Sports Writer
In an unusually cold evening, the No. 15 Baylor Lady Bears took care of business with an 8-2 win over Texas Tech on Thursday at Getterman Stadium. The chilly weather didn’t seem to faze the Lady Bears who came out of the dugout with energy.
The Lady Bears scored in four of the six innings of play with everyone in the starting lineup having at least one hit, with the exception of junior left-handed pitcher Whitney Canion. However, Canion made up for it through her solid pitching.
Despite allowing seven walks, Canion allowed four hits and two runs while striking out 12 batters. With runners on bases on multiple occasions, Canion got critical strikeouts to prevent significant damage.
“We were mixing them up quite a bit,” Canion said. “Once I got that change up going, that was pretty nice, but it was nice like that last inning I threw, you work ahead and get out of it quick. I thought my change up was key tonight.”
Junior catcher Clare Hosack made head coach Glenn Moore proud going 3-for-2 and scored two runs.
“I was really happy with Clare Hosack,” Moore said. “That was one of her better outings. Top of the order, bottom of the order, when you can score in any part of your order you feel pretty good about it.”
Baylor jumped out on top in the first inning capitalizing on the early mistakes made by Texas Tech.
Senior center fielder Kathy Shelton began the game by reaching on an error by the second baseman and stole second shortly after to become just one steal shy of Baylor’s single-season record for stolen bases.
After a sacrifice bunt and a ground out, freshman third baseman Sarah Smith reached on an error by the shortstop, and Shelton advanced to third.
With two outs, freshman outfielder Linsey Hays hit a two-run double down the left field line giving Baylor an early lead.
“Coach came in the locker room and told us whoever wants to be out there least is going to lose,” Hays said. “So we made sure we were energized and ready and wanted to jump on them early and get them down.”
The Texas Tech pitching staff struggled and only managed one strikeout between the three pitchers that took the circle during the game.
The Lady Bears’ offense was consistent and continually scored runs. However, Baylor did strand runners on every base during the second inning after back-to-back advances on fielder’s choice.
Texas Tech continued fighting. The Lady Raiders ability to draw walks and get on bases haunted the Lady Bears in the fifth inning. With a seven run lead, Texas Tech scored two runs, which resulted from two leadoff walks. With runners at first and second, Canion threw a critical strikeout to end the inning.
The Lady Raiders cut the lead down to five, but the Lady Bears responded.
Hosack singled to left field after a popped ball to shortstop. With Shelton on base after being hit by the pitch, junior first baseman Holly Holl singled to right field allowing Hosack to score.
After a ground ball, Baylor did it’s job on defense to silence the Lady Raiders.
Baylor will look to clinch the series win against Texas Tech at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Getterman Stadium.
