Baylor
Sam Houston State
Softball Sweeps Pair from Sam Houston State
2/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 16, 2005
WACO, Texas -- The No. 12 Baylor softball team continued its winning ways with a pair of wins over Sam Houston State in action at Getterman Stadium on Wednesday night. Baylor won the opener 5-3 before rallying to defeat the Bearkats 3-2 in the second contest. With the wins, Baylor improves to 13-1 overall as Sam Houston State drops to 2-9 with the losses.
In the opener, Baylor jumped out to a five-run lead behind timely hitting and the pitching of sophomore Lisa Ferguson. Tessa Lynam put the Lady Bears on the board first with her double to left field to score Harmony Schwethelm in the bottom of the first inning. Lynam then came around to score on Kim Wilmoth's single to give the Lady Bears a 2-0 lead.
Baylor extended the lead to three with a run in the fifth as Wilmoth smacked a triple to left-center field with two outs to allow Chelsi Lake to cross the plate.
The Lady Bears pushed the lead to five in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs. Erin Sheek scored on a double by Kelly Osburn as Schwethelm knocked in Osburn to give the Lady Bears a seemingly safe five-run cushion.
Sam Houston State, however, staged a late rally in the seventh, scoring three runs on five hits. The Bearkats entered the inning without a hit off of Ferguson, however, managed to mount a rally against Baylor pitcher Nicole Jackson. Elizabeth Magee, Megan Beard and Elizabeth Gibson each had RBI hits in the inning as the Bearkats cut the lead down to two.
Ferguson re-entered the game, however, and preserved the victory when she forced Amber McAvoy to ground out to third with the bases loaded, giving Baylor its eighth consecutive win at home to start the season.
For the game, Ferguson tossed 6.1 innings, allowing only one hit while striking out six to improve to 6-0 on the season.
Melissa Collins took the loss for Sam Houston State, allowing five runs on 10 hits in six innings of work as she fell to 0-5 on the season.
Schwethelm, Lynam and Wilmoth each had two hits in the game for the Lady Bears as Wilmoth led the way with two RBI.
Baylor was forced to rally in game two as Sam Houston State grabbed an early 1-0 lead, however, was unable to hang on as Osburn's walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh gave the Lady Bears a 3-2 win.
Sam Houston State scored an unearned run in the first inning when Amanda Collier singled to center field to score McAvoy to give the Bearkats an early 1-0 lead.
Baylor, however, responded with two runs in the bottom of the third to re-take the lead. Lynam doubled home Osburn to tie the game and eventually came around to score when she crossed the plate on a fielding error by Collier.
After Sam Houston scored the tying run in the top of the fourth, Sam Houston State pitcher Shalayne Blythe and Baylor starter Cristin Vitek held the opposing teams in check until the seventh inning.
After Vitek retired the side in the seventh, Baylor came to the plate needing a run to win the game. Kylie Conroy opened the inning for the Lady Bears with a leadoff bunt single down the third base line to put the winning run on base. With a 13-game hitting streak on the line, Osburn came to the plate and smacked the first pitch to right-center field as Conroy easily scored on the play to give the Lady Bears the victory.
The hit was the first of the game for Osburn who extended her hitting streak to 18 games dating back to last season, the longest streak in school history. Osburn has collected hits in 14 straight games to open this season and is one shy of Michelle Sorrels' single-season record of 15 consecutive games with a hit.
Vitek picked up the win for the Lady Bears, allowing only one earned run and four hits in the complete game victory as she improved to 4-1 on the season.
Blythe pitched well in the loss, allowing two earned runs on ten hits as she fell to 1-2 on the season.
Lynam and Wilmoth added two hits each in the win as Baylor extended its winning streak against the Bearkats to 17 games.
Baylor will return to action on Friday, Feb. 18, when the Lady Bears travel to Houston, Texas, for the Houston Cougar Invitational. The Lady Bears will open play at the tournament at 3:00 p.m. when Baylor faces Kentucky.
