By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas - After climbing back to .500 for the first time in more than a month, don't look for Baylor softball to "take the foot off the gas pedal" following the Bears' 9-4 win over ACU Saturday at Getterman Stadium.
 
"Knowing that we still have a lot of good competition ahead of us, we needed to get there," said Baylor coach Glenn Moore, whose Bears won their sixth-straight and eighth in the last nine games in improving to 21-21.
 
"We try not to focus on a whole lot of that. But I tell them, every time we get a win, we mark a win off. But I wouldn't say it gives us an opportunity to take the foot off the gas pedal . . . because from here on out, we have to bring everything to every game."
 
Baylor certainly brought it on Saturday, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings and emptying the bench by the third. By the end of the game, the Bears had used 21 of the 23 active players, with 18 of them making at least one plate appearance.
 
"I wasn't exactly happy with the way that our at-bats with the subs (went)," Moore said. "I thought we should have challenged a little bit more. But to their defense, they're rarely in the game. So, even being in the box is important. You never know when we're going to put them in the game for a different reason . . . in more of a high-stressful situation. I like to reward them, but they came here to play, too. They're not just bench players to me."
 
One of those bench players, senior third baseman Emry McDonough had an RBI single in the fifth after hitting a walk-off grand slam for her first career home run in Friday's 11-0 win over ACU (11-31).
 
Other than the Bears exploding for eight runs in the first two innings, the highlight of Saturday's game was arguably senior pitcher Ava Knoll making her first appearance in the 2025 season. She struck out two of the first four batters she faced before giving up a two-out, two-run homer by the Wildcats' Elizabeth Shaefer in the seventh inning.
 
"That, coupled with Emry's grand-slam, walk-off (homer) last night, those are things that you kind of coach for, to see them have those moments," Moore said. "The culture and camaraderie with this team is maybe as good as I've ever had. And if we are able to get to the NCAAs and make a run for it, it's going to be because of the cohesiveness of this group. You see it in moments like that, when they celebrate each other's victories."
 
Knoll was celebrated by her teammates when she came out of the bullpen and then mobbed as she came off the field after striking out Emalee Romero to end the sixth inning.
 
"When Ava came out, we all got really excited," said senior second baseman Presleigh Pilon, who was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs, "because she had been waiting for an opportunity, and she got one and she showed out. It's always great when our teammates do great."
 
Earlier in the week, when the Bears defeated UTSA, 6-0, Moore said he's happy "when we don't run-rule a team, so that we can get a couple extra innings and have somebody get an at-bat."
 
That was the case again on Saturday, when he could have kept the starters in and finished off another run-rule victory in five innings. But the game went the distance when the Bears' subs were a combined 2-for-13 at the plate over the last four innings.
 
Baylor's starters acted like they were trying to get this one over in a hurry. Pilon gave the Bears the lead for good with a two-out RBI single through the right side that plated Turiya Coleman. And then, three more runs scored in the first inning when an Amber Toven single up the middle got by the centerfielder and cleared the bases for a 4-0 lead.
 
"It's awesome when you can give any pitcher room to feel comfortable so that they're not just fighting in there by themselves," Pilon said. "It's nice to come in and give her those runs, because then she's comfortable to do her thing."
 
Redshirt freshman Lexie Warncke (7-6) was the beneficiary, tossing three shutout innings and allowing just two baserunners with a one-out single by Isabel Martinez and a walk by Rachel Cook before stranding the two runners in the second inning.
 
"I was trying to hit the zone and kind of work the zone," Warncke said. "I definitely lost it and was effectively wild, so I trusted my defense behind me. I was able to go out there and trust them, and they got runs behind me."
 
The Bears plated four more in the second inning, when Brooklyn Carter led off with a single, stole second and scored on a throwing error on a bunt by Coleman. Pilon drove in another run with an RBI single up the middle and came around to score on freshman catcher Averie Waddell's two-out, two-run single to make it 8-0.
 
ACU scored two runs off freshman reliever Sadie Ross in the fourth and then capped the scoring on Schaefer's two-run homer in the seventh.
 
Baylor (21-21, 7-8) jumps back into conference play with a three-game series against Arizona State (30-14, 10-7) on Thursday-Saturday in Tempe.



WACO, Texas – Baylor Softball took down ACU, 9-4, Saturday afternoon at Getterman Stadium. 
 
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears started off hot, as Lexie Warncke started in the circle for the Bears and retired the first three Wildcats.
 
To get things started in the home half of the first, Turiya Coleman and Shaylon Govan each recorded one-out singles and advanced on a wild pitch before Karynton Dawson walked to load the bases. Two singles from Presleigh Pilon and Amber Toven and a ACU error plated four runs to give Baylor the advantage in the first. 
 
ACU got two runners on after an infield single and a walk in the second, but the Bears worked out of the inning to keep the Wildcats scoreless. 
 
Putting up another four-spot in the bottom of the second, Brooklyn Carter kicked things off with a single and a stolen base before Coleman reached on a sacrifice bunt fielding error and Carter came around to score. With two-outs, Pilon continued the scoring with an RBI single before Averie Waddell singled up the middle and brought home two more Bears to give BU the 8-0 lead. 
 
After a quiet third for both sides in the third, ACU plated two runs on three hits in the fourth to cut the Bears lead to 8-2. 
 
Baylor added its ninth run in the fifth inning, after a leadoff single from Faith Piper and a walk to Carson Frier, Emry McDonough singled to right-center to give Baylor the 9-2 lead. 
 
In the top of the seventh, ACU tacked on two runs to its total with a two-out, two-run home run but Baylor for the inning-ending groundout to take game two over the Wildcats, 9-4. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Bears record nine hits from eight different batters
• Presleigh Pilon went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBIs
• McDonough had a career high four RBIs
• Averie Waddell recorded two RBIs, setting a career-high
• Ava Knoll saw her first playing time of the season, striking out two
• Lexie Warncke pitched 3.0 innings only allowing one hit 
• 21 different Bears saw playing time in the game
• This marks the 17^th game this season with eight or more hits by the Baylor offense
• BU now holds the all-time record over ACU, 11-0
• Baylor has won eight of its last nine games

 
UP NEXT
The Bears will head on the road to face Arizona State in a three-game series, Thursday-Saturday, April 17-19 at Farrington Stadium.