By Joe Pratt | Broadcast Reporter
Baylor softball took both games in a doubleheader with Tarleton State University on Tuesday night at Getterman Stadium. The Bears shut down the Texan Rider offense in each game by scores of 5-1 and 7-1. Head coach Glenn Moore praised his pitching staff after its lights-out performance throughout the fourteen innings.
“I’ve been asking for efficiency for a while and I really thought they were very efficient, starting with [Dariana] Orme and carried over to [Kaci] West,” Moore said.
Sophomore pitcher Dariana Orme started game one and delivered five innings of effort. Moore’s ace gave up zero runs on two hits while striking out six. Junior Rachel Hertenberger pitched two innings of relief where she allowed a home run in the seventh, Tarleton’s only run of the contest. The bullpen got some action today despite inactivity in recent games.
“You’ve got to keep in perspective that those girls haven’t seen a whole lot of circle time, and to go in and expect them to be as sharp as they were is not really fair to them when they haven’t been out there,” Moore said. “I was really pleased with what they did and I felt that both Maren [Judisch] and Rachel [Hertenberger] had some some good moments.”
Sophomore catcher Sydney Collazos broke the seal in the third inning with a single to center as freshman outfielder Ashlyn Wachtendorf scored for the Bears. Baylor added a pair of runs in the fourth by way of freshman pitcher Kaci West’s double and freshman outfielder Taylor Strain’s groundout. With the bases loaded in the fifth, freshman infielder Emry McDonough hit a blooper left and two green jerseys crossed home, finishing the first bout by a score of 5-1.
“We’re not a powerful offense, I’ve said that over and over,” Moore said. “But we get timely hits and we hit situationally as any team I’ve ever had here at Baylor.”
Moore and his squad had their eyes set on round two with the Texan Riders. West got the start in the night game, letting just one run come home during her five innings of work.
“West, we didn’t really expect her to start game two,” Moore said. “So with the last-minute decision, I thought she came in really prepared and really, really well.”
McKenzie Wilson’s batting average continues to rise. For the day, the sophomore outfielder went 2-3, and her average is now at .432 on the season. Wilson also stole third base in the first inning of game two and advanced home on an error, giving the Bears an early lead. Strain earned her second RBI of the day on a single to right field in the second inning. In the fourth, Strain doubled with the bases loaded and two Bears came in to score. Moore attributed Strain’s success to the work she put in before the first pitch.
“I was telling coach [Steve] Johnigan that she spent more time on film than I did,” Moore said. “She was in there trying to pick apart the pitcher, especially the lefty knowing that it’s going to be a lefty-lefty matchup … Strain spent the most time and failed and it paid off for her.”
More Collazos offensive production boosted the Bears to a 7-1 lead, and the Texan Riders had no response for the final frames. Baylor completed the doubleheader sweep and improves to 17-10. Glenn Moore and his team now head to battle No. 1 University of Oklahoma in a three-game set starting Friday in Norman, Okla.
