SB Falls to Iowa State

Thursday, April 18

Waco, Texas

6:30 PM CT

Baylor

17-25, 0

Iowa State

25-18, 0

Iowa State

Baylor

Photo by: Baylor Photography

SB Falls to Iowa State

4/18/2019 9:47:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Baylor will square off vs. the Cyclones for Game 2 at 6:30 p.m. Friday

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Understanding the fragile state of his Baylor softball team, both physically and mentally, coach Glenn Moore has tried to handle the Lady Bears with kid gloves.
            Those came off after a 4-1 loss to the Iowa State Cyclones in Thursday's series opener at Getterman Stadium.
            "I just didn't see the fight," said Moore, whose Lady Bears (17-25, 2-12) fell into last place in the Big 12 standings.
"Nothing against Iowa State, but they had a lot more energy than we did; the dugout was into it. What you fear in a time like this is the team starts accepting losing, and too many times on this field this year the opposing team has come in and played harder than us. And that's unacceptable. I can accept defeat, but I can't accept the lack of effort."
Baylor struggled all night against 6-3 right-hander Emma Hylen, who gave up just four hits and three walks with three strikeouts in lowering her ERA to 2.79.
            Freshman third baseman Kassidy Krupit said Hylen had a good mix of spin, speed and location, but "there's no excuse for us not to hit it."
            "I know we're capable of hitting it. We just didn't tonight, so we should come out (Friday) and be ready to hit any pitcher they throw in," Krupit said. "I expect next time we face her, we should adjust 100 percent. We know exactly what she's throwing at this point, and it's unacceptable not to adjust to it."
            Krupit provided a couple defensive highlights at third, including an inning-ending, mic-drop catch of a line-drive shot by the Cyclones' Logan Schaben in the fifth that left three runners stranded.
            "Honestly, I didn't see the ball coming, I just reacted," she said. "I've played third my whole life, so when a hard-hit ball comes at me, I just put my glove up."
            Moore also turned to Krupit in the circle after starter Sidney Holman (10-16) gave up three runs on five hits in the first 2 1/3 innings. Armed with a wicked changeup that drops down to as low as 30 mph, Krupit got out of the third-inning jam with a strikeout and pop-up and worked around a pair of hits in the fourth before getting into trouble in the fifth.
            "We've left (Holman) in there in those situations for a long time now," Moore said. "We just don't have the offense to allow her, or really anybody for that matter, to give free passes the way we were. She just wasn't in sync with her game, struggling a little bit, and we thought we would mix it up."
            Iowa State (25-18, 2-8) got on the board just three batters into the game with a two-run homer by Kayle Bosworth, her seventh of the season. The Cyclones plated another run in the third when Sami Williams led off with a double to right-center field and scored on Sally Woolpert's RBI single to left.
            Trailing 3-0, Baylor had the chance to strike right back when Madi O'Neal and Nicky Dawson led off the third with back-to-back singles. Lou Gilbert moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt, but then Dawson was called for runner's interference when she ran into the shortstop on a hit up the middle by Krupit that likely would have scored both runners.
            "Many times this year, we have had some bad breaks. I can take those breaks, though," Moore said. "That's getting aggressive leads, and it's going to happen. It's the ones that we cause ourselves when we're not locked in mentally and just not maybe giving the effort that I can't handle. That was an aggressive mistake, but that was big and I think it squelched a big inning."
            The Lady Bears did get on the board the next inning, when Goose McGlaun led off with a walk and scored on singles by Ana Watson and O'Neal. But after that, Hylen settled in and retired the last 10 batters in order.
            "We were taking a lot of pitches, I thought," Moore said. "I'll have to see the film, but I thought we were passive once again. But, she was good, she was in all different planes and kept us guessing a lot tonight, too. She did a good job."
            Other than Krupit's defensive gems and a 2-for-3 night by O'Neal, one of the few highlights was the relief pitching of senior Regan Green. Out six weeks with a stress fracture in a rib, Green came back to toss two innings in Tuesday's doubleheader sweep of Lamar and threw three shutout innings in Thursday's game.
            After walking the first two batters she faced to score an inherited runner in the fifth, Green gave up a pair of hits the rest of the way and struck out four in lowering her team-best ERA to 2.68.
            "We were probably pushing her limit a little there (57 pitches). I was ready to go to the bullpen if another one had gotten on," Moore said. "But, she got some good work. We'll give her some rest (Friday) and hopefully have her back for Senior Day (on Saturday). But, I was happy with what I saw from her today. She was released on Monday, so that's about as much as we can ask out of her."
            The series continues with a game at 6:30 p.m. Friday and wraps up with the Senior Day game at 12 p.m. Saturday.

WACO, Texas – Baylor (17-25, 2-12) dropped the series opener against Iowa State (25-18, 2-8), 4-1, Thursday night at Getterman Stadium.

The Cyclones built up a 3-0 lead before the Lady Bears answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Goose McGlaun led off the frame with a walk after she battled through a nine pitch at-bat. She moved to second when Ana Watson singled through the left side. Both runners advanced a base when Josie Bower grounded out to second.

With two outs in the inning, Madi O'Neal stepped to the plate and beat out the throw at first for a single to third base. That brought McGlaun home and put the Lady Bears on the board.

O'Neal finished 2-for-3 at the plate with one RBI. She has now recorded two hits in three of the last six games to bring her season total to five multi-hit games.

Baylor used three pitchers on the night. Sidney Holman got the start before Kassidy Krupit came on in the third inning. Krupit gave up one run off three hits before Regan Green took over in the fifth inning.

Green, who was released on Monday to return to the field after sitting out the last five weeks due to injury, held the Cyclones scoreless while giving up only two hits with four strikeouts.

HIGHLIGHTS

Madi O'Neal led the Lady Bears with a 2-for-3 outing at the plate. O'Neal has recorded a hit in four of Baylor's last five games and has raised her batting average by .072 since BU's series at Oklahoma.
Regan Green threw four strikeouts in her second game back from injury. Green now has 40 strikeouts this season.
Baylor turned its 14^th double play of the season in the fourth inning when Goose McGlaun caught a line drive at first base and stepped on the bag to get the runner out. Baylor has now turned a double play in three of its last four games.

STAT OF THE GAME
7 – Number of strikeouts the Baylor pitching staff combined to record.

TOP QUOTES
Glenn Moore on the game…
"I just didn't see the fight. Nothing against Iowa State but they had a lot more energy than we did. The dugout was into it. What you fear in a time like this is the team starts accepting losing, and too many times on this field this year the opposing team has come in and played harder than us, and that's unacceptable."

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor and Iowa State return to Getterman Stadium for Game 2 of their Big 12 series for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday.
www.BaylorBears.com