By Max Calderone | Sports Writer
When junior pitcher Gia Rodoni has her full repertoire of pitches working, she’s nearly unhittable.
The Lady Bears’ ace led her team to a 4-0 victory over North Dakota State (17-8) on Friday to open No. 13 Baylor’s (19-4) four-game weekend tournament at the LSU Round Robin.
Rodoni didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the top of the sixth inning, once again proving why she’s one of the best pitchers in the nation.
The Lady Bears got started early on thanks to a leadoff walk by sophomore second baseman Nicky Dawson and a bunt single by senior center fielder Jessie Scroggins. Senior first baseman Shelby Friudenberg brought the pair home with a single through the left side and Baylor went up 2-0 in the first inning.
From there, it was all Rodoni, as she struck out at least two Bison batters in each of the first five innings. She ended her day throwing six scoreless and allowing just the one hit on the afternoon.
The Lady Bears added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore shortstop Taylor Ellis singled to the right-center gap, scoring junior left fielder Kyla Walker and sophomore pinch runner Madi O’Neal, who was on base in place of senior catcher Carlee Wallace.
Junior pitcher Regan Green came on to close it out for Baylor in the top of the seventh, making her 11th appearance of the season. She gave up a single to start the inning, but quickly settled back in and retired the side to clinch the win for the Lady Bears.
Scroggins was one of three Baylor players who collected two hits in the ballgame, along with Friudenberg and Wallace, tying her for the program’s all-time record of multi-hit games in a career with 68. She needs one more multi-hit game to pass Naomi Fitzgerald’s mark.
Scroggins is also closing in on another Baylor softball record, as she is now just 22 hits away from tying Lindsey Cargill’s 253 career hits, the most in team history.
The Lady Bears will be back in action tomorrow as they play a doubleheader against BYU and LSU beginning at 10 a.m. The team will close out its road trip with a rematch against NDSU at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
