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Baylor Softball Recap
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Getting a dominant performance from Heather Stearns in the circle, the 20th-ranked Baylor softball team opened conference play with a 3-1 win over the Texas Longhorns Friday night before an overflow crowd of 1,519 at Getterman Stadium.

"The crowd was awesome, they were really into the game," said Stearns (12-2), who tossed a complete-game two-hitter with six strikeouts and no walks. "It was definitely a home-field advantage, for sure, and we fed off of it."

Stearns also fed off a first-inning run by the Lady Bears (25-6, 1-0), who have won five in a row and 11 of their last 12 games.

Ari Hawkins drew a one-out walk off Texas left-hander Tiarra Davis (11-6), went to third on Shelby Friudenberg's double to center and scored on the first of two costly wild pitches by Davis.

"I have a mindset that when we score, I really try to focus on not giving up free passes," Stearns said, "because that doesn't look good to the team. So once they scored, I was like `OK, I can't give up free passes.'''

With seven hits, five walks and a hit batter, Baylor threatened in all but one inning, but left 10 runners stranded. Three times, an inning ended with a runner still standing at third base, 60 feet from home plate.

"The game, ironically, does that sometimes," Baylor coach Glenn Moore said. "We didn't get the timely hits. It's tough to put hits together against a good pitcher. But we did capitalize on a couple wild pitches that gave us a little cushion there."

The Lady Bears took advantage of Davis' control problems again in the fourth after a leadoff double to right-center by Sarah Smith, who had struck out swinging in the first.

"My philosophy is that if a girl beats me one time, she's not going to beat me again," said Smith, who also doubled in the sixth to give her nine for the year. "A lot of teams know that I don't swing at the first pitch. So my idea was if she throws me a first-pitch strike, why not go for it?"

Pinch-runner Riley Browder moved to third on Lindsey Cargill's sacrifice bunt and scored easily on a Davis wild pitch to make it 2-0.

Texas (19-7, 0-1) got that run back in the top of the fifth, when Erin Shireman deposited a Stearns off-speed delivery over the wall in left-center field for her first home run of the season.

"She got a good swing on it and really drove it out. So, I just tip my hat on that one," Stearns said.

Shireman was the only Texas hitter to even reach base, breaking up a no-hitter with a leadoff single in the third inning and finishing 2-for-2. The other eight batters in the lineup went a combined 0-for-20 with six strikeouts.

After that fifth-inning homer, Stearns retired the last seven in order to finish it off.

"Heather showed up tonight, silenced their bats for the most part, and gave us an opportunity to win the ballgame. She was phenomenal tonight," Moore said. "She's one of the most confident pitchers we've ever had here and can make adjustments quick. Those were some good hitters, a good lineup, and they come out of their shoes when they swing. So if you make a mistake, you can see what's going to happen."

Baylor added an insurance run in the sixth, loading the bases on a two-out walk by Kyla Walker, a Texas error and a hit by pitch. Davis got Friudenberg in an 0-2 hole, but the sophomore first baseman came all the way back to draw a bases-loaded walk that scored Walker.

The Lady Bears finish off the two-game weekend series with the Longhorns at 8 p.m. Saturday with a game that will be nationally televised by ESPN2.

"That was a huge win, especially against Texas," Stearns said. "We haven't had a lot of success (against Texas) - our class hasn't - so I'm trying to go out with a bang. It felt good tonight."

WACO, Texas - No. 20 Baylor softball (25-6) led wire to wire, taking the 3-1 victory in the Big 12 opener over the Texas Longhorns (19-7) on Friday night at Getterman Stadium.

Heather Stearns (12-2) adds to her unbelievable senior season resume, pitching a complete-game, two-hitter, giving up just one run to the potent Texas lineup.

In a battle between two of the Big 12's top pitchers, Stearns won the day, with the Baylor offense peppering seven hits and three runs on UT's Tiarra Davis (11-6).

Getting things rolling in the bottom of the first, a one-out walk by Ari Hawkins and a double by Shelby Friudenberg put two runners in scoring position in a hurry.

With Linsey Hays as the next batter, the ball-four pitch by Davis was wild, into the backstop, scoring Hawkins to give Baylor the 1-0 lead.

Back in the bottom of the fourth, Sarah Smith led off with a double into the gap in right-center, with Riley Browder pinch running.

A sacrifice bunt from Lindsey Cargill moved Browder into scoring position, setting up the Lady Bears second run of the night on a wild pitch by Davis, pushing the BU lead to 2-0.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Heather Stearns allowed just her second hit of the ball game, giving up a solo shot to UT's Erin Shireman to cut the Baylor lead to 2-1.

A two-out rally by the Baylor offense in the bottom of the sixth would give Stearns and the Lady Bear defense an insurance run.

After Kyla Walker roped a single into left field, Baylor took advantage of a costly error by Texas second baseman, Stephanie Ceo, with Jessie Scroggins reaching safely and then advancing to second on the throw to third.

With two runners in scoring position, Hawkins drew a hit-by-pitch to load the bases.

A walk to Shelby Friudenberg would bring home the run, with Baylor narrowly missing a grand slam by Linsey Hays in the next at-bat on a warning shot fly-out, caught by the winds at Getterman.

Stearns would come back out in the top of the seventh, working the 1-2-3 inning to give Baylor the 3-1 victory.

QUOTES
Senior 3B Sarah Smith
On hitting two doubles...
"My philosophy is, `A girl beats me one time, and she is not going to beat me again.' She is a great pitcher, I was just determined to not to let her beat me. A lot of teams know I don't swing at the first pitch. So, my idea was if she throws one the first pitch, go for it."

On the crowd...
"It was a great crowd, I love when they come out here and support us. It makes us play better, it makes us feel better."

On opening Big 12 play with a win...
"It is crucial, I think everybody wants to open Big 12 with a win. Our mindset going to this week was to let them know what we can do."

Senior SP Heather Stearns
On being comfortable...
"I was pretty comfortable. Throughout the game I had some nerves which I hadn't had this season. Now that I have that out and the first conference game is over, I'll go out and do better tomorrow."

On her control...
"We scored in the first inning. When we score, I focus on not giving free passes because that doesn't look good to the team."

On opening with a win...
"Especially against Texas this is a huge win. We're opening it up for a great Big 12 conference season. We haven't had a lot of success (against Texas) and our class hasn't. I'm trying to go out with a bang and it felt good tonight."

Baylor Head Coach Glenn Moore
On beating Texas and having a good start...
"Ideally, you would not like to open up against one of the better teams in the conference. We certainly did and they are a good team. Heather showed up tonight, silenced their bats for the most part, and gave us an opportunity to win the ball game."

On Heather's confidence...
"She is one of the most confident pitchers we've ever had here. (She) can make adjustments quick. Those are some good hitters, they want to swing, so you make a mistake and something is going to happen. You've got to pitch careful to those hitters."

On the atmosphere...
"It was tremendous. We talk a lot about when we have big crowds like this, it helps them to get them into the game. I think they were in it tonight and I am very appreciative of that."

STAT OF THE DAY #1
3 - the number of walks drawn by Shelby Friudenberg, including the sixth-inning, bases-loaded BB, giving Friudenberg the only RBI for Baylor

STAT OF THE DAY #2
2 - the number of doubles recorded by Sarah Smith, giving her 40 career two-baggers to tie Linsey Hays for No. 5 on Baylor's career doubles list

WHAT'S NEXT
The Lady Bears close out the two-game weekend series with Texas on the opening weekend of Big 12 play, finishing up Saturday, March 26 at 8 p.m. Saturday's game will be broadcast to a national television audience on ESPN2.

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