Saturday, February 22
Waco, Texas
2:30 PM
Baylor
11-2
2
vs
1
Texas State
8-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Texas State
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
5
0
Baylor
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
9
1
Photo by: Baylor Photography
SB Records Pair of Walk-Off Victories
2/22/2020 8:41:00 PM | Softball
Lady Bears are 2-0 vs. ranked foes this season
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Kyla Walker didn't miss a signal, she just ignored it.
Using the international tiebreaker with Saturday's game tied at 1-1 through seven innings, Walker was placed on second base and moved to third on a sac bunt by Maddison Kettler before taking off on freshman Emily Hott's grounder to short and beating the throw home as the Baylor Lady Bears walked off with a 2-1 win over 17th-ranked Minnesota in the Baylor Invitational.
"I don't know what I'm doing over there in the (coaching) box," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team improved to 12-2 with its 10th-straight win and a perfect 4-0 in the five-team Baylor Invitational. "I always tell them if they miss a signal, it better work out good. And it worked out good, so we'll take it."
Walker, who was 3-for-7 and scored three of the team's four runs in matching 2-1 wins over Minnesota and Texas State, said Moore told her "not to go if it was hit into the infield."
"But, I saw it down immediately and knew my speed," Walker said, "and so I knew I could get there. I trusted myself."
The only remaining undefeated team in the tournament, Baylor will try to remain unbeaten at home (10-0) when the Lady Bears face Illinois (7-4) at 11 a.m. Sunday on the final day of the Baylor Invitational.
"This team's learning how to win," said Moore, whose team is 4-0 in one-run games. "They're starting to expect to win, and that's what you want to see. We have great upperclassmen on this team and some great leadership. We just needed to start believing in ourselves a little bit more. To pull late games out like we're doing, that grows a team tremendously. You start believing you're supposed to win.'
Coming off her record-tying fifth career no-hitter, Gia Rodoni (6-1) tossed a complete-game six-hitter with seven strikeouts and two walks in eight innings. The visiting Gophers (7-6) scored an unearned run in the top of the first to take the early lead, Rodoni scattered four hits over the last seven innings and lowered her ERA to 0.82.
"It took a little while for Gia to get loose," Moore said. "We made some mistakes behind her early and gave them that run. Again, that's a tough lineup. I think it was about the third inning before she started looking like Gia. When she did, she took control of tings. . . . You certainly couldn't ask for anything else. I'm very happy with her effort."
When Walker dropped Carlie Brandt's fly ball to center with one out in the top of the first, the Gophers took advantage with singles by Natalie DenHartog and Sydney Strelow to go up 1-0.
That lead was short-lived, though. Walker led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle and scored on Josie Bower's two-out double.
Rodoni worked around a one-out walk in the top of the eighth, with Strelow and Katelyn Kemmetmueller lining out to leave a runner stranded in scoring position.
Aliyah Pritchett, who made the diving snag of Kemmetmueller's liner to get the Lady Bears back in the dugout, had two of Baylor's five hits.
"It definitely was instinct," Pritchett said, "but in my head I knew I had to stop anything for my pitcher, because she was throwing a great game."
In Baylor's first game of the day, another 2-1 walk-off victory over Texas State, Pritchett (3-0) tossed a five-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks in her first complete game.
"To have three pitchers go complete games, we're going some things," Moore said. "Coach (Britni Sneed) Newman is doing some good things with her bullpen right now. It's just every exciting to see a freshman like Aliyah step it up and mix up the speeds against a good lineup."
Texas State (8-5), which upset Minnesota on the opening day of the tournament, went up 1-0 in the first inning when Christiana McDowell drew a one-out walk and scored on ArieAnn Bell's two-out RBI single to left.
Like the later game against Minnesota, Baylor answered right back in the bottom of the first. After Walker led off with a double down the leftfield line and Kettler walked, both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Hott and Walker crossed the plate on a Bowers single through the right side.
Settling in, Pritchett got some help from his defense with a couple double plays and then struck out Bailee Carter with two runners on base in the top of the seventh.
Leading off the seventh, Pritchett doubled to the gap in right-center, followed by an infield single by Ana Watson. With runners at second and third and nobody out, Lou Gilbert ended it with an RBI double to left that gave the Lady Bears the first of two walk-off wins.
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor softball won in dramatic fashion on a day that featured eight home events across Baylor Athletics. After a walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh vs. Texas State, senior Kyla Walker beat out the throw at home in the bottom of the eighth to give the Lady Bears a victory over No. 17 Minnesota.
That marked BU's second win over a ranked opponent this season after Baylor opened the year with an 8-0 run-rule victory in five innings over then-ranked No. 23 Auburn in Clearwater, Fla.
Walker was responsible for three of the four runs scored by the Lady Bears on the day as she went 3-for-7 at the plate. In the circle, Baylor received back-to-back complete-game efforts in the circle by Aliyah Pritchett and Gia Rodoni as the two combined to give up two runs off 11 hits with 12 strikeouts.
GAME 1: BAYLOR 2, TEXAS STATE 1
Lou Gilbert's walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Lady Bears their ninth win in a row.
Aliyah Pritchett led off the frame with a double and advanced to third off a single by Ana Watson. The winning run then crossed the plate when Gilbert dropped a hit into left field.
The game was knotted at 1 for most of the time after Texas State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Bayor answered in the bottom of the frame.
Kyla Walker got things started with a double and later scored off an RBI single from Josie Bower.
Defensively, the Lady Bears turned a pair of double plays in the game. The first came in the third inning when Gilbert fielded a grounder at third, threw to shortstop Taylor Ellis covering third who fired a shot down to first for the second out. Three innings later, Pritchett snagged a line drive in the circle and threw to first to get the runner out who failed to tag up.
Pritchett pitched the entire game and gave up one run off five hits with five strikeouts.
At the plate, Walker, Watson and Gilbert each finished 2-for-3.
GAME 2: BAYLOR 2, NO. 17 MINNESOTA 1 (8)
With one out and a runner on third, Emily Hott hit a grounder to the Minnesota shortstop. Kyla Walker, who was on third, took off toward home and slid into the plate before the tag could be applied to give Baylor the victory.
Aliyah Pritchett saved some runs from being scored by the Gophers earlier in the frame. With two on and two outs, Pritchett leapt to her right to snag a line drive and save what would have brought at least one run home for Minnesota.
Gia Rodoni went the distance for the Lady Bears in the circle and gave up one run off six hits with seven strikeouts.
After Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Baylor answered in the bottom of the frame to even the score. Walker led things off with a single and advanced to second off a sacrifice bunt by Maddison Kettler. Josie Bower then stepped to the plate and hit a double to bring Walker home.
Bower finished the day with a team-high two RBI and a 2-for-5 showing at the plate.
HIGHLIGHTS
STAT OF THE GAME
3 – Number of runs Kyla Walker scored on the day, which made up 75 percent of Baylor's total runs.
TOP QUOTES
Glenn Moore on the wins…
"This team's learning how to win. They're starting to expect to win and that's what you want to see. We have some great upperclassmen on this team and some great leadership. We just needed to start believing in ourselves a little bit more. To pull late games out like we're doing, that grows a team tremendously. You start believing you're supposed to win, you do the things that are necessary to win."
Moore on Walker's game-winning run vs Minnesota…
"Kyla has a green light from me to do a whole lot of stuff. They had the infield in, so I told her that we didn't need to go on contact because they would have had her on a routine play. She's smart enough to know that when the ball goes into the 5-6 hole and they have to go deep to get it and take a couple of steps she's got a chance. … I always tell them if they miss a signal, it better work out good, and it worked out good so we'll take it."
Kyla Walker on her run…
"Coach Moore told me not to go if it was hit into the infield, but I saw it down immediately and knew my speed and knew I could get there. I trusted myself."
Aliyah Pritchett on her catch in the eighth inning…
"It definitely was just instinct, but in my head I knew I had to stop anything for my pitcher (Gia Rodoni) because she was throwing a great game."
Baylor Bear Insider
Kyla Walker didn't miss a signal, she just ignored it.
Using the international tiebreaker with Saturday's game tied at 1-1 through seven innings, Walker was placed on second base and moved to third on a sac bunt by Maddison Kettler before taking off on freshman Emily Hott's grounder to short and beating the throw home as the Baylor Lady Bears walked off with a 2-1 win over 17th-ranked Minnesota in the Baylor Invitational.
"I don't know what I'm doing over there in the (coaching) box," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team improved to 12-2 with its 10th-straight win and a perfect 4-0 in the five-team Baylor Invitational. "I always tell them if they miss a signal, it better work out good. And it worked out good, so we'll take it."
Walker, who was 3-for-7 and scored three of the team's four runs in matching 2-1 wins over Minnesota and Texas State, said Moore told her "not to go if it was hit into the infield."
"But, I saw it down immediately and knew my speed," Walker said, "and so I knew I could get there. I trusted myself."
The only remaining undefeated team in the tournament, Baylor will try to remain unbeaten at home (10-0) when the Lady Bears face Illinois (7-4) at 11 a.m. Sunday on the final day of the Baylor Invitational.
"This team's learning how to win," said Moore, whose team is 4-0 in one-run games. "They're starting to expect to win, and that's what you want to see. We have great upperclassmen on this team and some great leadership. We just needed to start believing in ourselves a little bit more. To pull late games out like we're doing, that grows a team tremendously. You start believing you're supposed to win.'
Coming off her record-tying fifth career no-hitter, Gia Rodoni (6-1) tossed a complete-game six-hitter with seven strikeouts and two walks in eight innings. The visiting Gophers (7-6) scored an unearned run in the top of the first to take the early lead, Rodoni scattered four hits over the last seven innings and lowered her ERA to 0.82.
"It took a little while for Gia to get loose," Moore said. "We made some mistakes behind her early and gave them that run. Again, that's a tough lineup. I think it was about the third inning before she started looking like Gia. When she did, she took control of tings. . . . You certainly couldn't ask for anything else. I'm very happy with her effort."
When Walker dropped Carlie Brandt's fly ball to center with one out in the top of the first, the Gophers took advantage with singles by Natalie DenHartog and Sydney Strelow to go up 1-0.
That lead was short-lived, though. Walker led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle and scored on Josie Bower's two-out double.
Rodoni worked around a one-out walk in the top of the eighth, with Strelow and Katelyn Kemmetmueller lining out to leave a runner stranded in scoring position.
Aliyah Pritchett, who made the diving snag of Kemmetmueller's liner to get the Lady Bears back in the dugout, had two of Baylor's five hits.
"It definitely was instinct," Pritchett said, "but in my head I knew I had to stop anything for my pitcher, because she was throwing a great game."
In Baylor's first game of the day, another 2-1 walk-off victory over Texas State, Pritchett (3-0) tossed a five-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks in her first complete game.
"To have three pitchers go complete games, we're going some things," Moore said. "Coach (Britni Sneed) Newman is doing some good things with her bullpen right now. It's just every exciting to see a freshman like Aliyah step it up and mix up the speeds against a good lineup."
Texas State (8-5), which upset Minnesota on the opening day of the tournament, went up 1-0 in the first inning when Christiana McDowell drew a one-out walk and scored on ArieAnn Bell's two-out RBI single to left.
Like the later game against Minnesota, Baylor answered right back in the bottom of the first. After Walker led off with a double down the leftfield line and Kettler walked, both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Hott and Walker crossed the plate on a Bowers single through the right side.
Settling in, Pritchett got some help from his defense with a couple double plays and then struck out Bailee Carter with two runners on base in the top of the seventh.
Leading off the seventh, Pritchett doubled to the gap in right-center, followed by an infield single by Ana Watson. With runners at second and third and nobody out, Lou Gilbert ended it with an RBI double to left that gave the Lady Bears the first of two walk-off wins.
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor softball won in dramatic fashion on a day that featured eight home events across Baylor Athletics. After a walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh vs. Texas State, senior Kyla Walker beat out the throw at home in the bottom of the eighth to give the Lady Bears a victory over No. 17 Minnesota.
That marked BU's second win over a ranked opponent this season after Baylor opened the year with an 8-0 run-rule victory in five innings over then-ranked No. 23 Auburn in Clearwater, Fla.
Walker was responsible for three of the four runs scored by the Lady Bears on the day as she went 3-for-7 at the plate. In the circle, Baylor received back-to-back complete-game efforts in the circle by Aliyah Pritchett and Gia Rodoni as the two combined to give up two runs off 11 hits with 12 strikeouts.
GAME 1: BAYLOR 2, TEXAS STATE 1
Lou Gilbert's walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Lady Bears their ninth win in a row.
Aliyah Pritchett led off the frame with a double and advanced to third off a single by Ana Watson. The winning run then crossed the plate when Gilbert dropped a hit into left field.
The game was knotted at 1 for most of the time after Texas State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Bayor answered in the bottom of the frame.
Kyla Walker got things started with a double and later scored off an RBI single from Josie Bower.
Defensively, the Lady Bears turned a pair of double plays in the game. The first came in the third inning when Gilbert fielded a grounder at third, threw to shortstop Taylor Ellis covering third who fired a shot down to first for the second out. Three innings later, Pritchett snagged a line drive in the circle and threw to first to get the runner out who failed to tag up.
Pritchett pitched the entire game and gave up one run off five hits with five strikeouts.
At the plate, Walker, Watson and Gilbert each finished 2-for-3.
GAME 2: BAYLOR 2, NO. 17 MINNESOTA 1 (8)
With one out and a runner on third, Emily Hott hit a grounder to the Minnesota shortstop. Kyla Walker, who was on third, took off toward home and slid into the plate before the tag could be applied to give Baylor the victory.
Aliyah Pritchett saved some runs from being scored by the Gophers earlier in the frame. With two on and two outs, Pritchett leapt to her right to snag a line drive and save what would have brought at least one run home for Minnesota.
Gia Rodoni went the distance for the Lady Bears in the circle and gave up one run off six hits with seven strikeouts.
After Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Baylor answered in the bottom of the frame to even the score. Walker led things off with a single and advanced to second off a sacrifice bunt by Maddison Kettler. Josie Bower then stepped to the plate and hit a double to bring Walker home.
Bower finished the day with a team-high two RBI and a 2-for-5 showing at the plate.
HIGHLIGHTS
- For the second time this season, Baylor turned two double plays in a game (vs. Texas State).
- Josie Bower recorded an RBI in the first inning of each game on Saturday.
- Bower has a hit in four-straight games.
- Lou Gilbert recorded her 10th career multi-hit game against Texas State.
- Emily Hott has recorded a hit in four out of the last five games.
- Aliyah Pritchett finished with her second career multi-hit game against Minnesota when she went 2-for-3 at the plate.
- Pritchett matched her career high with five strikeouts vs. Texas State.
- Gia Rodoni pitched her second complete game in two days. After throwing a no-hitter with nine strikeouts in seven innings vs. Tulsa, Rodoni gave up one run off six hits with seven strikeouts in eight innings of work vs. Minnesota.
- Kyla Walker recorded her 66th career multi-hit game with a 2-for-3 showing vs. Texas State at the plate.
- Ana Watson went 2-for-3 at the plate vs. Texas State for her 11th career multi-hit game.
STAT OF THE GAME
3 – Number of runs Kyla Walker scored on the day, which made up 75 percent of Baylor's total runs.
TOP QUOTES
Glenn Moore on the wins…
"This team's learning how to win. They're starting to expect to win and that's what you want to see. We have some great upperclassmen on this team and some great leadership. We just needed to start believing in ourselves a little bit more. To pull late games out like we're doing, that grows a team tremendously. You start believing you're supposed to win, you do the things that are necessary to win."
Moore on Walker's game-winning run vs Minnesota…
"Kyla has a green light from me to do a whole lot of stuff. They had the infield in, so I told her that we didn't need to go on contact because they would have had her on a routine play. She's smart enough to know that when the ball goes into the 5-6 hole and they have to go deep to get it and take a couple of steps she's got a chance. … I always tell them if they miss a signal, it better work out good, and it worked out good so we'll take it."
Kyla Walker on her run…
"Coach Moore told me not to go if it was hit into the infield, but I saw it down immediately and knew my speed and knew I could get there. I trusted myself."
Aliyah Pritchett on her catch in the eighth inning…
"It definitely was just instinct, but in my head I knew I had to stop anything for my pitcher (Gia Rodoni) because she was throwing a great game."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Binford, Aliyah (3-0)
L: McCann, T. (3-2)
Batting:
2B: Bell, A. 1
RBI: Bell, A. 1
SH: Crenek, C. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McDowell, C. 1
SB: McDowell, C. 1
HBP: McDowell, C. 1
Batting:
2B: Walker, Kyla 1 ; Binford, Aliyah 1 ; Gilbert, Lou 1
RBI: Bower, Josie 1 ; Gilbert, Lou 1
SH: Hott, Emily 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Walker, Kyla 1 ; Avalos, Alyssa 1
SB: Walker, Kyla 1 ; Watson, Ana 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P/INF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
INF/C
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballUTIL
/ Softball
OF/INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
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