March 1, 2014

THE RUNDOWN
GULFPORT, Miss. - Baylor rallied from a 9-2 deficit but fell short, 11-10 vs. No. 24 Louisiana Friday before rebounding to beat Mississippi State, 1-0 in eight innings. The Lady Bears went 1-1 in day one of the inaugural Gulf Coast Classic.

In the first game, BU (13-4) fell behind when Shelbi Redfearn hit a three-run homer in the first and a grand slam to highlight a six-run fourth inning for ULL (11-5-1). The Lady Bears continued to rally throughout the deficit with four runs in the bottom of the fourth and three in the bottom of the sixth.

Headed into the bottom of the seventh, BU trailed 11-9 and loaded the bases with no outs. However, the Lady Bears' rally fell short scoring just one on a Ari Hawkins hit-by-pitch that scored Sarah Smith.

In game two, Heather Stearns pitched a six-hit shutout in the longest outing of her career; she tied a career high with 12 strikeouts and improved to 6-1 on the season. Hawkins' RBI single in the top of the eighth scored the game winner, and Baylor handed Mississippi State (15-1) its first loss of the season.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Baylor loaded the bases five times, but the Lady Bears left a season-high 14 runners on base in the loss to Louisiana.
• Heather Stearns pitched a career-high eight innings in BU's win over Mississippi State, tied a career high with 12 strikeouts, and she threw her fifth career shutout and seventh career complete game.
• Whitney Canion (7-3) tied a single-game record with nine walks vs. ULL and had her first rough start since a season-opening loss to Washington; She surrendered seven runs, all earned, after allowing just three in her previous 54 innings of work.
• Kaitlyn Thumann extended her streak of reaching base to 37 games, which included a solo home run (3) and three hits in the loss to ULL and a two-hit performance vs. Mississippi State. Thumann has 33 career multi-hit games.
• Ari Hawkins had a season-high three RBI vs. ULL and had the game-winning RBI single vs. Mississippi State.
• Linsey Hays tied a career high with four hits in Baylor's loss to ULL.
• Clare Hosack had her fourth 3-hit game of the season, and the seventh of her career in the loss to ULL.

STAT OF THE GAME I
14 - Baylor left 14 runners on base in the loss to Louisiana.

STAT OF THE GAME II
5 - Number of career shutouts for Heather Stearns in her second year with the team, which already ranks her ninth on Baylor's all-time list.

THEY SAID IT
Glenn Moore on the Bears' peformance
"I couldn't be prouder of how the team battled back after falling down early. They did it against Washington in the first game of the year, and they did it again tonight, which shows our character and never-quit attitude. I thought Heather's outing was key for us in the second game. It's tough to bounce back after an emotional loss and expect to be sharp just a few minutes after it, and she gave us what she needed to beat an undefeated team.

THEY TWEETED IT

@BaylorSoftball WORKKK STEARNS #SicEm

- Eva Milam (@Eva_Marie33) March 1, 2014