TAKING IT PERSONAL
5/18/2024 9:53:00 PM | Softball
Collazos, Binford make Louisiana pay, help Bears reach region final
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
LAFAYETTE, La. – Sydney Collazos and Aliyah Binford both take things a little personally. Don't run on Collazos, and you certainly don't want to intentionally walk the batter right before Binford. Trust me.
No. 13 national seed Louisiana-Lafayette (43-18) found out the hard way.
After Collazos threw out the Ragin' Cajuns' Mihyia Davis following a leadoff single in the first inning, Binford capped a seven-run second with her first-career grand slam homer as Baylor (34-20) run-ruled the home team, 8-0, in five innings in the NCAA Lafayette Regional Saturday afternoon at Lamson Park.
"It's not often you can come to a press conference after playing ULL and feel as good (as this) about the way your team played," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team advanced to a region final for the first time since 2018. "I certainly have tons of respect for that team, and it makes what we did today even more impressive."
Maybe it didn't seem all that big at the time, but Collazos throwing out Davis trying to steal in the first inning was "such a momentum killer."
"That goes back to everyone knows their role is, and they play it no matter what," said sophomore pitcher RyLee Crandall (15-8), who tossed a complete-game two-hitter with no walks and three strikeouts. "That's probably not the best way to start the game (giving up a leadoff single), but Syd was like, 'I got it.' . . . (That) hypes me up, gives me more confidence to know, 'Okay, so that's how this is going to go.'''
Baylor's explosive second inning started with Ana Watson doubling down the left-field line, which is when the Bears turned to a surprising short game that "we haven't had to (use) a whole lot this year," Moore said.
Collazos laid down a sacrifice bunt on the left side, with Louisiana's Sam Roe dropping the throw at first base, allowing Watson to score the first run of the game.
"That really was not the plan," Collazos said of the Bears' short game, "but we found a weakness and we exposed it. And I think that's what you do. You claw and you claw, you get what you're given, and you keep pounding it until they prove otherwise. They have a phenomenal defense, and they may have just had an off day. But that's what we have to do as an offense to get runs across."
Collazos beat the throw to second on a Zadie LaValley sac bunt just in front of the plate, then scored on Kaci West's RBI single through the right side. Keeping the short game going, Taylor Strain reached on a bunt single to third.
"We knew they played soft on the corners," Moore said. "We thought we would be able to possibly expose the right side a little bit, but we didn't expect the softness on the left side. When we saw that, the kids just executed it beautifully."
After Emily Hott was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Presleigh Pilon drove in the third run with a sac fly to the deepest part of the park in right-center field, with the other two runners moving up to second and third.
With first base open, the Ragin' Cajuns opted to intentionally walk dangerous hitter Shaylon Govan to reload the bases and pitch to Binford instead.
"I've seen Shay walked a lot," Binford said. "Just knowing that my coach has a trust in me going into the box, I go in there pretty relaxed."
Starting pitcher Sam Landry (24-9), who came back in after the intentional walk, had a 1-2 count on Binford when the junior third baseman crushed a ball into the leftfield bleachers for her first-career grand slam and a 7-0 Baylor lead.
"That was awesome," Collazos said. "They're not going to walk Shay again, I guarantee you that. But man, Aliyah took it personally. And that's what you have to do in that situation. She got off to a rocky start, but she's getting hot at the right time. All the cards are falling into place."
Staked to a shocking 7-0 lead, Crandall pitched arguably her best game of the year. The Ragin' Cajuns' only baserunners over the last four innings were a couple hit batters and a leadoff single by Maddie Hayden in the fourth.
"She was locked in," Collazos said. "I saw it in her face before pregame. We carry a lot of stress on our shoulders as student-athletes. And I told her, 'Hey, just let it go, give it to me. I'll take whatever's on your mind. You go in there and be the pitcher you are,' because she's phenomenal."
The Bears scored their final run in the top of the fifth, when Louisiana chose to pitch to Govan, and she made them pay. The junior first baseman lasered a line-drive shot into the left-field bleachers for her 10th home run of the season and second in as many days.
"I haven't seen this level of focus before this weekend," Collazos said. "I think that we all have a goal and we're all pulling in the same direction."
The only remaining undefeated team in the regional, Baylor will face the Ragin' Caguns in Sunday's 1 p.m. region final, with the if-necessary game to follow. Louisiana defeated Princeton, 2-1, in eight innings in the late game after the Tigers upset Ole Miss, 4-2.
"We want to make sure we don't bask in the joy of that victory too long," Moore said, "because that's what gets you beat. . . . It's nice that other teams have to wear down their pitching a little bit before we see them (Sunday). We can get a little more rest. That was the goal going in, and to be 2-0 puts you in the driver's seat, but our work is not done."
Baylor Bear Insider
LAFAYETTE, La. – Sydney Collazos and Aliyah Binford both take things a little personally. Don't run on Collazos, and you certainly don't want to intentionally walk the batter right before Binford. Trust me.
No. 13 national seed Louisiana-Lafayette (43-18) found out the hard way.
After Collazos threw out the Ragin' Cajuns' Mihyia Davis following a leadoff single in the first inning, Binford capped a seven-run second with her first-career grand slam homer as Baylor (34-20) run-ruled the home team, 8-0, in five innings in the NCAA Lafayette Regional Saturday afternoon at Lamson Park.
"It's not often you can come to a press conference after playing ULL and feel as good (as this) about the way your team played," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose team advanced to a region final for the first time since 2018. "I certainly have tons of respect for that team, and it makes what we did today even more impressive."
Maybe it didn't seem all that big at the time, but Collazos throwing out Davis trying to steal in the first inning was "such a momentum killer."
"That goes back to everyone knows their role is, and they play it no matter what," said sophomore pitcher RyLee Crandall (15-8), who tossed a complete-game two-hitter with no walks and three strikeouts. "That's probably not the best way to start the game (giving up a leadoff single), but Syd was like, 'I got it.' . . . (That) hypes me up, gives me more confidence to know, 'Okay, so that's how this is going to go.'''
Baylor's explosive second inning started with Ana Watson doubling down the left-field line, which is when the Bears turned to a surprising short game that "we haven't had to (use) a whole lot this year," Moore said.
Collazos laid down a sacrifice bunt on the left side, with Louisiana's Sam Roe dropping the throw at first base, allowing Watson to score the first run of the game.
"That really was not the plan," Collazos said of the Bears' short game, "but we found a weakness and we exposed it. And I think that's what you do. You claw and you claw, you get what you're given, and you keep pounding it until they prove otherwise. They have a phenomenal defense, and they may have just had an off day. But that's what we have to do as an offense to get runs across."
Collazos beat the throw to second on a Zadie LaValley sac bunt just in front of the plate, then scored on Kaci West's RBI single through the right side. Keeping the short game going, Taylor Strain reached on a bunt single to third.
"We knew they played soft on the corners," Moore said. "We thought we would be able to possibly expose the right side a little bit, but we didn't expect the softness on the left side. When we saw that, the kids just executed it beautifully."
After Emily Hott was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Presleigh Pilon drove in the third run with a sac fly to the deepest part of the park in right-center field, with the other two runners moving up to second and third.
With first base open, the Ragin' Cajuns opted to intentionally walk dangerous hitter Shaylon Govan to reload the bases and pitch to Binford instead.
"I've seen Shay walked a lot," Binford said. "Just knowing that my coach has a trust in me going into the box, I go in there pretty relaxed."
Starting pitcher Sam Landry (24-9), who came back in after the intentional walk, had a 1-2 count on Binford when the junior third baseman crushed a ball into the leftfield bleachers for her first-career grand slam and a 7-0 Baylor lead.
"That was awesome," Collazos said. "They're not going to walk Shay again, I guarantee you that. But man, Aliyah took it personally. And that's what you have to do in that situation. She got off to a rocky start, but she's getting hot at the right time. All the cards are falling into place."
Staked to a shocking 7-0 lead, Crandall pitched arguably her best game of the year. The Ragin' Cajuns' only baserunners over the last four innings were a couple hit batters and a leadoff single by Maddie Hayden in the fourth.
"She was locked in," Collazos said. "I saw it in her face before pregame. We carry a lot of stress on our shoulders as student-athletes. And I told her, 'Hey, just let it go, give it to me. I'll take whatever's on your mind. You go in there and be the pitcher you are,' because she's phenomenal."
The Bears scored their final run in the top of the fifth, when Louisiana chose to pitch to Govan, and she made them pay. The junior first baseman lasered a line-drive shot into the left-field bleachers for her 10th home run of the season and second in as many days.
"I haven't seen this level of focus before this weekend," Collazos said. "I think that we all have a goal and we're all pulling in the same direction."
The only remaining undefeated team in the regional, Baylor will face the Ragin' Caguns in Sunday's 1 p.m. region final, with the if-necessary game to follow. Louisiana defeated Princeton, 2-1, in eight innings in the late game after the Tigers upset Ole Miss, 4-2.
"We want to make sure we don't bask in the joy of that victory too long," Moore said, "because that's what gets you beat. . . . It's nice that other teams have to wear down their pitching a little bit before we see them (Sunday). We can get a little more rest. That was the goal going in, and to be 2-0 puts you in the driver's seat, but our work is not done."
Players Mentioned
P/INF
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UTIL
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OF
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OF
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