No. 21 SB Tops No. 25 Mississippi State, 10-6

Sunday, February 28

Waco, TX

9 AM

Baylor

Mississippi State

No. 21 SB Tops No. 25 Mississippi State, 10-6

2/28/2021 12:24:00 PM | Softball

Box Score SB_08_MS

Lady Bears secure first ranked win of the season

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After frustrating losses to Ole Miss and UConn, No. 21 Baylor softball was ready to take it out on somebody. It just happened to be 25^th-ranked Mississippi State.
            Even with an early wake-up call – Sunday's game was moved up two hours to a 9 a.m. start – the Lady Bears (5-3) exploded for 12 hits and ended the Lone Star Classic on a high note with a 10-6 win over the visiting Bulldogs (8-4) at Getterman Stadium.
            Baylor's 1 through 4 hitters came through in a big way with 10 hits, seven runs and four RBI to help the Lady Bears pick up their first ranked win of the season and improve to 3-2 in the three-day tournament that also used Texas and Texas State as host sites.
            "I guess that means I made the right decisions, put the right ones at the top," Baylor coach Glenn Moore said. "Lot of good production there at the top of the order, for sure, and some great at-bats throughout our entire lineup. We run a pitcher early, then we saw their ace and were able to get her out of there as well.
            "I told (pitching coach Britni Newman) I wouldn't want to be a defensive coordinator in football with all the Air Raid offenses, and that's kind of what we're facing right now with the offenses we've been seeing in softball."
            Mississippi State did some damage as well, hitting three homers and scoring six runs off starter Sidney Holman-Mansell (2-0) through the first four innings. But, sixth-year senior Gia Rodoni struck out the first two batters she faced and quieted the Bulldog bats, throwing three shutout innings.
            "I definitely didn't want to have the feeling I had last night after losing (to UConn)," Rodoni said. "I knew a switch needed to be flipped. . . . When I was put in, I knew it was going to be a team that needed to be shut down. I was just getting my mind right in the bullpen and went out there and carried the confidence through the three innings I had."
            Moore said it was a "huge" confidence boost for Rodoni, who came into the game with a 5.25 ERA, allowing 12 earned runs in 16.0 innings.
            "She was hurting a little bit (Saturday), not physically but emotionally," Moore said. "I challenged her a little bit, but I also told her, you don't have all your tools right now and not 100 percent by any stretch. But, she'll get there. We have to be patient, to a degree. I thought it was just huge for her to respond and bring her out of the lineup, give her an opportunity for redemption against a good lineup like that."
            Mississippi State struck first with a two-run blast by Anna Kate Segars in the top of the first after Holman-Mansell gave up a two-out walk.
            The Lady Bears wasted no time in responding, with the first six batters reaching base and Goose McGlaun and Ana Watson tying it up with run-scoring singles in the bottom half of the frame. Another run came across on a wild pitch, and then freshman catcher Zadie LaValley delivered a two-run double to right-center field to make it 5-2.
            "I'm seeing the ball really well, and sometimes that can be scary, because you want to hit everything," said leadoff hitter Nicky Dawson, who went 2-for-3 with three runs scored in raising her batting average to .391. "I've got to be patient and really think about passing the bat. Coach Moore talks a lot about starting things off good and how that's contagious. That's my goal is to get on base, and hopefully that transfers from batter to batter."
            That pass-the-bat mentality was evident again in the second inning, when Baylor tacked on two more runs on a Dawson walk, singles by Lou Gilbert and McGlaun and a Bulldog error.
            "In our postgame meeting, Nicky talked about how we constantly responded," Moore said. "If they scored, we would come back and score and certainly took it personal in our backyard. We needed to see that out of this team. it's early, and there was no reason to panic. But, we needed to have a good team come in here with the determination to beat us the way UConn did (Saturday) and Ole Miss on Friday, and we still step it up and defend our park."
            The Bulldogs got three runs back in the third on back-to-back home runs by Mia Davidson and Fa Leilua and made it a one-run game, 7-6, with an RBI single by Chloe Malau'ulu in the fourth.
            It was fitting and timely that the top of Baylor's lineup was due up in the bottom of the fourth, when Dawson, Gilbert, McGlaun Josie Bower and Aliyah Binford strung together five-straight hits off Annie Willis and stretched it back out to a 10-6 lead.
            "Our lineup is outstanding," Rodoni said. "And it's not 1 through 4, it's 1 through 9, and they're all doing something. They've worked hard for it, and (assistant coach Steve "Hoot" Johnigan has done a great job working with them and getting them ready for these types of teams."
            On the road for its next 12 games, Baylor will play a doubleheader on Thursday at No. 9 Louisiana (9-3) and face No. 13 Arizona State (10-1) on March 11 in Tempe, sandwiched around tournaments in Ruston, La., and Phoenix, Ariz.

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – No. 21 Baylor softball closed the Lone Star State Invitational with a 10-6 win over No. 25 Mississippi State Sunday morning at Getterman Stadium.

After Mississippi State (8-4) started things off with a two-run home run in the top of the first, the Lady Bears (5-3) came out with a vengeance to not only answer but take the lead.

Nicky Dawson led things off with a single through the left side, and Lou Gilbert followed with a bunt single. The two moved into scoring position when the Mississippi State pitcher threw the ball past the first baseman trying to get Gilbert out on her hit.

Goose McGlaun got the Lady Bears on the board when she scored Dawson with a single. The game tied things up three batters later when Ana Watson got plunked with the bases loaded to bring in a run, and then Baylor took the lead when Josie Bower scored on a wild pitch.

Zadie LaValley kept things going as the freshman catcher crushed her first career double to right field to score two more and put BU up by three.

After retiring the Bulldogs in order in the next inning, the Baylor bats stayed hot despite the pitching change by Mississippi State. Dawson led things off with a walk, and Gilbert laid down her second-straight bunt single.

The two speedy outfielders then executed a double steal before adding an extra base on a throwing error by the catcher. McGlaun followed with another RBI single to give Baylor seven runs on the morning.

Mississippi State wasn't done, however, as the Bulldogs added four more runs in the third and fourth innings. But the Lady Bears kept coming home. Baylor added three more runs in the fourth inning as the Lady Bears began the frame with five straight singles by the top of the order. McGlaun, Josie Bower and Aliyah Binford each had an RBI.

Sidney Holman-Mansell picked up the win for the Lady Bears to move to 2-0 on the season. Gia Rodoni came on in relief and held the Bulldogs scoreless off four hits with three strikeouts through three innings of work for the save.

HIGHLIGHTS

Nicky Dawson recorded a hit in every game this weekend. With her single in the first inning, she's now had a hit in five-straight games overall.
Zadie LaValley hit her first career double in the first inning and recorded a pair of RBI.
Goose McGlaun finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBI.
Lou Gilbert tied her career high with three hits in the game.
Baylor is now 1-1 vs. ranked opponents.
Josie Bower went 2-for-4 at the plate.
Gia Rodoni picked up her seventh career save which ties her for seventh in program history alongside Courtney Repka (2010-13).

STAT OF THE DAY
10 – Number of hits by the top of the order for Baylor (Dawson 2, Gilbert 3, McGlaun 3, Bower 2).

TOP QUOTES
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore on the win…
"Especially after a short night with our game against UConn, I challenged our pitchers and hitting crew. They played very well, but there is certainly room for improvement. I'm really pleased with how we played today."

Nicky Dawson on her game…
"I feel really comfortable. I was seeing the ball really well this weekend. Sometimes that can be scary because you want to hit everything. I need to stay patient at the plate. Coach Moore talks a lot about passing the bat, so I need to focus on getting on base and keeping the lineup moving."

Gia Rodoni on closing things out…
"I didn't want to have the same feeling of losing that we had last night. Watching the teams go back and forth gave me the confidence I needed to go in there and perform the way I did."

UP NEXT
The Lady Bears head to the state of Louisiana where they will face No. 9 Louisiana in Lafayette in a doubleheader on Thursday, March 4 at 4 p.m. before traveling to Ruston to take part in the Louisiana Tech Invitational against Louisiana Tech and Tarleton State over the weekend.

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