SB Defeats Louisiana in Extra Innings

Sunday, February 24

Waco, Texas

10:00 AM CT

Baylor

Louisiana

Photo by: Baylor Photography

SB Defeats Louisiana in Extra Innings

2/24/2019 2:52:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            With a young team that has struggled out of the gates, losing five of its first nine games at Getterman Stadium, Baylor softball coach Glenn Moore has talked about enjoying the "small victories."
            The Lady Bears got a big one Sunday, coming back from a double dip against Kent State to knock off 10^th-ranked Louisiana, 4-3, in eight innings in the consolation game of the Baylor Invitational.
            "I would take this win over the championship game with where we are with the program right now," Moore said. "You never want to be in this position, but to be able to come back. I always tell the girls the game is a very forgiving game, and to have a chance to end on a winning note, no matter who you're playing . . . a lot of teams probably would have folded under a team that's playing the way they are. I think we got rid of our freshmen today, I think they became sophomores."
            Already a sophomore, pitcher Sidney Holman had arguably her best game in a Baylor uniform, giving up just two earned runs on five hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in eight innings to pick up her team-high fifth win of the season and second against a top-10 team.
            "I really relied on God today," said Holman, who draws a cross in the dirt behind the pitching rubber before every pitch. "Me and Coach had been talking about that a lot, and I just of let Him take over. And the defense also played well today, so that helped."
            Just a day earlier, Holman (5-2) gave up three runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings in the 6-5, eight-inning loss to Kent State that sent the Lady Bears to the consolation game for the second straight tournament.
            Holman is Baylor's first pitcher to hit 70 mph since Whitney Canion before she got injured. But, it was her off-speed pitches that were the most effective against a lineup for the Ragin' Cajuns (14-2) that is hitting .360 for the year and averaging almost 10 runs per game.
            "She was much more efficient. She was tough, she was throwing hard, her ball was breaking," Moore said. "I don't have to tell you what kind of lineup that is that she faced. But, when that type of lineup struggles with you to that degree, you know you're doing something right."
            Baylor (9-7), which managed just four hits off Louisiana ace Summer Ellyson (8-2) in a 5-2 loss to the Ragin' Cajuns on Friday, belted out eight hits off of her on Sunday.
            The Lady Bears got on the board first in the top of the second inning, when Goose McGlaun led off with a walk, went to second on a Taylor Ellis single and scored on Nicky Dawson's double to left.
            Freshman Kassidy Krupit blasted her team-high fourth homer over the center field wall with two out in the third to extend the Lady Bears' lead to 2-0.
            "I've felt all along, we had a potentially good offense that can score some runs," Moore said. "Even some kids that can hit the long ball. But, we couldn't find the right combination. . . . To score runs off a pitcher like that, the way we did and to move the ball and do it when we had to. We squared it up really well today and did some things exceptionally well, but there's still plenty to work on."
            Louisiana battled back to tie it at 2-2 in the fourth on doubles by Bailey Curry and Lexie Comeaux and had a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh with the winning run at third base. But, Holman buckled down to strike out Sarah Hudek swinging on a 3-2 count.
            "I just kind of had to shake yesterday off," Holman said. "Sometimes, there's just those days. And today, I just had to come back with a different mindset, just put everything on God (and) don't try to do everything yourself. Let your team help you, too."
            The Lady Bears helped her with a two-run top of the eighth. Using the international tiebreaker rules, putting a runner on second base to start the inning, McGlaun delivered a two-out RBI single and then came around to score on back-to-back hits by Taylor Ellis and Dawson.
            "Oh my gosh, (that was) awesome," McGlaun said. "Being able to score two in the top of the eighth . . . we have a little bit of breathing room. At least we could capitalize on those gaps, so I think it was great."
            That breathing room disappeared quickly when Kourtney Gremillion laced a single to left to put runners on the corner with nobody out. A run scored on Alissa Dalton's fielder's choice grounder to second, and the Ragin' Cajuns had the tying run on third when Holman struck out Raina O'Neal to end the game.
            "We've been talking about small victories and trying to build on little successes here and there," Moore said. "We put them all together today and got a big victory, a huge factory. This will be a game where we can go back to many times throughout this year."
            Baylor goes back on the road for the Desert Classic that begins Friday in St. George, Utah, with matchups against Southern Utah and Notre Dame.

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – No. 21 Baylor (9-6) finished the Baylor Invitational strong with a 4-3 victory over No. 10 Louisiana in eight innings. Sidney Holman pitched a complete game as she picked up her fifth win in the circle for the Lady Bears and allowed three runs off five hits with seven strikeouts.
Nicky Dawson, who ended up recording the game winning hit in the top of the eighth, went 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs.
Baylor took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Dawson's double to left field scored Goose McGlaun from second base. An inning later, the Lady Bears doubled their lead when Kassidy Krupit crushed a solo home run over the center field wall.
Louisiana tied things up in the bottom of the fourth when Lexie Comeaux's double to right field scored a pair of runs. The score remained knotted at two through seven innings, and the tie breaker rule was enforced in the top of the inning.
With Ana Watson on second and two outs, McGlaun ripped a single up the middle to bring Watson home. Taylor Ellis then singled to center field to put runners on the corners. That set things up for Dawson whose single through the right side brought McGlaun home.
With a two-run lead, it was time for the defense to go to work. One run scored for Louisiana off a hit to second base, but Holman's seventh strikeout of the game clinched the victory for Baylor.

HIGHLIGHTS

Kassidy Krupit's fourth home run of the season gave Baylor a 2-0 lead in the top of the third.
Three different Lady Bears finished with a multi-hit game: Nicky Dawson (3-for-4), Goose McGlaun (2-for-3) and Taylor Ellis (2-for-4).
Nicky Dawson and Sidney Holman were named to the Baylor Invitational All-Tournament team.

STAT OF THE GAME
2 – Number of wins over top-10 teams by Baylor so far this season.

TOP QUOTE
Glenn Moore on the win…
"We've been talking about small victories and trying to build on little successes here and there. Struggling of course and put them all together today and got a big victory, a huge victory. This will be a game where we can go back to many times throughout this year. We really did need this type of game to be able to pull it out. To play the way we did and to not win it would have still been a success for us with the way we were playing. But to be able to pull out the victory will be something that we can carry on, and I think this team will grow big time from this."

Goose McGlaun on Baylor's mental toughness…
"After yesterday, it was definitely emotional, especially for us upper classmen. (It was) two losses in a day. We're not used to that, so coming back we knew that we just had to get back to being Baylor softball, and I think we did a great job of doing that today. Sidney (Holman) threw a great game and then we had her back defensively. We were scoring, so I think that everything was clicking for us today."

Sidney Holman on the win…
"I think that it was a really great win in our eyes, and we are just going to keep building from there and were just hoping to keep on winning."

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor travels to Utah for the Red Desert Classic. The Lady Bears will face Southern Utah and Notre Dame on Friday, March 1, Utah Valley and CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, March 2 and Notre Dame on Sunday, March 3.