By Sheehan Jeyarajah
Sports Writer
No. 14 Baylor softball knew it was in for a tough ride when it scheduled No. 16 Louisiana in a mid-week, non-conference, double-header Tuesday night in Waco. The Ragin Cajuns did not disappoint, taking advantage of every opportunity to win back-to-back games 5-2 and 7-4 at Getterman Stadium.
Louisiana put pressure on the Bears early in the first game. After being blanked in the first, three walks loaded the bases with one out. Left-hander Whitney Canion managed to strike out two and get out of the second inning scoreless.
Senior catcher Clare Hosack did hit an RBI single with two outs to cut the lead to 5-2, but junior shortstop Jordan Strickland popped out to short, senior first baseman Holly Holl struck out and sophomore designated player Linsey Hays flew out to center field to end the fifth.
ULL’s offensive push continued into the sixth. ULL senior outfielder Shelbi Redfearn singled off of Canion to lead off and designated player Gabby Felps hit a double to put runners on second and third. Fernandez then singled with two outs to drive in both runners and give Louisiana a commanding 5-2 lead that they would ride to victory.
Baylor’s other came from a solo homer from Holl in the fourth inning. Hamilton picked up a win for her complete game which moved her to 19-1 on the season.
“I think she’s got a lot of spin, her pitch calling is great. She throws a bit of everything and just makes you guess,” Holl said.
Canion took the loss after allowing five runs in six innings.
“They’re a great ball team,” Canion said. “They hit the ball and they swing hard. I thought both games were a battle, we just didn’t come out with any W’s.”
After dropping the first game of the doubleheader, Baylor took a 7-4 loss to finish 0-2 in the double-header.
“We broke down defensively a couple of times and that disappointed me,” softball coach Glenn Moore said. “I thought we had a better opportunity the way we handled the offensive side of it.”
Hawkins went 4-for-6 on the day with a run scored and two walks. As a true freshman, she is hitting .363 on the year. Thumann is also hitting a team-high .401 this season.
“I schedule games like this to get them ready for Big 12 play and postseason,” I believe this team is good enough to play this good of a schedule.”
Baylor will return to action on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. against UTSA in San Antonio. They will then return home for a weekend series against Kansas.
