Thursday, February 13
Waco, Texas
5:00 p.m. CT
Baylor
3-2
10
vs
1
Abilene Christian
1-4
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
ACU
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
Baylor
1
6
0
3
X
10
11
0
Photo by: Baylor Photography
SB Run-Rules ACU in Home Opener
2/13/2020 7:44:00 PM | Softball
Gia Rodoni finished with a season-high eight strikeouts
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Glenn Moore has to fight the tendency to throw ace pitcher Gia Rodoni too much.
It's just hard when the Baylor pitcher is as dominant as she was in Thursday's home-opening 10-1 win over ACU. After giving up a solo homer to Blair Crayton in the top of the first inning, Rodoni (2-1) struck out eight of the last 10 batters she faced.
"I have to start with Gia Rodoni coming out and throwing in this cold, gives up the home run, and I think it triggered her adrenaline," said Moore, whose team improved to 3-2 going into this weekend's Getterman Classic, "and then she just pretty much dominated after that. We wanted to push her a little bit tonight, let her go a little bit further than we might need her and get her in shape."
Coming back from an injury that sidelined her all last year. Rodoni lowered her ERA to 2.15 and combined with sophomore reliever Madison Lindsey on a one-hitter in a run-rule victory that ended after five innings.
"I'm still working to get back at 100 (percent)," she said. "I'm feeling really good right now and rehab has been tremendous for me. That's something I'll continue to get healthier and stronger. . . . After my first inning, I felt pretty comfortable. I felt like I settled in well. After that, it was pretty smooth."
Baylor tied it up in the bottom of the first, when Nicky Dawson reached on a one-out single, went to third on Goose McGlaun's single up the middle and scored on a wild pitch.
In the second, the Lady Bears loaded the bases on a leadoff walk by freshman Emily Hott and bunt singles by Lou Gilbert and Maddison Kettler. Alivia Sinnott (1-2) walked the next three batters, then Taylor Ellis greeted reliever Jillian Hefner with a two-run single that broke the game open.
"I thought we had quality at-bats," Moore said. "We ran a pitcher out and scored a lot of runs. I couldn't have asked for much more than that."
Hott delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth after singles by Ellis, pinch-hitter Josie Bower and Ana Watson, then Watson scored the final round on a Lou Gilbert groundout.
"It's really awesome for the home opener, especially to know what the potential we have for the rest of the year is," said Hott, who's hitting .444 with a .615 on-base percentage. "Just how we're going to do and how well our team is meshing together, it's just amazing."
Lindsey walked two batters in the fifth, but struck out two in closing out the game in her second appearance of the season.
Moore said Rodoni is "about where we thought she'd be."
"We're trying to pull the reins back on her a little bit. It's human nature to want to throw somebody like Gia a lot more. But we've got to build our bullpen, and Maddy came in and I'm very proud of what she did, especially when she got the illegal pith called on her. That was her nemesis last year and she really couldn't pitch because of it. I was waiting to see how she responded, and I think she picked up her velocity about three miles an hour."
Friday's opening-day schedule in the Getterman Classic begins with Prairie View A&M (1-4) versus Western Illinois (1-4) at 10 a.m., followed by Grand Canyon (1-5) versus Western Illinois at 12:30 p.m. Baylor plays Prairie View at 3 and Grand Canyon at 5:30 p.m., with Moore (898-416) going for his 900th career victory.
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Under the glow of a brand new video board, the Baylor softball team recorded a 10-1 victory over Abilene Christian in five innings in the Lady Bears' first home game of the 2020 season.
After the Wildcats struck first with a solo homer in the top of the first inning, BU quickly tied the game up in the bottom of the frame. Nicky Dawson – who got on base with a single - scored off a wild pitch.
An inning later, Baylor opened things up when six runs crossed the plate. Emily Hott led off the frame before Lou Gilbert and Maddison Kettler laid down back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases with no outs for BU. Then Kyla Walker, Dawson and Goose McGlaun each drew consecutive walks to bring three runs home.
Following a pitching change, Taylor Ellis hit a single to bring Walker and Dawson home, marking her third multi-RBI game of the season. One more run would cross home plate for the Lady Bears before the inning ended.
In the fourth inning, two of Baylor's three runs came home off the first career double by Hott.
Defensively, the Baylor defense allowed only one baserunner as BU retired 11-straight Wildcat batters. Gia Rodoni, in her first game back at Getterman Stadium since 2018, struck out eight batters. Three of those strikeouts went down looking.
Madison Lindsey came in to pitch in the top of the fifth and recorded a pair of strikeouts of her own.
HIGHLIGHTS
STAT OF THE GAME
10 – Number of strikeouts by the Baylor pitching staff (Gia Rodoni with 8 and Madison Lindsey with 2).
TOP QUOTES
Glenn Moore on the offense…
"It was good. We tried to do some things, tried to move some runners. Our short game was good. Taylor (Ellis) barely missed a monster home run that would have been nice to leave the park, but that was almost a fair ball. I thought we had quality at-bats. We ran a pitcher out and scored a lot of runs, and I couldn't have asked for much more than that."
Gia Rodoni on her return…
"I'm still working to get back at 100 percent. I'm feeling really good right now and rehab has been tremendous for me. That's something I'll continue to get healthier and stronger."
UP NEXT
The Lady Bears open play in the Getterman Classic. Baylor will take on Prairie View A&M (3 p.m.) and Grand Canyon (5:30 p.m.) on Friday and Western Illinois (12:30 p.m.) on Saturday before playing the bracket over the remainder of the weekend.
Baylor Bear Insider
Glenn Moore has to fight the tendency to throw ace pitcher Gia Rodoni too much.
It's just hard when the Baylor pitcher is as dominant as she was in Thursday's home-opening 10-1 win over ACU. After giving up a solo homer to Blair Crayton in the top of the first inning, Rodoni (2-1) struck out eight of the last 10 batters she faced.
"I have to start with Gia Rodoni coming out and throwing in this cold, gives up the home run, and I think it triggered her adrenaline," said Moore, whose team improved to 3-2 going into this weekend's Getterman Classic, "and then she just pretty much dominated after that. We wanted to push her a little bit tonight, let her go a little bit further than we might need her and get her in shape."
Coming back from an injury that sidelined her all last year. Rodoni lowered her ERA to 2.15 and combined with sophomore reliever Madison Lindsey on a one-hitter in a run-rule victory that ended after five innings.
"I'm still working to get back at 100 (percent)," she said. "I'm feeling really good right now and rehab has been tremendous for me. That's something I'll continue to get healthier and stronger. . . . After my first inning, I felt pretty comfortable. I felt like I settled in well. After that, it was pretty smooth."
Baylor tied it up in the bottom of the first, when Nicky Dawson reached on a one-out single, went to third on Goose McGlaun's single up the middle and scored on a wild pitch.
In the second, the Lady Bears loaded the bases on a leadoff walk by freshman Emily Hott and bunt singles by Lou Gilbert and Maddison Kettler. Alivia Sinnott (1-2) walked the next three batters, then Taylor Ellis greeted reliever Jillian Hefner with a two-run single that broke the game open.
"I thought we had quality at-bats," Moore said. "We ran a pitcher out and scored a lot of runs. I couldn't have asked for much more than that."
Hott delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth after singles by Ellis, pinch-hitter Josie Bower and Ana Watson, then Watson scored the final round on a Lou Gilbert groundout.
"It's really awesome for the home opener, especially to know what the potential we have for the rest of the year is," said Hott, who's hitting .444 with a .615 on-base percentage. "Just how we're going to do and how well our team is meshing together, it's just amazing."
Lindsey walked two batters in the fifth, but struck out two in closing out the game in her second appearance of the season.
Moore said Rodoni is "about where we thought she'd be."
"We're trying to pull the reins back on her a little bit. It's human nature to want to throw somebody like Gia a lot more. But we've got to build our bullpen, and Maddy came in and I'm very proud of what she did, especially when she got the illegal pith called on her. That was her nemesis last year and she really couldn't pitch because of it. I was waiting to see how she responded, and I think she picked up her velocity about three miles an hour."
Friday's opening-day schedule in the Getterman Classic begins with Prairie View A&M (1-4) versus Western Illinois (1-4) at 10 a.m., followed by Grand Canyon (1-5) versus Western Illinois at 12:30 p.m. Baylor plays Prairie View at 3 and Grand Canyon at 5:30 p.m., with Moore (898-416) going for his 900th career victory.
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Under the glow of a brand new video board, the Baylor softball team recorded a 10-1 victory over Abilene Christian in five innings in the Lady Bears' first home game of the 2020 season.
After the Wildcats struck first with a solo homer in the top of the first inning, BU quickly tied the game up in the bottom of the frame. Nicky Dawson – who got on base with a single - scored off a wild pitch.
An inning later, Baylor opened things up when six runs crossed the plate. Emily Hott led off the frame before Lou Gilbert and Maddison Kettler laid down back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases with no outs for BU. Then Kyla Walker, Dawson and Goose McGlaun each drew consecutive walks to bring three runs home.
Following a pitching change, Taylor Ellis hit a single to bring Walker and Dawson home, marking her third multi-RBI game of the season. One more run would cross home plate for the Lady Bears before the inning ended.
In the fourth inning, two of Baylor's three runs came home off the first career double by Hott.
Defensively, the Baylor defense allowed only one baserunner as BU retired 11-straight Wildcat batters. Gia Rodoni, in her first game back at Getterman Stadium since 2018, struck out eight batters. Three of those strikeouts went down looking.
Madison Lindsey came in to pitch in the top of the fifth and recorded a pair of strikeouts of her own.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Nicky Dawson has reached base safely in every game this season, giving her a nine-game on-base streak. She's also recorded a hit in three-straight games.
- Taylor Ellis now has three multi-RBI games this year as she drove in a pair of runs with a single in the second inning. It's the 19th multi-RBI game of her career.
- Lou Gilbert has recorded a hit in three-straight games.
- Emily Hott had her first multi-RBI game of her career off a double to left field.
- Maddison Kettler had her second multi-hit game of the season and 28th of her career.
- Kyla Walker has reached base safely in every game this season. That brings her streak to eight.
- Glenn Moore is two wins away from 900 career victories.
STAT OF THE GAME
10 – Number of strikeouts by the Baylor pitching staff (Gia Rodoni with 8 and Madison Lindsey with 2).
TOP QUOTES
Glenn Moore on the offense…
"It was good. We tried to do some things, tried to move some runners. Our short game was good. Taylor (Ellis) barely missed a monster home run that would have been nice to leave the park, but that was almost a fair ball. I thought we had quality at-bats. We ran a pitcher out and scored a lot of runs, and I couldn't have asked for much more than that."
Gia Rodoni on her return…
"I'm still working to get back at 100 percent. I'm feeling really good right now and rehab has been tremendous for me. That's something I'll continue to get healthier and stronger."
UP NEXT
The Lady Bears open play in the Getterman Classic. Baylor will take on Prairie View A&M (3 p.m.) and Grand Canyon (5:30 p.m.) on Friday and Western Illinois (12:30 p.m.) on Saturday before playing the bracket over the remainder of the weekend.
www.BaylorBears.com
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rodoni, Gia (2-1)
L: Sinnott,A (1-2)
Batting:
HR: Clayton,B 1
RBI: Clayton,B 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Clayton,B 1
CS: Brookerson 1
Batting:
2B: Hott, Emily 1
RBI: Walker, Kyla 1 ; Dawson, Nicky 1 ; McGlaun, Goose 1 ; Ellis, Taylor 2 ; Watson, Ana 1 ; Hott, Emily 2 ; Gilbert, Lou 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walker, Kyla 1 ; Dawson, Nicky 2 ; McGlaun, Goose 1 ; Courtney, Kayman 1 ; Bower, Josie 1 ; Watson, Ana 1 ; Hott, Emily 1 ; Gilbert, Lou 1 ; Kettler, Maddison 1
SB: McGlaun, Goose 1 ; Ellis, Taylor 1 ; Watson, Ana 1
CS: Walker, Kyla 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF/C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
OF/INF
/ Softball
LHP
/ Softball
UTIL
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
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