SB Drops Close Contest to No. 9 Texas

Wednesday, March 27

Waco, Texas

6:30 PM CT

Baylor

14-15, 0

Texas

30-6, 0

Texas

Baylor

Photo by: Baylor Photography

SB Drops Close Contest to No. 9 Texas

3/27/2019 9:44:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

The Longhorns were held to less than five hits for the fourth time this season

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            On a night when Baylor sophomore Sidney Holman was on her game, giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out four, Texas freshman Shealyn O'Leary just happened to be better.
            Tossing her second no-hitter of the season, O'Leary (11-0) pitched a perfect game in the ninth-ranked Longhorns' 2-0 win over the Lady Bears Wednesday night at Getterman Stadium, throwing just 63 pitches.
             "(Holman) did her job and the defense did its job, we just have to find ways to score runs," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team fell to 14-15 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12. "Unfortunately, we ran into a buzz saw. But, they had to pitch a perfect game to be able to beat us tonight, and they did. And its wasn't just a perfect game pitched by her, she had a great defense that made some plays that helped her secure that perfect game."
            Holman (9-8) got through the first three frames unscathed, mixing in changeups and drop balls and leaving four runners stranded.
            "They attack the ball and they're aggressive in the batter's box. That's a team you just have to go at them and hope your stuff works better," Holman said. "We threw a lot of changeups, which really helped with keeping the hitters off-balance."
            The Longhorns (30-6, 4-0) broke through in the fourth when Oregon transfer Shannon Rhodes reached on a two-base throwing error by shortstop Taylor Ellis. Rhodes moved to third on a sac bunt by Lauren Burke and scored on Kaitlyn Washington's sac fly to left.
            In the fifth, Reagan Hathaway drew a two-out walk, went to third on a Janae Jefferson hit to the gap in left-center field and scored when second baseman Lou Gilbert dropped the relay throw. Ellis almost turned a double play, catching a hard-shot liner by Miranda Elish and throwing to second just a hair late.
            "The two errors resulted in the two runs we had, but at the same time we made some great plays, and those were great errors," Moore said. "I was very pleased with the way our defense played behind Sid. I thought it was a complete game. They're a great offense. They put the ball in play often and their batting averages are off the charts, 1 through 9."
            Facing former Belton High School teammate Bekah Aclozer, Holman recorded a strikeout to end the second inning and then retired her on a comebacker to the circle in a 1-2-3 seventh.
            While Baylor didn't get a hit off O'Leary, the Lady Bears struck out just three times and had several hard-hit balls, including a deep fly to right-center field leading off the third and a liner to shortstop by Ana Watson in the fifth.
            "I told the girls after the game, I don't remember one wasted at-bat that we didn't challenge them, unless it was the final at-bat," Moore said. "Throughout the game, we were putting the ball in play, and they were making great defensive plays. A lot of athletes on the field out there, and they made great plays."
            Baylor faces Kansas (11-20, 0-0) in a weekend series with games at 5 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday at Arrocha Ballpark in Lawrence. The Jayhawks are coming off a three-game sweep of Green Bay.
            "They're kind of in the same boat as we are, we're both struggling a little bit right now," Moore said. "Both of us want to take advantage of the other one struggling, so maybe we'll have a war up there. But, I'm hoping that we can find a way to pull out a victory or two while we're up there. That's kind of where we are and where they are."

WACO, Texas – It took perfection for No. 9 Texas (30-6, 4-0 Big 12) to leave Waco with a win as Baylor (14-15, 1-4) fell to the Longhorns, 2-0, Wednesday night at Getterman Stadium.

UT freshman Shealyn O'Leary pitched a perfect game as the Lady Bears put the ball in play, with only three strikeouts, but failed to get anyone on base.

Defensively, Sidney Holman and the rest of the Lady Bears went to work as they held a Texas team that averages 6.5 runs per game to only two. In their 36 games this season, the Longhorns have been held to two runs or less six times.

The game was scoreless until the top of the fourth inning when Shannon Rhodes reached base safely off an error. She scored two batters later off a sacrifice fly to left field. Texas added one more run in the fifth inning when Janae Jefferson reached base on a fielding error and went on to score later in the inning.

Both of UT's runs were unearned as Holman finished the contest giving up only four hits to go with four strikeouts in seven innings of work.

HIGHLIGHTS

Texas was held to zero extra base hits on the night. The Longhorns entered Wednesday's game averaging 1.83 doubles per game.
There were plenty of solid defensive plays by the Lady Bears as Texas was held to four hits, which is five hits below its average (8.7).
Lou Gilbert played second base for the first time in her Baylor career as Nicky Dawson, who has started every game she's played for Baylor (84), missed the game due to illness.

STAT OF THE GAME
0 – Number of earned runs Sidney Holman allowed

TOP QUOTES
Glenn Moore on the day…
"We made some great plays. The two errors resulted in the two runs they had. But at the same time we made some great plays, and those errors were aggressive errors. I was very pleased the way our defense played behind Sid. It was a complete game. They're a good offense. That's an understatement, they're a great offense. They put the ball in play often and their batting averages are off the chart 1 through 9. She did her job and the defense did its job. We just have to find ways to score runs.
Unfortunately, we ran into a buzz saw. But they had to pitch a perfect game to be able to beat us tonight and they did. It wasn't just a perfect game pitched by her. She had a great defense that made some plays that helped her secure that perfect game.
I told the girls after the game, I don't remember one wasted at-bat that we didn't challenge them unless it was the final at-bat. Throughout the game we were putting the ball in play, and they were making great defensive plays. A lot of athletes on the field out there and they made great plays."

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor travels to Lawrence, Kan. to take on the Jayhawks over the weekend.