THE RUNDOWN
TEMPE, Ariz. – Down to its final strike three-straight times in the top of the seventh, Baylor continued to fight as the Lady Bears battled with a ninth-ranked Arizona State team known for its offensive power.  BU would go on to plate a pair of runs with two outs in the final frame before ultimately falling to the Sun Devils, 7-4.
 
Taylor Ellis fought through a six-pitch at-bat and drew the walk to put a runner on for Baylor in the seventh inning with two outs. That brought freshman catcher Zadie LaValley to the plate. A pitch after she demolished a ball that was foul by inches down the right field line, LaValley certainly straightened things out as she crushed her first career home run over the right field wall.
 
The Lady Bears started the game off strong as Nicky Dawson led things off with a triple to deep left center field. It marked the second time this season (Lou Gilbert vs UT Arlington on Feb. 24) that Baylor led off a game with a triple. Dawson came home shortly after on a wild pitch to give the Lady Bears the lead.
 
Arizona State tied things up in the bottom of the frame, but Baylor had the answer two innings later.
 
Emily Hott got things started as she was plunked by a pitch to put a runner on with no outs for the Lady Bears. Dawson then stepped to the plate and doubled to left field to put two runners in scoring position for Goose McGlaun whose sacrifice fly to center field scored Hott.
 
The Sun Devils would take the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning as they plated six runs off four hits.
 
Arizona State entered Thursday's contest fifth in the country averaging 9.76 runs scored per game. Of ASU's 18 games played, Baylor was the fourth opponent to hold the Sun Devils to fewer than eight runs.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Nicky Dawson led things off with a triple. It marked the fourth of the season for Dawson, which ties her for the most in the country, and the 11^th of her career. She became the program's all-time leader in career triples last weekend at Louisiana Tech.
• Dawson followed up her triple with a double to left field, marking her seventh multi-hit game of the season and 32^nd of her career.
• Zadie LaValley hit her first career home run in the top of the seventh inning.

STAT OF THE DAY
4 – Four of Baylor's five hits on the night went for extra bases – Emily Hott 2B, Nicky Dawson 2B, Dawson 3B, Zadie LaValley HR.
 
TOP QUOTES
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore on the game…
"Arizona State is a very good team. You can't make mistakes with them.  I was proud of our start and our fight.  We never stopped competing. I saw a team grow a lot from this game. It's only a loss if that doesn't happen."
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Bears have a quick turnaround as they take part in the Lopes Up Classic at GCU Softball Stadium in Phoenix on Friday and Saturday with two games against Northern Illinois and GCU. After tournament play wraps up on Saturday, Baylor will return to Tempe to face No. 9 Arizona State once more before heading home.