By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider 
            OKLAHOMA CITY – Even after getting swept by Texas, Baylor softball coach Glenn Moore liked his team's chances of making its 14^th NCAA regional in the last 17 years, particularly if the Lady Bears could make some noise in the Big 12 Championship. 
            That confidence took a serious blow in Friday's pool play in the conference tournament, though, with fourth-seeded Baylor (27-20) falling to sixth-seeded Texas Tech, 8-6, and then getting run-ruled by No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Oklahoma, 10-2, at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex. 
            "I'm worried now," said Moore, whose team has dropped five in a row and seven of its last 10. "I'm very concerned, because I don't know what team will show up. This is an atmosphere where great players perform at a high level. I would have liked to think that we had done enough. But, I thought we needed to win a game or two to feel completely sure of ourselves. Now, we've put ourselves in the hands of the (NCAA selection) committee."
            The Lady Bears will get another chance to send a final message to the committee when they face fifth-seeded Iowa State (31-21) in the fifth-place game at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Integris Field. Tech (20-26) will face third-seeded Texas (39-10) in the third-place game at 10:30 a.m. at OGE Energy Field, followed by OU (44-2) versus second-seeded Oklahoma State (42-8) in the championship game at 3 p.m. 
            "I'm a little baffled by this team right now," Moore said. "We had a great presence at practice yesterday and had a great practice. I thought we would play a lot better, but with the mental and physical errors, we certainly didn't look like we were ready to play."
            Baylor did take first-inning leads in both games, going up 1-0 on Tech when Emily Hott blasted her fourth homer of the season, a solo shot to right-center field. The Lady Bears had a chance to extend the lead in the second when two runners reached base with one out, but Tech starter Missy Zoch (11-12) struck out Sydney Collazos and got Hannah Smith on a pop up to second. 
            Tech, which got swept by Baylor in the regular season, tied it in the top of the third on Arriana Villa's two-out single to left. And then, Peyton Blythe followed that with a three-run, two-out homer to right off Gia Rodoni (11-10). 
            "We constantly fought an uphill battle," Moore said. "I thought we were much more in the game in the beginning, but we let them gain momentum and gave them hope. And it brought them back to life after a tough season for them."
            The Lady Bears closed the gap to 4-2 on a two-out RBI single by Taylor Ellis in the bottom of the third. Rodoni settled in to put up three straight zeroes before Tech struck for four runs in the top of the seventh, Ellie Bailey providing the big blow with a two-run homer. 
            Baylor did make things interesting in the bottom of the frame, matching the Red Raiders' four-spot to pull back within two runs and bring the tying run into the on-deck circle. Lou Gilbert led off the inning with an infield single and scored on Hott's sacrifice fly, then Ellis continued her hot streak with a three-run blast. 
            Erin Edmoundson came out of the bullpen to squelch the rally, striking out Josie Bower and Zadie LaValley to end the game.  
            Switching over to OGE Energy Field, the Lady Bears got off to another quick start. Taking advantage of a walk and a costly throwing error by the Sooners, Baylor went up 2-0 in the top of the first on singles by Hott and Ellis, who extended her hitting streak to 12-consecutive games. 
            Aliyah Binford (5-4) pitched a scoreless first inning, but she gave up a leadoff double by Grace Lyons and a walk to Nicole Mendes to put two runners on base with nobody out. With a chance to get the lead runner on Mackenzie Donihoo's grounder, shortstop Campbell Selman threw the ball away at third. 
            With Binford retiring the next two batters, that would have gotten her out of the inning. But, with the extra out, Jayda Coleman hit a three-run homer just out of the reach of centerfielder Hannah Smith, giving the Sooners a 4-2 lead. 
            "Aliyah had them off-balance, and we could have gotten out of it in the second inning if we made a play at third base," Moore said. "You can't give any team that, especially a team like OU. They're going to take advantage of it."
            Keeping the pressure on, OU added two runs in the third, three in the fourth and then ended the game on the eight-run mercy rule in the fifth on Tiare Jennings' sacrifice fly after a leadoff single by Coleman and a fielding error on a Jocelyn Alo fly ball. 
            Baylor had at least one hit in every inning, including two in the first, off first-team All-Big 12 pitcher Shannon Saile (15-0). 

THE RUNDOWN
OKLAHOMA CITY – Baylor softball dropped both games in Friday's Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship action. The Lady Bears will face the third-place team from Pool B at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on Integris Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.
 
GAME 1: TEXAS TECH 8, BAYLOR 6
Emily Hott smashed a solo shot over the wall in right center field to give the Lady Bears an early 1-0 lead. It marked the second-straight at-bat for Hott to crank a homer against the Lady Raiders as last at-bat of the series in March was a two-run shot over the left field wall to tie the game in the sixth inning.
 
BU held onto that lead until the third inning when Texas Tech plated four runs, all with two outs.
 
Baylor got a run back in the bottom of the frame when Taylor Ellis delivered an RBI single up the middle to score Lou Gilbert who led off the frame with her 13^th bunt single of the year.
 
The Lady Raiders added four more in the top of the seventh, but BU refused to go down without a fight.
 
Lou Gilbert led off the final frame with a single and advanced to third off a throwing error by Texas Tech. She scored soon after when Hott hit a sacrifice fly to right field.
 
Baylor wasn't done as Goose McGlaun singled and Aliyah Binford walked to put two on for Ellis who blasted her XX home run of the season over the right field wall to cut the Texas Tech lead to two.
 
GAME 2: OKLAHOMA 10, BAYLOR 2 (5)
Baylor carried the momentum over from a seventh-inning rally against Texas Tech to the top inning against the top-seeded Sooners as the Lady Bears scored some runs and shut out Oklahoma for a strong start.
 
BU got things rolling in the first as Emily Hott singled to right field and Goose McGlaun drew a walk to put two runners on with one out. Hott then stole third and came home on a throwing error by the Sooners. That put McGlaun on third base for Taylor Ellis who roped a single up the middle.
 
Oklahoma took the lead for good in the second inning.
 
Baylor had a hit in every inning with the two in the first, a single by Hannah Smith in the second, a single by McGlaun in the third, a double by Josie Bower in the fourth and a single by Aliyah Binford in the fifth.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Taylor Ellis now has a hit in 12-straight games. That is a career high for the fifth-year senior.
• Ellis hit her fourth home run of the season and 11^th of her career against Texas Tech.
• Emily Hott hit her fourth career home run and third of the season. Hott hit her first bomb of the year at Texas Tech on March 28.
• Gia Rodoni finished with a season-high 11 strikeouts against Texas Tech.

 
STAT OF THE DAY
12 – Straight games that Taylor Ellis has recorded a hit. That puts her two games shy of seventh in program history.
 
TOP QUOTE
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore on the game…
"I'm a little baffled by this team right now. We had a great presence at practice yesterday and had a great practice. I thought we would play a lot better, but with the mental and physical errors, we certainly didn't look like we were ready to play."
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Bears will face the third-place team from Pool B at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on Integris Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.