April 5, 2006
Box Score
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - The No. 18 Baylor softball team hammered nine home runs en route to a doubleheader sweep of Sam Houston State in action at the Bearkat Complex on Wednesday. Baylor claimed game one 13-2 in five innings as the Lady Bears cruised to a 15-3 five-inning, run-rule win in game two. With the wins, Baylor improves to 24-14 on the season as Sam Houston State falls to 15-21 with the losses.
In game one, Baylor exploded for eight runs in the first inning as the Lady Bears grabbed a commanding 8-0 lead. The eight-run first marked the second consecutive game Baylor had put an eight spot on the board after pulling the feat against Missouri.
Kelly Osburn got things off to a fast start for the Lady Bears, delivering a home run to lead-off the game to give Baylor the early 1-0 lead. The lead-off home run marked the third time this season the senior has led-off the game with a home run.
Baylor kept the pressure on following Osburn's lead-off home run as the next two batters reached base before Chelsi Lake delivered her team leading 10th home run of the season, a three-run, line drive blast over the left field wall to give Baylor a 4-0 lead.
Alex Colyer and Osburn delivered RBI singles in the inning as two more runs came in on a throwing error before Sam Houston State could retire the side, trailing 8-0.
After Sam Houston State answered with a run in the bottom of the first, Baylor exploded for three more runs in the third to make the score 11-1. After Miriam Romero stole third and scored on a throwing error, Brette Reagan lifted a two-run blast well over the left-center field wall to give the Lady Bears an 11-1 lead. The home run was the eighth of the season for Reagan and the third of the contest for the Lady Bears.
Osburn collected her third hit of the game and the 200th of her career in the inning as she became only the sixth player in school history to reach the milestone.
Sam Houston State scored a run in the fourth to cut the lead to 11-2; however, Baylor answered with a pair of solo blasts in the fifth to give the Lady Bears a 13-2 lead. Osburn and Lake each hit connected on their second home runs of the contest, both solo shots, as the Lady Bears grabbed an 11-run advantage.
The solo blast was the 11th of the season for Lake while the two home run game pushed Osburn's season total to eight and her career total to 31, making her the first person in school history to hit 30 home runs in her career.
The solo home run also marked Osburn's fourth hit of the game as she tied the school record for most hits in a single game, marking the 20th time in school history a player has recorded four hits in a contest.
With two singles and two home runs, Osburn tied Tessa Lynam's single game record of 10 total bases as the senior became only the second player in school history to record 10 total bases in the game.
Lake and Osburn tied the single game home run mark with two each as Baylor established a new school record with five home runs in a single game, breaking the mark of four round-trippers in a win over Texas State last season.
Nicole Jackson retired the side in the bottom of the inning as the Lady Bears went on to claim the 13-2 victory.
Freshman Brittany Turner picked up the win for Baylor, allowing one earned run in three innings of work as she improved to 2-3 on the season.
Amanda Collier took the loss for Sam Houston State and fell to 3-3 on the year after allowing eight runs on six hits in one-third of an inning of work.
It was more of the same for the Lady Bears in game two as Baylor jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning over the Bearkats in the nightcap. Chelsi Lake and Ashley Monceaux each delivered two out, RBI doubles in the frame as Monceaux came home on a fielding error to give the Lady Bears the early three-run advantage.
After a scoreless second, Lynam gave the Lady Bears control of the contest as she blasted a grand slam down the left field line, scoring Reagan, Monceaux and Lake as Baylor grabbed a 7-0 lead. The home run was the sixth of the season and marked the first time in her career the senior as hit a grand slam.
Sam Houston State cut into the lead with a three-run home run by Stephanie Mosley; however, Baylor answered with back-to-back home runs, one of which was a three-run shot, in the top of the fourth. With runners on first and second and no outs, Reagan blasted her second home run of the day over the center field wall to make the score 10-3. Following Reagan's ninth home run of the season, Lake delivered her third home run of the day and 12th of the season just over the center field wall to make the score 11-3.
After the next two runners reached base in the inning, Lynam made it seven runs in seven batters in the frame as she blasted her second home run of the contest, a towering shot over the left field scoreboard, to give the Lady Bears a commanding 14-3 lead.
Lynam finished off the Baylor scoring on the night with a RBI ground out in the fifth as Baylor went on to claim a 15-3 victory. The RBI was the eighth of the game for Lynam as she established a new school record for runs driven in during a game as she broke the previous record of six held by four other players.
With 15 runs, Baylor tied its season high as the Lady Bears also scored 15 in a victory over Wichita State earlier in the year.
Ashley Monceaux picked up the victory after allowing three runs on one hit as she improved to 3-3 on the season. For the game, Baylor held Sam Houston State to only one hit, a three-run home run, as Sarah Hausner worked the final 1.2 innings to close out the win.
Shalayne Blythe took the loss after allowing 14 runs in three innings of work to fall to 9-11 on the season.
The twin-bill sweep of the Bearkats extended Baylor's winning streak over Sam Houston State to 24 as the Lady Bears are a perfect 24-0 since the softball program was reinstated in 1996.
Baylor will return to Big 12 Conference action on Saturday, April 8, when the Lady Bears host Kansas for the beginning of a two-game series at 4:00 p.m.
