By Nathan Keil | Sports Writer
No. 15 Baylor softball took down No. 18 Louisiana-Lafayette 5-4 Thursday afternoon. The Lady Bears were led by freshman infielder Shelby McGlaun who went two for four at the plate with a double and a home run while driving in four runs.
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said it was a great win under tough conditions in a tough environment.
“This was another example of the type of team we have. We were playing on short rest in a hostile environment and went out and beat a top-20 team,” Moore said.
Thursday’s game was rescheduled after weather forced the two teams to cancel their scheduled Tuesday doubleheader.
The Lady Bears started fast and struck first with two runs in the top of the first. Junior outfielder Jessie Scroggins led off the game with a home run to right field. McGlaun then drove in sophomore outfielder Kyla Walker with a groundout to shortstop.
Baylor tacked on another run in the fifth when McGlaun doubled home Walker, putting the Lady Bears up 3-0.
McGlaun then gave Baylor just enough insurance with a two-run home run to left in the seventh, putting the Lady Bears in front 5-2.
Senior pitcher Kelsee Selman earned her 11th win of the season. She went the distance in the game, pitching in all 7 innings of the contest. Despite not having her best stuff however, Selman only allowed four runs on five hits, walked two and struck out three.
Selman’s biggest issue against the Rajin’ Cajuns was leaving the ball up in the zone as all of Lafayette’s runs were scored via the home run.
Junior outfielder Aleah Craighton and junior shortstop DJ Sanders both hit the long ball off of Selman in the sixth, trimming the Baylor lead to 3-2. Sophomore third baseman Kara Gremillion hit an inside the park two-run home run down the left field line in the seventh inning to draw within 5-4 before Selman got Craighton to groundout to the end game.
Junior infielder Shelby Friudenberg and McGlaun both had two hits for the Lady Bears while Walker scored twice.
Louisiana-Lafayette drops to 17-5 overall. The Rajin’ Cajuns will now host a three-game set with the University of Texas at Arlington beginning at 4 p.m on Mar. 18.
With the win, Baylor improves to 21-4 overall and completes a spring break road trip that saw the Lady Bears go 7-1 overall with five wins over ranked opponents. It also saw Selman receive the National Pitcher of the Week as well as Big 12 Pitcher of the Week for her effort in the circle in the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. McGlaun was also named Big 12 softball player of the week after the tournament.
Moore said that even with all the success the Lady Bears still need to improve moving forward.
“This team is uniquely diverse and can produce runs in different ways,” Moore said. “We just have to stay humble and hungry and keep getting better.”
The Lady Bears will rest up before they host a doubleheader with Incarnate Word and the University of Texas-San Antonio beginning at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
