By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Looking every bit the part of a two-time defending national champion and the top-ranked team in the country, the Oklahoma Sooners pounded out 11 hits and scored in four-straight innings to knock off 16^th-ranked Baylor, 7-0, Friday night in the series opener at Getterman Stadium.
            OU (40-1, 10-0) won its 32^nd-straight since Baylor stunned the Sooners, 4-3, two months ago in the Getterman Classic, when Shaylon Govan blasted a three-run home run.
            "We expected nothing less, especially after we played them and beat them once," said Govan, who went 2-for-3. "We're just going to have to come out and play a dogfight. We didn't do what we were supposed to do today. We definitely could have played better and harder. I feel like tomorrow, we'll come in and compete better and have better at-bats."
            Other than Govan, who had singles in the first and fourth innings, the Bears (34-11, 4-6) managed just two other hits and a total of five baserunners off OU pitchers Jordy Bahl (13-1) and Nicole May.
            Baylor coach Glenn Moore said Bahl, who took the suffered the loss in the first meeting, "was just being Jordy."
            "She's just really that good and really hard to score on," said Moore, whose team had won 11 of its last 13 games. "I thought quite a few of our hitters were battling her pretty hard deep in the count, but there were times when she would just cut right through us and we were swing at air, basically. . . . You really have to guess in the area because the ball's coming in at 70 mph. And if you're trying to swing in two different planes, you aren't going to have much luck."
            The Sooners threatened right out of the bat, with Tiare Jennings drawing a one-out walk and advancing to second on a passed ball. But Jennings was gunned down at the plate by rightfielder Emily Hott when she tried to score on Haley Lee's single.
            After OU loaded the bases with a single up the middle by Alyssa Brito and a walk by Grace Lyons, Baylor starter Dariana Orme (14-6) wiggled out of the jam when Alynah Torres flied out to left.
            "I thought we came out with a pretty good game plan with facing their hitters," Moore said. "But Dari can't throw 30 pitches. That first inning, she was out there for that many pitches."
            Oklahoma took the lead in the top of the second inning, when Cydney Sanders blasted a solo shot that easily cleared the left-field wall and ricocheted off a car in the parking lot.
            The Sooners tacked on another run in the third to go up 2-0. Jennings led off the frame with a double and scored easily on Lyons' two-out RBI single up the middle.
            But the gut punch came in the fourth. A day earlier, Moore made it clear that "you can't give them extra outs because they're not going to give them to you."
            The Bears did just that, making errors on back-to-back plays that could have ended the inning with minimal damage. Instead, OU tacked on two unearned runs, knocked Orme out of the game and took a 5-0 lead.
            "I thought Dari's off-speed was effective today," Moore said. "And if we don't give them those outs, it's the only way we have a chance with them. Giving them those outs, you have very little chance. And that's the correction we have to make tomorrow. If we give extra outs, then the advantage is too strong for them."
            Baylor's best chance came in the bottom of the fourth, when Govan singled and Hott drew a two-out walk. But Bahl struck out Ana Watson in between flyouts to left by Sydney Collazos and Kaci West.
            "She spun the ball better," Govan said. "Her speed definitely went down, so her ball was moving more. She mixed her pitches well, and that was the difference maker for her today."
            With rain in the forecast for Sunday, the two teams will play a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Saturday. The stadium will be cleared at the conclusion of the first game, with tickets for Sunday's game used for Saturday's Game 2.
            "There's not a breather in their lineup," Moore said. "You start thinking, 'Do I pitch around this one? Do I pitch this one more careful with first base open. And you look at whoever's hitting behind them, and everybody's hitting .350 or above. So, it's pick your poison."



WACO, Texas - No. 16 Baylor Softball fell in the series opener against the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, 7-0, Friday night at Getterman Stadium.
 
The Bears, now 34-11 on the season and 4-6 in conference play, were only able to string together four hits in the game. 
 
Shaylon Govan was the only Bear to record a multi-hit game in the matchup. 
 
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears just weren't able to bring any runs home in the game, only getting runners into scoring position twice in the game. 
 
After Emily Hott threw out a runner at home in the top of the first, the Bears worked out of a bases-loaded jam to hold the Sooners scoreless in the first.  
 
Oklahoma scored one run in the following two innings to go up 2-0. 
 
The Sooners plated three more runs in the top of the fourth, after back-to-back hits and two Baylor errors gave OU the 4-0 lead. Alyssa Brito then doubled down the left-field line, bringing home the Sooners' fifth run. 
 
A double and a single in the sixth plated the Sooners' sixth and seventh runs, but the Bears were able to quiet Oklahoma's offense and hold the Sooners scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings. 
 
Baylor was down to its last chance in the bottom of the seventh, but wasn't able to capitalize, falling 7-0.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Shaylon Govan went 2-for-3 at the plate, the only Bear to record multiple hits in the game
• Syndey Collazos and Emily Hott each recorded a hit
• Dariana Orme and Kaci West combined in the circle, with Orme registering four strikeouts and West notching two. 
• Five of the Sooners' seven runs were earned

 
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Glenn Moore
"Yeah, I made that point with the team. I thought we came out with a pretty good game plan with facing their hitters. But Dari can't throw 30 pitches in an inning, that first inning she was out there for that many pitches. I think they threw less than 10. So, you're already mismatching and she's going to last a lot longer than Dari throwing as hard as she is. I thought Dari's off-speed was effective today, and again I thought if we don't give them those outs, it's the only way we have a chance with them. So, giving them those outs, you have very little chance, and that's the correction we have to make tomorrow. If we give extra outs, then the advantage is too strong for them."
 
Shaylon Govan on the game …  
"We expected nothing less, especially after we played them and beat them once. They're a great team and we're just going to have to come out and play a dogfight. We didn't do what we're supposed to do today. We definitely could have played better and harder. But I feel like tomorrow we'll come in and compete better and have better at-bats and better defensive plays."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will finish out the series Saturday with a doubleheader against Oklahoma starting at 2 p.m. CT.