Baylor
Depaul
Softball Bats Fall Silent at Frigid Tiger Classic
2/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 7, 2003
BATON ROUGE, La. - Cold temperatures led to cold bats for Baylor's softball team here Friday as the Lady Bears dropped a pair of pitchers' duels in first-day action of the Tiger Classic. Baylor managed just three hits in a 2-0 loss to No. 11 DePaul before seventh-ranked and host Louisiana State tossed a no-hitter against the Lady Bears for a 1-0 victory.
Baylor falls to 6-2 on the season with the losses. DePaul and LSU are both 2-0 after each defeating Stephen F. Austin earlier in the day.
Kim Wilmoth reached on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the first against DePaul and stole second, but she was stranded there. That proved to be Baylor's only runner in scoring position against the Blue Demons. Stephanie Pomes singled with two outs in the second, and Danelle Arnold singled with one out in the fourth.
Two-time all-American Lindsay Chouinard proved too much for Baylor as she retired the final 11 batters. Chouinard (1-0) struck out seven and did not walk a batter.
DePaul got on the board in the top of the third when Sarah Martz singled with two outs. Christina Douglas followed with a run-scoring double. The Blue Demons added another run in the sixth on a one-out Saskia Roberson single.
Cristin Vitek (3-1) started and took the loss for the Lady Bears. She was touched for two runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and no walks in 5.1 innings of work. Katie Decker pitched the final five outs, allowing no hits or walks and striking out four.
Baylor's Joni Miller and LSU's Kristin Schmidt battled the entire night, but in the end Schmidt won duel. Both pitchers carried no-hitters into the fifth; Miller's was broken up on a leadoff single by Julie Wiese in the fifth. However, it was Blair Smith's leadoff double in the sixth that spelled doom for Miller. Two batters later, Sara Fitzgerald laced a two-out double to center, scoring Blair.
The Lady Bears managed just three base runners against Schmidt. Stacey Hundley reached on an error in the fifth, Kim Wilmoth reached on an error in the seventh, and Kelly Osburn drew a two-out walk in the seventh. Baylor nearly pulled out the victory in the seventh. After Wilmoth reached on the error, Sarah Caudle and Danelle Arnold both laced towering drives to the warning track. Only a stiff wind blowing in kept the balls in the park.
Schmidt (1-0) finished with four strikeouts. Miller (1-1) allowed three hits and no walks but tallied only one strikeout. She threw just 57 pitches on the night.
Baylor continues action here Saturday, playing Stephen F. Austin at noon and DePaul at 4 p.m. Bracket play begins Sunday morning.
