Baylor
Florida
Softball Sweeps on Day Two of NFCA Classic
2/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 24, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ga. - The No. 16 Baylor softball team swept a pair of hard-fought games in day two of the NFCA Leadoff Classic, downing DePaul, 4-0, in the opener before holding off a late rally by No. 19 Florida to defeat the Gators, 7-6. With the wins, Baylor advances to the silver bracket of the NFCA Leadoff Classic as the Lady Bears improve to 15-3 on the season.
After a scoreless first inning in game one against the Blue Demons, Baylor jumped on DePaul for three runs in the second to grab a 3-0 lead. Kirsten Shortridge put the Lady Bears on the board, hitting a drive that flew over the center fielder's head and to the wall as Danielle Honnette scored from second to give Baylor a 1-0 lead.
A perfectly executed squeeze put the Lady Bears up 2-0 as Kelsey Sage dropped down a perfect bunt, scoring Shortridge from third as Baylor grabbed a two-run advantage.
Baylor pushed the final run across in the inning as Sage scored on a throwing error as the Lady Bears held a 3-0 lead heading into the third.
The score would remain the same heading into the sixth as the Lady Bears added an insurance run on Courtney Oberg's two-out single, making the score 4-0 heading into the final inning.
Baylor starting pitcher Lisa Ferguson would do the rest of the work, putting the Blue Demons down in order in the seventh for her third complete game and third shutout of the season.
In the win, Ferguson improved to 6-2 on the season after allowing no runs while scattering eight hits to go along with eight strikeouts and only one walk as the senior tossed her 23rd career shutout.
Huitink took the loss for DePaul and fell to 2-1 on the season after allowing four runs on seven hits in seven innings of work.
After the game one victory over the Blue Demons, Baylor built a 7-2 lead before holding on to a wild, one-run victory over the Gators.
The Lady Bears jumped on Florida pitching early, loading the bases with nobody out in the top of the first. Chelsi Lake delivered a sacrifice fly to open the scoring as Shortridge provided the key blow in the inning, a two-out, two-run single to score Nicole Wesley and Ashley Monceaux and give the Lady Bears a 3-0 lead.
Courtney Oberg extended the lead to four in the second as she blasted a solo home run well over the left field wall, the second round-tripper of her career, to give the Lady Bears a 4-0 lead.
Florida rallied for a run in the bottom of the second and the third to cut the lead; however, Baylor added two more runs in the fourth to extend the lead back to four.
Shortridge scored on a wild pitch as Oberg's sacrifice fly scored Kelsey Sage from third to stake the Lady Bears out to a 6-2 lead.
After the Gators were unable to score in the bottom of the inning, Baylor built its biggest lead of the game when Lake delivered a RBI single in the fifth, scoring Tiffany Wesley as the Lady Bears built a five-run lead.
A solo home run by the Gators in the bottom of the fifth cut the lead to four while Florida exploded to three runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Baylor lead to one.
Lauren Roussell and Francesca Enea had RBI doubles in the rally while Ali Gardiner added a two-out, RBI single in the inning to cut the lead to one heading into the final frame.
After the Lady Bears were unable to add an insurance run in the top of the inning, Florida put the tying run in scoring position with two away; but, Ferguson managed to force Kim Waleszonia to pop-out to third to end the game as Baylor picked up its second consecutive win over a ranked opponent this weekend.
Shortridge picked up the victory over the Gators, allowing six runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings of work as she improved to 6-0 on the season.
Ferguson picked up her first save and the 16th of her career after not allowing a run in 1.1 innings of work.
Stacey Stevens took the loss for Florida, falling to 5-4 of the year after allowing six runs on six hits in 3.2 innings of work.
Eight separate Baylor batters got hits in the game as Lake, Shortridge and Oberg recorded two RBIs each as the Lady Bears improved to 5-0 on the season against teams from the Southeastern Conference.
Baylor will return to action at the NFCA Leadoff Classic when the Lady Bears face Illinois State on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 11:00 a.m. Florida State and Southern Illinois make up the other two teams in the Lady Bears bracket.
