Baylor
Missouri
Pomes Homer Pushes Softball Past Missouri
5/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 2, 2003
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Stephanie Pomes hit a leadoff home run in the top of the 11th inning as Baylor knocked off third-seeded Missouri 5-4 here Friday at the Big 12 Conference Softball Tournament. The Lady Bears eliminated the Tigers, who earlier in the day lost 5-0 to sixth-seeded Nebraska.
Pomes' home run was her fourth of the season and her first since March 7. The sophomore from Slidell, La., entered the game with 13 hits on the season, but she went 4-for-5 against the Tigers. It was the first four-hit game of Pomes' career; she had never collected more than two hits in a game before Friday.
"We've been in that identical situation so many times this year and it hasn't worked out in our favor, but our kids have never quit," Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said. "Again today, they didn't quit; the law of averages caught up with us and we got the win. I was very proud of their performance today."
Baylor became the first No. 10 seed to win two games in the Big 12 Tournament after defeating Iowa State 3-0 in Thursday's play-in game. This also marks the first time a Baylor team has won two games at the Big 12 Tournament.
"It alludes to the fact that we have a lot of parity in this conference," Moore said. "There's not a lot of difference between the No. 1 and No. 10 teams in this conference. Anybody is capable of beating anybody, and we proved that today."
The Lady Bears led 4-0 heading to the bottom of the sixth. Kelly Osburn had a two-out RBI single in the third, and Sarah Caudle blasted a three-run homer down the line in right in the fifth. However, Missouri battled back with a run in the bottom of the sixth and the three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Baylor reliever Katie Decker worked through trouble in the ninth and the 10th innings. Missouri had the bases loaded with two outs in the 10th, but Decker got Kristen Burke to groundout to end the inning.
Cristin Vitek started for Baylor and lasted into the seventh inning. She allowed three runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. Decker (9-7) allowed one run on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
Baylor pounded 13 hits as a team, the most since another 13-spot March 19 against Oklahoma City. Osburn was 2-for-4 with a walk, a run and an RBI, and Danelle Arnold went 2-for-4.
The Lady Bears face fourth-ranked Oklahoma, the tournament's fourth seed, Saturday at 10 a.m. The Sooners swept a two-game set at Norman, Okla., during the regular season. The game will be broadcast on KRZI 1660/1580 AM in the Waco area and online at www.BaylorBears.com. Should Baylor defeat Oklahoma, the Lady Bears would play again at 5 p.m. Saturday against either Nebraska or Oklahoma State.
Notes: Cristin Vitek eclipsed her own school record for strikeouts in a season. She has 189 on the season, surpassing her total of 187 from last year. ... Baylor improves to 2-2 in extra-inning games this season and 7-7 in one-run games. ... With three RBI on the day, Sarah Caudle claims Baylor's career RBI record and becomes the first Lady Bear to reach the 100 plateau in that category. Caudle now has 39 RBI this season, one shy of Kristin Barton's school record of 40 in 1996. ... Pomes becomes the first Lady Bear to collect four hits in a game since Nan Wilkins had four hits March 19 against Stephen F. Austin. ... Pomes is now tied for 10th on Baylor's single-season home run list with four.
