Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
By Parmida Schahhosseini
Sports Writer
The No. 22 Baylor softball team played a triple-header this Saturday to conclude the Getterman Classic.
Baylor won two out of three games, putting them at 3-2 for the season. Baylor ended up winning the Getterman Classic for the seventh time.
Baylor also had four players, junior left-handed pitcher Whitney Canion, freshman infielder Sarah Smith, senior right-handed pitcher Courtney Repka and sophomore outfielder Kaitlyn Thumann, who were named in the All-Tournament team.
Baylor needed to rebound after losing to Illinois State on Friday. The Lady Bears had only one hit in the game, while freshman right-handed pitcher Heather Stearns struggled in her first outing in a Baylor uniform.
However, Baylor bounced back, winning its last two games.
In the first game of the triple-header, Baylor played Sam Houston State.
This game was Baylor’s to lose after outhitting the Bearkats 8-4 in the game, but the Lady Bears had trouble capitalizing on multiple opportunities.
After a night of offensive woes, Baylor needed to regroup and score runs.
However, Baylor had trouble scoring after putting itself in bad situations. Having two outs before a base hit was a common trend for the game. In this situation Baylor couldn’t do things it normally would such as bunting or sacrificing.
The game went in to extra innings after being scoreless for the first seven. All the missed opportunities came to haunt the Lady Bears as Sam Houston scored two runs in the top of the eighth to win 2-0.
In the second game, Baylor was down one in the bottom of the fifth inning but rebounded with a big sixth inning.
Prior to that, Baylor went 20 innings without a score, but junior first baseman Holly Holl and freshman outfielder Lindsay Hays had back-to-back base hits to give a spark to the offense.
Baylor responded, knowing its offense had to get going and was the turning point of the day.
“We had Holly Holl. She called us into a huddle before we went out and hit that inning and she was like, ‘We need to make a change,’” freshman catcher Bailey Chalmers said. “That really got us hyped up and my adrenaline was pumping and everyone was so excited.”
That inning was all they needed, as they generated enough offense to win the game 4-1.
Due to potential inclement weather, the game that was originally scheduled for Sunday was moved to Saturday night. Stearns started again but had a different outcome.
Stearns pitched a no-hitter, becoming the sixth Baylor freshman to accomplish such a feat.
“I felt much more comfortable in the circle tonight,” Stearns said. “I just concentrated on each pitch and what I needed to do.”
In the bottom of the fifth inning Stearns grounded out to the short stop, which allowed Thumann to score.
That one run was enough, and the defense did its job.
Baylor defeated Northern Illinois 1-0.
“I am proud of our senior leadership today,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “We didn’t start the day the way we wanted, but our pitching was great today and we finished on a positive note with a great game from Heather.”
Baylor (3-2) will take on Southern Mississippi (2-5) in a double-header at 4 and 6 p.m. today at Getterman Stadium.
