SB Defeats UCF in Quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship, 3-2

Thursday, May 9

Oklahoma City, Okla.

7:30 PM

Baylor

32-19

UCF

30-23

UCF

Baylor

Aliyah Binford celebrating after hitting a homer against UCF

SB Defeats UCF in Quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship, 3-2

5/10/2024 12:06:00 AM | Softball

Box Score Box Score

Bears win first Big 12 Championship game since 2018

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

OKLAHOMA CITY – Not sure if she actually got a key to the city from mayor David Holt, but it was Aliyah Binford Day in Oklahoma City on Thursday.

In one of the best games of her career, the junior pitcher allowed just six hits while striking out 10 in a complete-game victory and also hit her first home run of the season to lift Baylor softball to a 3-2 win over UCF in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals at OGE Field at Devon Park.

"I thought she was outstanding (on) both sides of the plate," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore. "Obviously, the home run and competing (at the plate). But I thought that may have been the best game I've ever seen her pitch. Central Florida, I have a lot of respect for them. (We're) very fortunate to have four wins against them this year. They're very good."

The Bears (32-19) got that gorilla-sized monkey off their back, beating the Knights (30-23) for their first Big 12 tournament win since a pool-play win over Oklahoma State in 2018. Including three-straight to Iowa State, Baylor had dropped seven in a row at the postseason conference tournament.

"We had the COVID year in there, of course, so I don't want to make it sound worse than it was," Moore said. "But these girls were determined to change course. And it wasn't easy. We knew it wouldn't be, because we scored four runs against (UCF) in three games. (Sarah) Willis is really good. As Coach Hoot (Johnigan said, I'm glad we don't have to see her anymore. I'm very proud of what they did and I'm glad we turned things around in the Big 12 tournament."

Even with Binford's one-woman show, this one wasn't easy.

Bringing up painful memories of some blown games earlier in the season, the Bears took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, but the Knights' Sona Halajian knotted things at 2-2 with a two-run homer that barely cleared the wall in right-center field.

"I would never insult this team by saying, 'not throw in the towel,' because they would have never done that," Moore said. "But it's very easy to lose confidence whenever you lose those games and you struggle and then it leads to losses you shouldn't have. And this team kept fighting through that adversity. And when the games started going our way – which it does, it's a game of percentages – we took advantage of it, and we were prepared to win these games."

Instead of getting a "Oh, no, here we go again" mentality, the Bears answered this time. Binford (12-10) struck out pinch-hitter Kennedy Searcy to end the sixth, then the bats did just enough to get the lead back.

After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth, Emily Hott moved up to second on a Presleigh Pilon groundout, got to third on a passed ball and scored on Shaylon Govan's one-out RBI single up the middle.

"All game, (Willis) was changing speeds on me, and I was trying to pick a pitch," said Govan, who went 2-for-3 after being intentionally walked eight times in last weekend's series against Houston. "Especially on her, you have to get your swing off; you can't let her get two strikes. I tried to make sure that that second one – the strike that I was going to get – I was going to hit hard."

Staked to a one-run lead, Binford worked around a leadoff single by Stormy Kotzelnick in the seventh and got Willis looking for the final out and her 10^th strikeout of the night.

"We're constantly talking about finishing as a team, going all out, no matter what," Binford said. "No matter where we are, we see the score's 0-0 constantly (through our lens). Just being able to finish it all the way through is great for us."

For the longest, it looked like Binford's 17^th career home run was going to stand up. She hit an opposite-field shot that cleared the wall in right field, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

"I prayed after I swung," said Binford, whose homer came on her 100^th at-bat of the season. "I was like, 'Please!' But it was amazing. I got all of it. It felt so good."

The way Binford was absolutely dealing in the circle, that 1-0 deficit looked like a huge hill for the Knights to climb.

"She is fearless," UCF coach Cindy Ball-Malone said. "I think just her mentality alone. Like, we took a couple of her pitches, hit them pretty hard; even some of her better pitches. And then, she's like, 'So what?' And gets back out there. I think her ability to throw three different speeds and be fearless and get some aggression out at the plate when she wants to as well (makes her difficult)."

Baylor scored what seemed to be a needless insurance run in the fifth, when Sydney "The Jet" Collazos had a leadoff single through the right side, moved up on a pair of groundouts and scored on Taylor Strain's infield single to short.

"Every chance they could, my team told me they had my back," Binford said. "So, I didn't freak out, not one time. I had nothing but confidence in my team. They've done it time and time again for me. So, every time they said, 'We got your back, keep going,' I did it for them."

The Bears advance to face top-ranked and top-seeded Texas (46-6) in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday, with a spot in Saturday's championship final on the line. The Longhorns won their 17^th-straight game with a 13-4 run-rule victory over Texas Tech on Thursday.

"They're a great team. It's going to take every single one of us," Govan said. "It's going to take all the little things. It's going to take us putting bunts down, playing clean defense, hitting with two outs. It's going to take everything in us to do it well. I feel like that's how we're going to be able to get a win."

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Baylor Softball took down UCF, 3-2, Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at OGE Field at Devon Park.

The Bears (32-19) defeated the Knights for the fourth time this season to win their first Big 12 Championship game since 2018 and advance to the semifinals on Friday night.

THE RUNDOWN
Aliyah Binford started hot in the circle for the Bears retiring the Knights in order through the first two innings while picking up four strikeouts.

Getting it done on both sides of the plate, Binford helped her own cause in the bottom of the second with a solo shot over the wall in right field, her first long ball of the season, to put the Bears up 1-0.

Sydney Collazos followed Binford's homer with a double to left-center field, but no one was able to bring her home as the Bears carried the 1-0 lead through four complete innings.

After a double play ended the top of the fifth, Collazos got things going again for the Bears in the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff single. After advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, Taylor Stain hit an infield single to bring Collazos home from third and make it a 2-0 ballgame.

With one runner on for UCF in the top of the sixth, a two-run bomb from S Halajian knotted the game at 2-2 to put the pressure back on the Bears.

Baylor responded in the bottom half of the sixth after Hott drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a groundout and passed ball to put a runner in scoring position with one out. Shaylon Govan capitalized on the opportunity with a single up the middle that gave Baylor the 3-2 lead.

Down to the last three outs in the top of the seventh, Binford and the Baylor defense retired two before closing the door on the Knights with a strikeout looking to end the game.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Bears picked up their first Big 12 Championship win since 2018
Aliyah Binford pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts and only one walk
Binford went 1-for-2 at the plate with her first home run of the season
Shaylon Govan went 2-for-3 at the plate with the game winning RBI
Sydney Collazos went 2-for-2 with a double
Emily Hott drew the only walk for the Bears
Taylor Strain hit an infield single to add an RBI to her total
BU totaled six hits
Baylor has now defeated UCF four times this season
The Bears have now won 10 of their last 11 contests and are on a seven-game win streak

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Glenn Moore on the tournament win …
"Yeah, well, that's disappointing, but when it's single elimination that can happen, obviously. That was a big challenge for these girls to overcome that. Had the COVID year in there, of course, so I don't want to make it sound worse than it was, but these girls were determined to change course. And it wasn't easy. We knew it wouldn't be because we scored four runs against this team in three games. So, Willis is really good. And as Coach Hoot said, I'm glad we don't have to see her anymore. So, I'm very proud of what they did and I'm glad we turned things around up here at the Big 12 tournament."

Aliyah Binford on being able to finish the game strong …
"Yeah, it's great. We're constantly talking about finishing as a team, going all out no matter what, no matter where we're at. We see the score's 0-0 constantly (through our lens). So, just being able to finish it all the way through is great for us."

Shaylon Govan on rebounding through rough patches …
"Yeah, I feel like one — that's a testament to the girls that we have on the team, knowing that we're not going to give up and a testament to Coach Moore. And lastly, that is a test to God, especially if you see us walking around with these 'And One' shirts on, that's our motto this year. And it's like, 'If God is for us, who's against us?' And I feel like that's something that we've taken in, and (we've) used that as confidence and help us stay bold in our faith and just put it all on the field and play for one another and this team and this university."

UP NEXT
The Bears will face No. 1 seed Texas in the semifinal round of the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship Friday, May 10, at 7:30 p.m. CT.

-BaylorBears.com-