By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Facing a No. 1-ranked Oklahoma softball team that had won 28 of its first 38 games by run rule, Baylor coach Glenn Moore knew exactly what the Lady Bears were getting into with Tuesday's doubleheader at Getterman Stadium. 
            "We know how good they are," said Moore, who was looking for his 800^th win at Baylor. "We've seen them on film and watched how good they are, and we respect that. But, at the same time, they were here in our backyard."
            Led by Lou Gilbert with a leadoff double in the first and a one-out triple in the third, Baylor out-hit the Sooners 4-0 through the first three innings of the opening game and took a 1-0 lead into the fourth. 
            "I was really proud of the way we came out in the first game," Moore said. "Lots of energy. We looked like we really wanted to attack them and not just bow down to the No. 1 team in the country."
            Oklahoma (39-1, 14-0) hit three homers and scored seven unanswered runs over the next three innings to win the opener, 7-1, then belted out 10 hits and benefitted from seven walks in winning the nightcap, 11-0, in six innings. 
            "We let the second one get away from us," Moore said. "You can't make mistakes. Even in the first one, we made mistakes that they capitalized on, and it really hurt us. Gia (Rodoni) pitched as well as she has all year, and that's certainly a bright spot. She looked good against a very good team."
            Through the first three innings, Rodoni (9-7) was at her best, shutting out the explosive Sooners and allowing just three baserunners on two walks and a hit batter. OU didn't get its first hit until a one-out single by Jayda Coleman in the fourth.
            The defense also saved her, with Gilbert robbing Jocelyn Alo with a diving catch of a line-drive hit that looked like it was headed for the gap; Emily Hott making a leaping catch of a Jana Johns looping hit; and Hannah Smith hauling in Lynssie Elam's deep fly to the wall in center field. 
            "My defense was playing lights-out, so kudos to them for keeping the game as close as it was in the beginning," Rodoni said. "It's just a privilege to get to play against a team like them, especially being No. 1 in the country. I just look forward to meeting them each year."
            The Lady Bears (24-15, 5-6) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning off OU ace Giselle Juarez (15-0), when Gilbert led off with a double down the right-field line, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when Taylor Ellis beat out a dribbler down the third-base line. 
            Baylor had a chance to extend the lead in the third, but had back-to-back runners thrown out at the plate. After Gilbert ripped a one-out triple to left, she was thrown out trying to score on Emily Hott's grounder to second. 
            On the next pitch, Goose McGlaun doubled to left, but Hott was gunned down on a perfect relay throw by shortstop Grace Lyons to catcher Kinzie Hansen. 
            "I don't regret that, because you don't get opportunities against these guys," Moore said. "If that second baseman can dive and come up from the ground and throw out Lou from third base, and we can't throw them out on a little blooper to the pitcher when they scored, you've got to tip your hat to the better team. There's no doubt they are. But, I thought we needed to do that. I've always been aggressive in sending runners."
            The Sooners finally broke through in the fourth, loading the bases on the Coleman single, an error and an 11-pitch walk to Johns. Nicole Mendez followed with a grand-slam homer over the right-field wall to give OU a 4-1 lead. 
            "Definitely frustrating, a pitch that I want back," Rodoni said. "Just learning from that experience and knowing better going forward, but definitely frustrating."
            Oklahoma tacked on a solo homer by Alo in the fifth and a two-run shot by Tiare Jennings in the sixth, their 25^th and 22^nd home runs, respectively.
Juarez retired 12 of the last 15 batters she faced, giving up a two-out walk to Smith in the fifth and a bloop single to left by Hott in the sixth before Josie Bower reached on a one-out error in the seventh. 
            For just the third time all season, the Sooners were out-hit, 5-4, but made the most of every chance they got. 
            With Game 2 starter Sidney Holman-Mansell (7-4) struggling with her control, Oklahoma scored five runs in the first two innings and then added two more in the third on a leadoff single by Hansen, a walk and back-to-back RBI groundouts by Coleman and Mackenzie Donihoo. 
            Baylor's only serious threat in the second game came in the fourth inning, when the Lady Bears loaded the bases on a leadoff walk by Gilbert and singles by Hott and Ellis. But, Shannon Saile (12-0) struck out Aliyah Binford and then got Smith on a pop-up back to the circle. 
            Binford settled in after the third and threw two shutout innings before the Sooners put up a 4-spot in the sixth on hits by Alo, Lyons and Johns and a pair of fielder's choice grounders that didn't result in an out. 
            "You have to be on your game. If not, they're going to make you pay for it," Rodoni said. "This is just a mental game that you have to be prepared for going into it, just knowing that they're going to be a tough team to play. Having faced them in the past . . . I know 1 through 9 is solid and they're not going to give you a break.        "
            Baylor has two more Big 12 series remaining, hosting Kansas (22-20, 2-10) this weekend and then a split series against No. 7 Texas (35-6, 9-3) on May 7-9, with the first two games in Austin and the last two in Waco. 
            

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor softball dropped a doubleheader to No. 1 Oklahoma on Tuesday night.
 
GAME 1: OKLAHOMA 7, BAYLOR 1
Baylor became just the third team to outhit the top-ranked Sooners in the first game of of Tuesday's doubleheader.
 
Lou Gilbert got things started in a big way for the Lady Bears as she crushed the second pitch she saw down the right field line. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, she came home off a swinging bunt single by Taylor Ellis.
 
Baylor had the chance to add to its lead in the third as Gilbert followed up her double with a triple to put a runner 60 feet away with one out. However, Gilbert was thrown out at home on a grounder hit to second by Emily Hott. Oklahoma got another out at the plate as Hott tried to score off a double to deep left field by Goose McGlaun to end the frame.
 
While the offense got out to a strong start, Gia Rodoni and the Baylor defense no-hit the powerful Sooner lineup through the first 13 batters. Key to this was a couple of web gems by the Lady Bears. Emily Hott made a leaping catch behind second base in the second to rob Oklahoma of a hit before Gilbert made a diving catch in left field in the third inning.
 
The Sooners took the lead in the fourth inning and never looked back.
 
Aliyah Binford came on in relief for Baylor in the seventh inning and retired the Sooners in order.
 
GAME 2: OKLAHOMA 11, BAYLOR 0 (6)
Oklahoma jumped out to a quick lead and didn't look back in the second game of the day.
 
Aliyah Binford made her second relief appearance of the day midway through the second inning and held the Sooners to two runs off three hits before OU put up a four-spot in the sixth.
 
Baylor got its first baserunner in the fourth inning when Lou Gilbert drew a walk. Emily Hott followed with a single to right field. Taylor Ellis then added a single through the left side to load the bases with one out. However, a strikeout and a fly out ended the BU threat.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Lou Gilbert hit her 11^th double of the season in the first inning of the first game of the day. It marked only the 12^th double the Oklahoma pitching staff has allowed all season.
• Gilbert followed up her first at-bat with a triple in the third inning, her second of the season.
• Goose McGlaun hit her 10^th double of the season and 37^th of her career in the first game.
• Hannah Smith drew a four-pitch walk in Game 1. That marked the 12^th walk allowed by Giselle Juarez all season.
• Emily Hott has now reached base in 26 straight games. She's tied for sixth in program history alongside Kaitlyn Thumann (2014) and Kathy Shelton (2011-12).
• Hott has a hit in eight-straight games.
• In Game 1, Baylor became the third team to outhit the Sooners.
• In Game 2, Baylor became the third team to hold Oklahoma without a home run.

STAT OF THE DAY
13 – Straight batters the Lady Bears retired before allowing a hit in Game 1 against the top-ranked Sooners.
 
TOP QUOTES
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore on the game…
"They're a very good team. I was really proud of the way we came out in the first game (with) lots of energy. We looked like we really wanted to attack them and not just bow down to the No. 1 team in the country. … I was really proud of the way our girls played in that first game. The outcome was certainly a bigger deficit than I thought. We let the second one get away from us. You can't make mistakes. Even in the first one we made mistakes that they capitalized on and it really hurt us. Gia pitched as well as she has all year, and that's certainly a bright spot. She looked good against a very good team."
 
UP NEXT
Baylor hosts the Kansas Jayhawks for a three-game series over the weekend.