Baylor
Northwestern St
Softball Takes Two from Northwestern State
3/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 15, 2005
NATCHITOCHES, La. - The No. 9 Baylor softball team rallied for a 6-5 win in game one as the Lady Bears cruised to a 9-1 victory in game two to sweep a doubleheader against Northwestern State in action at Demon Diamond. With the wins, Baylor improves to 29-3 on the season as Northwestern State fell to 18-13 on the year.
In game one, Baylor jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Chelsi Lake drove home Kelly Osburn in the top of the first inning with a two out single to give the Lady Bears the early one-run cushion.
The Demons managed a run in the bottom of the inning, however, as Northwestern State managed one run on no hits when Nicole Martin came home on a wild pitch with two outs to tie the score.
Baylor responded to the run with three runs in the second to grab a 4-1 lead. After Kim Wilmoth scored on a throwing error by third baseman Katrina Walker, Harmony Schwethelm added a two-run single with two outs as the Lady Bears grabbed a three-run lead.
Northwestern State scored two runs on two hits in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the lead to one. Martin scored on a double by Margaret Patterson as Patterson eventually came around to score as the Lady Bears held a 4-3 lead heading into fifth inning.
The Demons rallied to grab the lead with two more runs in the fifth inning. After tying the game, Shay Hunt gave Northwestern State the lead when she hit a two-out RBI single to score Sarina Noack from second base to make the score 5-4.
Baylor managed to rebound for a run in the sixth as Tessa Lynam hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Osburn from third to knot the score at 5-5.
With the game tied heading into the final inning, the Lady Bears took the lead when Carrie Leerberg scored on a fielding error by the catcher as Baylor grabbed a 7-6 lead heading into Northwestern State's final at-bat. Cristin Vitek then retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning as Baylor grabbed its second win when trailing after five innings this season. Vitek relieved Lynam in the fifth inning and picked up the victory for the Lady Bears, improving to 11-2 on the season after allowing one run on three hits in 2.2 innings of work.
Lynam struck out a season-high eight batters while Vitek added six strikeouts as Baylor struck out at least 10 opposing batters for the third consecutive game.
Osburn, Schwethelm, Lake and Leerberg each had two hits for the Lady Bears as Baylor improved to 11-2 all-time against Northwestern State.
Amanda Glenn took the loss for Northwestern State, falling to 2-4 on the season after allowing one run in 1.1 innings of work.
Baylor grabbed another early lead in game two as the Lady Bears exploded for six runs in the first inning to grab a 6-0 lead on the Demons. Lynam singled home Osburn to give the Lady Bears a 1-0 lead as Leerberg then added a bases loaded single to score Lynam to make it 2-0. Erin Sheek provided the key hit in the inning with a two-run single to left field as Baylor went up 4-0 on the Demons. Leerberg and Sheek also eventually came around to score as Katie Ottens added a RBI single in the frame as the Lady Bears scored at least six runs in an inning for the seventh time this season.
After Northwestern State added a run in the bottom of the inning, Baylor scored two in the second inning to take an 8-1 lead. Lake had an RBI single as Lynam scored on a wild pitch to give the Lady Bears a commanding seven run lead.
The Lady Bears added a run in the fourth when Melissa Huffhines doubled to center to score Lynam as Baylor grabbed a 9-1 lead.
Northwestern State was unable to score in the fourth or fifth innings as Baylor grabbed the run-rule victory.
Lisa Ferguson picked up the win for Baylor to improve to 10-1 on the year as she allowed only one run on three hits in five innings of work. The sophomore also struck out a career high nine batters in the victory.
Lynam led the way for Baylor in game two, going 2-for-2 with three runs scored as the Lady Bears scored at least eight runs for the 12th time this year.
Baylor will return to action on Wednesday, March 16, when the Lady Bears travel to Baton Rouge, La., to face No. 12 LSU at 6:00 p.m.
