No. 24 SB Drops Series Finale Against No. 1 Texas, 9-5

Sunday, April 14

Austin, Texas

1 PM

Baylor

22-17, 0

Texas

35-6, 0

Baylor

Texas

No. 24 SB Drops Series Finale Against No. 1 Texas, 9-5

4/14/2024 5:03:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

AUSTIN – In his 24 seasons as the Baylor softball coach, Glenn Moore has seen his share of outstanding Texas teams that includes four conference champions, four-straight Super Regionals and five trips to the Women's College World Series.

This one is better.

The top-ranked Longhorns (35-6, 14-4) scored six runs in the first two innings and capped off a three-game series sweep of the No. 24 Bears (22-17, 5-13) with a 9-5 victory Sunday afternoon at McCombs Field.

"I tip my hat to the best Texas team I've seen in my 24 years here," Moore said. "They're an outstanding team all the way around. They've got speed, great offense and they've got great arms in the bullpen. After the one they chose to start (Citaly Gutierrez), it's really hard to prepare and make adjustments to the different looks they have in the bullpen."

That included Mac Morgan, who relieved Gutierrez in the third and tossed four hitless innings before running into some trouble in the seventh.

"It's really hard to get anything lifted off (Morgan). With the heavy drop ball, it's really hard to lift it," Moore said. "I thought we were fighting really hard. We put up nine hits against a team that doesn't give up many hits. Small victories there, but there were some things after Friday that I'm really happy with how this team responded."

Challenged by Moore after Friday's 14-1 loss at home, when he said, "we weren't competitive at all," the Bears responded by scoring 11 runs on 19 hits over the next two games. When the series switched to Austin on Saturday, Baylor put up a 3-spot in the first inning and were within two late on a Shaylon Govan home before falling, 9-6.

"I'm definitely happy with this team. I thought they represented well," Moore said. "We are wounded a little bit. Had we had all the bullets in our game, we'd have had a better chance. Again, this is a very good Texas team. It was going to take everything we had and then some and hoping that they maybe don't play their best. But we did not lay down. We came out fighting yesterday and today and forced some pitching changes."

The Longhorns had to go to Morgan (9-1) early on Sunday, when the Bears scored three runs on five hits in the top of the second inning. Zadie LaValley and Emily Hott had RBI singles, then Presleigh Pilon drove in Aslyn Wachtendorf with a double to right to give Baylor the 3-2 lead.

After a two-run double by Reese Atwood in the first, Texas took the lead for good with four runs on four hits in the second, including a tiebreaking two-run double by Mia Scott. The Longhorns tacked on two more runs in the fourth and stretched the lead to 9-3 on Alyssa Washington's RBI single in the sixth.

Not willing to go quietly into the night, the Bears loaded the bases in the top of the seventh on singles by Pilon and Sydney Collazos sandwiched around a walk by Aliyah Binford. Kaci West, who got the final two outs in the bottom of the sixth, delivered a two-run single that brought the potential tying run into the on-deck circle.

Morgan got Ana Watson on a fly to center before Game 1 starter Teavan Kagan came on to retire LaValley for the final out and pick up her third save of the year.

Atwood and leadoff hitter Ashton Maloney combined for seven of the Longhorns' 11 hits, while Collazos and Pilon had two hits apiece to pace the Bears' nine-hit attack.

The same way that Texas responded from being swept by Baylor last year, advancing to a Super Regional at Tennessee, Moore said the Bears can finish the regular season strong with seven of their last 11 at home.

"We've got 11 more games left to play and games that are winnable," Moore said. "If we play the level of ball that we've played the last two games here, I think we'll be OK. I think we'll get some wins, but we've got to get a little more healthy than we are right now."

Baylor begins a four-game home stand with a non-conference matchup against UT-Arlington (17-26) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday before a three-game series next weekend against Big 12 newcomer UCF (25-15, 10-8).

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 24 Baylor Softball dropped its series finale against No. 1 Texas, 9-5, Sunday afternoon at Red and Charline McCombs Field.

THE RUNDOWN
The Bears tried to get the bats going early against Texas, but Shaylon Govan's double in the top of the first would be all the action to lead off the game the Bears would get. Texas was then able to bring two runs home across in the bottom of the inning to take the early 2-0 lead.

BU capitalized with a three-spot on the top of the second to tie the game at 3-3. Sydney Collazos got things started in the second inning with a single to center field before a sacrifice bunt and groundout moved her to third. Zadie LaValley then brought the Bears' first run home on a single to right field before Ashlyn Wachtendorf hit an infield single to put two on for Emily Hott. The left fielder then roped a single to right field that brought home the second run before a double down the right-field line off the bat of Presleigh Pilon tied the game.

With two on in the second inning, Govan was intentionally walked to re-load the bases, but a strikeout ended the threat.

Texas got back four runs in the bottom of the second off of four hits and a walk to regain the lead, 6-3.

After a quiet inning from both teams in the third, the Longhorns tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend their lead to five runs.

UT added a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 9-3 ballgame heading to the final inning.

Down to its last chance, Baylor's Pilon led off the seventh with a single before Aliyah Binford walked and Collazos singled to load the bases for Kaci West. She then singled to the shortstop, which made it out of the infield to plate two runs and cut into the Longhorns' lead. But that would be it for the Bears in the seventh as a fly-out and pop-up ended the Bears' comeback short.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Bears had seven different Bears record nine hits
Prelsiegh Pilon and Sydney Collazos each had two hits
Kaci West recorded a team-leading two RBIs
Pilon and Shaylon Govan each had a double
RyLee Crandall started for the Bears in the circle, pitching 3.2 innings
Kaci West and Aliyah Binford each only gave up one hit while in the circle
Binford passed 100 season strikeouts today and now sits at 102
The Bears' 23 hits in the series are the most hit against the Longhorns this season in a three-game series

QUOTABLE
Head coach Glenn Moore on the bounce back after Friday's game …
"I'm absolutely happy with this team. I thought they represented well. We are wounded a little bit. Had we had all the bullets in our gun, we'd have had a better chance. Again, this is a very good Texas team. It was going to take everything we had and then some and hoping that they maybe don't play their best. But we did not lay down. We came out fighting yesterday and today and forced some pitching changes. You could tell from the emotions on both sides that it was a good game both days so I'm happy that we were competitive to the level that we were. We need wins of course but you're playing the No. 1 team in the country, you've got to play a little bit better than we did and hope they don't play as well as they did. I think they played well all three games."

UP NEXT
The Bears will host UT Arlington for a midweek match on Tuesday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m. at Getterman Stadium.

-BaylorBears.com-