hithe (UAB) and Amber Miles (Louisiana Tech).

Louisiana Tech erased an early 1-0 Baylor lead with four runs in the top of the third. The Lady Bears answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, but the Lady Techsters pushed their lead back to three runs with a one spot in the top of the sixth. Baylor rallied, though, with three two-out runs in the bottom of the inning. Danelle Arnold had an RBI double, and Levesque's run-scoring single through the right side tied the game.

With the score still tied after seven innings, the international tiebreaker rule was used, placing a runner on second base to begin the inning. In the bottom of the eighth, a Schwethelm sacrifice bunt pushed Sarah Caudle to third. That set the stage for a perfect suicide squeeze bunt by April Luce.

Caudle started in the circle for Baylor, but she was chased in the third inning after allowing four runs on three hits and three walks with two strikeouts. Katie Decker pitched the next four outs, but Vitek earned the victory after holding Louisiana Tech to an unearned run on two hits and no walks with seven strikeouts.

Levesque, Wilmoth, Osburn and Arnold had two hits each, and six different Lady Bears crossed home plate.

Baylor's bats stayed hot against Tulsa, pounding 14 hits for the Lady Bears' fourth 10-hit game of the weekend. With two runs in the top of the second and three more in the top of the third, Baylor, playing as the visitor, built a 5-0 lead and never looked back. Tulsa got on the board with a run in the bottom of the third, but the Lady Bears pulled away with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.

Levesque, who led all players with 10 hits on the weekend, tallied three against Tulsa. Wilmoth, Osburn, Schwethelm and Nan Wilkins had two hits each. Caudle and Schwethelm each drove in two runs, and Osburn scored three times.

Joni Miller started for Baylor and allowed one run on four hits and a walk with one strikeout in 2.1 innings of work. Vitek (8-2) earned the victory in relief; she allowed two hits and no walks with four strikeouts in 4.2 scoreless innings.

Baylor returns to action Thursday, playing a 1 p.m. game at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Lady Bears will remain in Corpus Christi for the Islander Invitational over the weekend.