No. 19/20 SB Clinches Series Over Iowa State

Saturday, April 28

Ames, Iowa

1:00 PM

Baylor

32-14, 9-6

Iowa State

22-27, 3-11

Baylor

Iowa State

No. 19/20 SB Clinches Series Over Iowa State

4/28/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

April 28, 2018

Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

€‹When Baylor softball's first four batters collected hits and scored, it looked like this would be another nice stroll through the park for the No. 19/20 Lady Bears.

€‹Not so fast.

€‹Getting just three more hits and shut out by Iowa State pitcher Savannah Sanders (3-9) over the last six innings, Baylor (32-14, 9-6) had to hold on for a 4-3 victory Saturday afternoon at Cyclone Sports Complex in Ames, Iowa, to clinch the series.

€‹"I just felt we should have poured it on a little bit more, been a little bit more determined and had better at-bats," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team has won seven of its last eight games. "For whatever reason, I felt like we got a little passive with a four-run lead and it almost cost us the game."

€‹Four batters into the game, the Lady Bears had a 4-0 lead. Jessie Scroggins led off with a bunt single, moved to second on Kyla Walker's infield single and scored when Shelby Friudenberg had an RBI single off the wall in left-center field.

€‹Goose McGlaun followed that up with a three-run home run to center field, her team-high 12th of the season and 23rd of her career.

€‹Sanders had three 1-2-3 innings and allowed just six baserunners over the last six frames on three hits, two walks and an error.

€‹"I thought we were anemic offensively after that first inning," Moore said. "I was frustrated that we didn't add on. To put up that many goose eggs for six innings, I'm disappointed that we didn't have the killer instinct. . . . We've just got to be a hungrier offense."

€‹Working with that early four-run lead, Baylor starter Regan Green (10-4) breezed through the first two innings. But, in the third, Nycholle Antillon followed up a two-out infield single by Sally Woolpert with a three-run, line-drive homer to left that made it a one-run game, 4-3.

€‹"Regan had a sore back, didn't have her best stuff," Moore said of Green, who gave up three runs on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts in 4.2 innings. "We knew that going in, but we felt we would give her enough cushion. And I guess we did, but it was barely enough."

€‹In the fifth, the Cyclones had runners on the corners with two outs, when Gia Rodoni came out of the bullpen to get Antillon on an inning-ending double play to short. Rodoni retired seven of the nine batters she faced to pick up her first save of the season and second of her career.

€‹Baylor goes for the series sweep with Sunday's game at noon.

€‹"I don't think we played poorly overall, but we're certainly struggling to get our rhythm and find ourselves," Moore said. "And I don't think we've done that all season. So, I was disappointed that we didn't make another step up this game. The last few games, I've felt we made baby steps in the right direction. But today, I thought we kind of plateaued a little bit. That was disappointing."

THE RUNDOWN
AMES, Iowa -- No. 19/20 Baylor softball (32-14, 9-6 Big 12) grinded out a 4-3 win to clinch the series over Iowa State (22-27, 3-11 Big 12) on Saturday afternoon at Cyclone Sports Complex.

Regan Green (10-4) made the start for the Lady Bears, going 4.2 frames and allowing six hits, three runs, and a walk, adding two strikeouts.

Gia Rodoni picked up her first save of the season, entering with two outs in the fifth and holding the Cyclones to two hits and three strikeouts to preserve the win for BU.

The Lady Bears got off to a quick start, with Jessie Scroggins dropping a bunt single in on the first pitch of the ballgame in the top of the first.

Kyla Walker legged out an infield single, leading into an RBI single for Shelby Friudenberg that would score Scroggins from second.

Goose McGlaun cracked the game open with a three-run bomb to centerfield, giving the Lady Bears the 4-0 lead through the first frame.

The Cyclones would tighten the game to a one-run BU advantage with a two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the third, but the Lady Bears kept ISU off the plate for the rest of the game to take the series win.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor won its seventh-straight series over the Cyclones, taking the series in each of the seven years since the conference moved to the three-game series format in 2012.
• Shelby Friudenberg (183 career RBI) now sits just one back of Chelsi Lake (184, 2004-2007) to tie the program record.
• Kyla Walker (2-for-4) posted her 15th multi-hit game of the season, the 56th of her collegiate career.
• Goose McGlaun (1-for-2, 3 RBI, HR) hit her team-leading 12th home run of the season and took her season RBI count up to a team-high 42.
• Nicky Dawson (1-for-2) pushed her hitting streak up to a career-high six games.
• Gia Rodoni collected her first save of the season, spinning 2.1 scoreless innings to give BU the victory.
• Baylor has won 20 of the last 21 meetings with the Cyclones and has won the last 10-straight games over ISU.

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will look for its third-straight sweep over ISU in the series finale, back in action on Sunday, April 29, at noon at the Cyclone Sports Complex in Ames.

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