By Parmida Schahhosseini
Sports Writer
The No. 22 Baylor softball team looked to rebound from Friday’s performance as they took on Sam Houston State in their third game of the Getterman Classic. Baylor, despite playing strong defense for much of the game, lost 2-0. Baylor is now 1-2 on the season.
Baylor had many missed opportunities after having bases loaded two times, but was unable to get a runner across home plate. Junior left-handed pitcher Whitney Canion finished the game with 12 strikouts, four hits and two runs.
The first inning was scoreless as Baylor’s defense did their job by getting a double play when freshman second baseman Robin Landrith caught the ball to get Sarah Allison out. She then threw the ball to first baseman Holly Holl to get Tori Benavidez out as she tried to move to second. On offense, after two strikes, Holly Holl got a hit, but got out shortly after trying to steal a base.
In the second inning, Canion struck out three batters for a quick three outs. Baylor’s offense remained scoreless after back-to-back outs. Canion walked before freshman outfielder Justine Young came in as the runner. Young got out while running to second base after sophomore shortstop Jordan Strickland advanced to first.
Canion forced back-to-back strikeouts again in the third inning. With two outs, Sam Houston State infielder Alyssa Coggins was up to bat, but Sarah Smith caught the ball to force an out. Baylor missed an opportunity to score after back-to-back base hits from right fielder Kaitlyn Thumann and senior centerfielder Kathy Shelton. Both ended up stealing bases to advance to third and second base, respectively. However, after a diving catch by Sam Houston State’s left fielder Jessica Slater, Baylor couldn’t capitalize.
The game remained scoreless in the forth inning after quick back-to-back outs. Strickland did have a hit, but after two strikes, Baylor got another out and the game went to the fifth inning.
After two outs, Baylor’s Thumann was up to bat and hit a double through to the right fielder. However, Baylor couldn’t drive the run in.
Canion recorded her 10th strikeout by getting back-to-back strikeouts in the start of the sixth inning. A catch by Shelton resulted in a quick offensive outing for Sam Houston State, putting Baylor back on offense. At the bottom of the sixth, Holl hit a strong ball, but it was caught by right fielder Amy Pelton from Sam Houston State. Hays got hit with the ball, so she automatically advanced, but a double play by the Sam Houston State defense left the game scoreless.
Baylor was not able to capitalize on offense. With two strikes in the bottom of the seventh inning, catcher Clare Hosack had a base hit and advanced to first. Landrith had a base hit as well, and Hosack ran from first to third base. Thumann walked, which allowed Landrith to advance to second base. With the bases loaded, Baylor got another out, forcing the game into extra innings.
In extra innings, those missed opportunities came to haunt the Lady Bears as Sam Houston scored two runs in the top of the eight innings with a base hit from Aslhey Isbell and Coggins. Pelton and Isbell ended up scoring those two runs after a base hit from Slater.
