Baylor
Texas
Softball Completes Season Sweep of Texas
5/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 5, 2004
WACO, Texas - In front of a Getterman Stadium record crowd of 984, the No. 20 Baylor softball team completed its first-ever series sweep of Texas with a 7-2 victory over the Longhorns in the regular-season finale for both schools. With the win, Baylor ends the regular season with a 44-13 record and went 11-6 in conference play to establish a new school record for most conference wins in a season. Texas drops to 25-25 overall and finishes in eighth-place in the conference with a record of 5-13.
The Lady Bears jumped on the Longhorns early, scoring two runs in the second and five in the third to grab a seven-run lead.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the second, Baylor got on the board when Texas starting pitcher Christina Gwyn tossed a wild pitch to allow Amber Daniel to score. A second run scored on the play when Longhorns catcher Megan Willis' throw back home deflected off of Daniel's helmet down the first base line, allowing Melissa Maler to score to give Baylor a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Bears broke the game open in the next inning, as Baylor tallied five runs to take a 7-0 lead. Kelly Osburn gave Baylor a three-run lead when she singled up the middle to score Carrie Leerberg. Stephanie Pomes provided the fireworks in the inning, however, with her grand slam over the left field fence to give Baylor the seven run cushion.
On a 2-1 count, Pomes took the pitch and hit a line drive well over the left-field wall for her first career grand slam as Danelle Arnold, Kim Wilmoth and Osburn all scored on the play.
Texas mounted a small rally in the fifth, scoring two unearned runs to cut the lead to 7-2. Texas had a chance for more, loading the bases with two outs, however, Leerberg thwarted any chance of a Longhorn comeback with a diving-stop on a ground ball heading towards right field to end the inning.
Cristin Vitek (28-6) picked up her 28th win of the season, allowing two unearned runs on five hits in five innings of work. Lisa Ferguson came into the game in the sixth and shut down Texas the rest of the way, tossing two innings of hitless ball while striking out three.
Gwyn saw her record dip to 7-14 on the year with loss, allowing seven earned runs in 2.2 innings of work.
Wilmoth added two hits for the Lady Bears as Baylor finished the regular season 25-2 at home and ended conference play with a perfect 9-0 record at Getterman Stadium.
Baylor finishes the season in fourth-place in the Big 12 Conference, tying the 2002 squad for the highest conference finish in school history, and will face fifth-seeded Oklahoma in the opening round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament. The Lady Bears will face the Sooners at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 13, in Oklahoma City, Okla.
