Baylor
Texas
No. 8 Softball Shuts Down No. 4 Texas
3/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 30, 2005
WACO, Texas --- Tessa Lynam's two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the third, combined with starting pitcher Lisa Ferguson's complete game shutout performance, propelled the No. 8 Baylor softball team to a 2-0 win over No. 4 Texas in Big 12 Conference action at Getterman Stadium. With the win, the first for Baylor over a top five team since a 1-0 win over No. 4 Nebraska on March 29, 2002, the Lady Bears improved to 32-4 overall, 3-1 in the Big 12, as Texas falls to 26-5, 1-1 in conference play.
Baylor had a chance to score on former Team USA and Longhorn starter Cat Osterman early, however, Kelly Osburn was thrown out at home by Texas left fielder Rachael Cook on a Chelsi Lake single in the first inning as the game remained scoreless heading into the second.
After Texas left a runner in scoring position in the top of the third inning, Baylor capitalized on two Texas errors in the bottom of the inning to grab the lead. After Kim Wilmoth and Osburn reached on a pair of fielding errors, the Lady Bears had runners on second and third with two outs. Lynam then took advantage of the costly errors as the junior first baseman laced a double to right-center field on a 1-1 pitch from Osterman to score a pair of runs and give Baylor a 2-0 lead.
The two-run cushion was more than enough for Ferguson, who shut down the Longhorns the rest of the night. In the complete game shutout, Ferguson allowed only two hits and struck out five as the sophomore improved to 11-1 on the season.
Texas' best chance to score off of Ferguson came in the fifth inning when Megan Willis advanced to third on a throwing error, giving the Longhorns a runner at third with only one out. Ferguson; however, ended the threat by striking out the next two batters as she retired the Longhorns in order in the sixth and the seventh to close out the win.
Osterman fell to 13-3 on the season as the junior left-hander allowed only two hits and two runs, while striking out 13, in the loss.
The win was the fourth straight for the Lady Bears over the Longhorns, dating back to April 16, 2003, when Texas defeated Baylor 4-0.
The Lady Bears will look to extend their three-game conference winning streak when Baylor hosts Oklahoma State on Saturday, April 2, at 2:00 p.m.
