By Joe Pratt | Reporter
After splitting Friday’s doubleheader with No. 13 University of Oregon, Baylor softball came up short on Saturday afternoon at Getterman Stadium by a score of 10-4. After shutting out the Ducks in game one, the Bears dropped the next two to lose the series. Late runs given up in the second two games were too steep for head coach Glenn Moore’s team to recover from.
“We kind of fell apart there at the end, but we were playing a great team, and great teams will do that to you,” Moore said. “I think we grew from this weekend, we’re a better team at the end of this weekend than we were at the beginning, and that was my challenge to them and we came away from here with one one out of three.”
Sophomore pitcher Dariana Orme started Saturday’s matchup hoping to recreate her stellar performance from game one. Orme went three innings, striking out three while allowing four hits and three runs, one earned.
“I think she solidified her position as our go to number one starter,” Moore said. “We just wanted to keep her pitch count as low as possible, so once you get up around 70, we decided to get her out of there.”
Despite Moore’s emphasis on playing better defensively, their struggles continued. Mistakes in the field allowed the Ducks (8-1) to load the bases and capitalize with runners in scoring position.
“I was probably most disappointed with our infield, and those are all fixable things as well so we just have to get back to work and make better decisions on the infield,” Moore said. “It wasn’t a lot of physical errors, but a lot of mental errors that we can improve on.”
Baylor (6-2) once again played catchup as they fell to a 3-0 deficit before Junior outfielder Josie Bower was struck by the pitch and leadoff batter sophomore utility Emily Hott came across to score the Bears’ first run.
“[Hott] makes pitchers work hard, and that’s why she’s in the leadoff spot. You might think she would be a three hole hitter,” Moore said. “We want to send a message with this team that we’re going to get right in there from the start.”
Sophomore outfielder McKenzie Wilson batted in two runners to tie the game in the sixth at three a piece. But the Ducks responded with a seven-run seventh, and Baylor only managed to scrap one run in the bottom of the inning.
“We were in a position to go ahead and take that win and then we started off with a strikeout and then kicked the ball around and got a runner on and then the bottom fell out of it,” Moore said. “Those are things that we’ve got to really be able to squash down the road, and I think this is a team that will do that. But I’m certainly happy with the fact that we kept fighting.”
Baylor softball will look correct some of their mistakes when they go on the road to face UT Arlington at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Allan Saxe Field in Arlington.
