HITTING HER STRIDE

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Early in the season, when Aliyah Binford was struggling at the plate – just five hits in her first 40 at-bats – Baylor softball coach Glenn Moore felt like the fifth-year junior would put it together at some point.

That confidence rang true on Friday, when Binford went 3-for-3 with a home run and the Bears' only two RBIs in a 4-2 loss to No. 4 national seed Florida in the opening game of the Super Regional at Pressly Stadium. And for good measure, she also held an explosive Gator offense to just four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four in six innings.

"Aliyah played an entire game of outstanding softball," said Moore, whose team dropped to 35-22 overall and one game from elimination. "Obviously the offense but pitching as well. We had trouble adjusting to the zone at first. It was a higher zone than what we've seen this year. . . It hurt what (Aliyah) is good at, the down stuff and getting ground balls. So, she had to flatten out her pitch, and that becomes a little bit more hittable. But they certainly didn't hit her hard."

The problem was that Baylor struggled to get much off freshman pitcher Keagan Rothrock (29-6), a finalist for NFCA Freshman of the Year. After a first inning that saw the Bears score one run on three hits, leaving the bases loaded, Rothrock gave up just three hits the rest of the way.

"She's very spinny, but I think a lot of it was just us going up there so anxious to hit, being all on our front side," said fifth-year senior Sydney Collazos, who went 2-for-3. "We could have made better adjustments after our lineup saw her two or three times. But I'm pretty confident we'll see her again. I think what we're going to focus on is not so much on what she's got, what she might throw, but more of us making our own adjustments."

With runners on the corners in the first inning, Binford fouled off a two-strike pitch before lining a single to right field to plate Emily Hott after a leadoff walk.

"I was definitely just seeing the ball well," said Binford, who raised her batting average to a season-high .279, more than 150 points above where she was in late March. "I think we were prepared very well by our hitting coach (Steve "Hoot" Johnigan) to see (Rothrock). She's a great pitcher, but just being able to see the ball come out of her hand was what helped me."

The Bears had a chance to put more on the board when Collazos had a two-out single to left, but Moore held up pinch-runner Caroline Rowatt rather than test Korbe Otis's arm from shallow left. Rothrock worked out of any further damage by retiring Zadie LaValley on a fly ball to left, leaving the bases loaded.

"In my bank of knowledge at that time, I thought it was a no-brainer," Moore said. "We've got hitters coming up, and we're seeing the ball well. Had I known the catcher was going to drop the ball . . . I don't have a crystal ball. When I watch film, I may come back and say, 'Hey, I should have sent her then,' but it's early in the game. I don't think you send her there personally, but I could be wrong."

Other than Binford's third-inning homer, her third in the last seven games, Baylor's only hits over the last six innings were singles by Collazos in the fourth and Binford in the sixth as no other runner got into scoring position.

The Gators (50-12) answered Baylor's one run in the top of the first with three runs on two hits, a walk and hit batter in the bottom half of the inning. Jocelyn Erickson drove in the first run with a double over the third-base bag, and then Katie Kistler had arguably the hit of the day with a two-run double into the gap in left-center field.

"The pitch definitely hit its spot," Binford (13-12) said, "and she went down and got it."

Even on Erickson's double, "she hit her spot," Moore said.

"That was not in (Erickson's) spray chart, to go down (the third-base line)," Moore said. "It was off the line a little bit. We played her right, but she just executed. So, tip your hat to her."

Much like Rothrock, Binford was dominant the rest of the way, the only run scoring on Otis's fifth-inning homer to left field that made it a 4-2 game.

The difference, Binford said, was "definitely just trusting in my teammates."

"This one over here (Collazos) is always in my ear. So, it makes it easier," she said. "And then, just knowing that Coach (Britni) Newman knows what she's doing and just trusting her the entire time."

Binford, who didn't hit her first home run until the Big 12 Tournament, said she "didn't know how to react at first" on her third-inning blast just inside the left-field foul pole.

"But coming off the bat, it was launched," she said. "I was just excited to hit the ball for my team, really."

With Baylor facing elimination in Saturday's 10 a.m. CT game, Moore said he is "100% confident that (the Bears) will put a fight."

"The other team's going to be trying to win, too," he said. "They're a talented team. But as far as this team, we will not show up not ready to play. They'll be ready to play, and this is a single-elimination tournament. For us, it's win or go home."

HITTING HER STRIDE

Players Mentioned

Aliyah Binford

Sydney Collazos

Emily Hott

Zadie LaValley

Caroline Rowatt

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