Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
Sports Writer
It was day to remember for senior center fielder Kathy Shelton and junior left-handed pitcher Whitney Canion who both broke school records to lead Baylor to a sweep over Iowa State during Friday’s double-header.
“Two storied players right there that Baylor fans will remember for a long time and to be able to set those records on the same day is pretty special,” head coach Glenn Moore said.
No. 16 Baylor (28-7, 2-2 Big 12) easily won the first game 13-0, but Iowa State made adjustments and fought hard in the 4-3 loss, taking the Lady Bears to extra innings until Baylor pulled out a win due to a sacrifice fly ball from sophomore outfielder Kaitlyn Thumann.
Shelton put herself in Baylor’s record book by breaking the school record for most bases stolen in the first game of the double-header. Prior to Friday’s double-header, Shelton needed two steals, but stole five bases to bring her total to 107. The previous record was 102 held by Harmony Schwethelm.
“It’s real exciting and to do it with Whitney, she made history so we were saying we did it together and that’s exciting,” Shelton said. “I’ve been blessed with speed and I’m lucky to have a coach that loves to run so it’s really exciting.”
Canion broke the record for the number of career wins with a win in the second game of the double header. She recorded her 83rd career win.
Baylor’s offense was explosive during the first two innings of the first game. The Lady Bears scored all 13 of their runs off of 11 hits as Thumann went two of three with 4 RBIs and two runs. Shelton also went two of three, scored three runs and had an RBI single. Junior first baseman Holly Holl scored two runs, and freshman outfielder Linsey Hays scored a run and hit two of three.
“I mean, after a weekend of not having a lot of good hits, you just want to get back out there and redeem yourself, so I knew we were going to come out swinging hard,” Thumann said.
The stout offense helped Canion, who allowed two hits in three innings. After only throwing 50 pitches, Moore put in senior right-handed pitcher Courtney Repka, who finished the game allowing one hit in two innings.
“I thought we were just hitting line drives. If those would just drop, I wonder how many runs we would have scored,” Canion said. “That center fielder was amazing and we weren’t just hitting dinkers. We were hitting hard balls and they were just catching it, and some days that happens.”
Baylor had the first score of the game when Hays hit a single, allowing Thumann, who hit a double, to score. Hays advanced to second on the throw, and Holl moved to third after drawing a walk on a night where she drew four walks, tying a program record.
However, Iowa State responded by adding a run in the third inning.
In the fifth inning, Baylor scored two runs from a base hit from Hays and a walk from junior catcher Clare Hosack. Iowa State responded in the top of the seventh when Cyclone third baseman Tori Torrescano hit a two-run homer to tie the game. Baylor failed to produce a run later in the inning and the game went to extra innings.
With two outs, Baylor continued to strand players. However, in bottom of the 10th with no outs, the bases were loaded when Thumann hit the sacrifice fly to allow freshman outfielder Sydney Betke to score.
Baylor will play Iowa State again on noon Saturday in Getterman Stadium.
