Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
By Tyler Alley
Sports Editor
Baylor softball took both games of its doubleheader Tuesday against Northwestern State at Getterman Stadium.
Junior left-handed pitcher Whitney Canion started the first game and pitched a complete game one-hitter with 13 strikeouts. She struck out each Demon hitter at least once.
“I felt pretty good about [my pitching] after Sunday,” Canion said. “I had a rough day there throwing a lot of balls. Really just worked on all my pitches and got my screwball back that I was missing the other day so I was happy about that.”
The Lady Bears won the game 3-0. Junior center-fielder Kathy Shelton provided all the offense for the Lady Bears with three runs batted in.
The first run came in the second inning when Shelton was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The other two runs came in the fourth inning.
Sophomore catcher Clare Hosack got things stated with a double to left field. Freshman second baseman Delaney Guy followed that with a single to left, moving Hosack to third. After Guy stole second base, Shelton singled to right to bring both runners in.
Head coach Glenn Moore said he would like to see more out of his offense than the games so far, but he’s not too worried.
“No cause for concern at all right now because I’m at batting practice every day and I know what the potential is,” Moore said. “We’re still hitting around .330 I’m assuming. I’d look at all the Big 12 stats and I think you’d be hard pressed to find another team hitting those numbers.”
Junior right-handed pitcher Courtney Repka started the second game for the Lady Bears. She allowed zero runs and three hits in five innings.
She got into a jam in third inning with the bases loaded and one out but got two straight batters out. On the day, three Baylor pitchers allowed zero runs and four hits.
“[It was] absolutely phenomenal,” Moore said. “[Canion] was her old self after struggling a little bit last weekend. Courtney Repka was not quite as sharp as she was last weekend but still good, and [sophomore right-handed pitcher Liz Paul] was much better. I thought all three of the arms we put out in the circle held up their end of the bargain.”
Baylor won this game 3-0 as well. Up until Tuesday, softball had not hit a home run this season. With two runners on and one swing in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Lady Bears had their first.
“When it left the bat, I was up going,” Canion said. “I knew that when someone hit it, you would know, because we’ve had a couple of questionable ones. I’m happy to get that one home run out of the way because everyone’s just worried about it. Happy for Clare [Hosack].”
Hosack delivered the three-run shot over the left-field wall to score the only runs of the game.
“Well she missed on the first pitch and came out of her shoes. Her intentions were very good,” Moore said. “And that’s what I’ve been asking for. I want the Babe Ruth mentality. Babe Ruth looked better striking out than most people did hitting it. That’s what I’ve been asking our girls to do. She missed the first one but she got everything out of the second one.”
Hosack said that’s what she was going for.
“Now it is,” she said. “I’m getting more aggressive and swinging out of my shoes each swing and that’s what I’m working on. That’s what I did for that pitch.”
Shelton singled in the third inning, making that her 14th consecutive game with a hit.
