By Joe Pratt | Broadcast Reporter
Baylor softball was swept in its three game series with No. 6 Oklahoma State University 6-1, 2-0 and 7-2 at Getterman Stadium. After being swept by the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., and dropping its midweek matchup to Incarnate Word, the Bears haven’t managed to clinch a victory in any of their last seven outings.
Sophomore pitcher Dariana Orme started for Baylor (17-17, 0-6 Big 12) and gave up four earned runs on seven hits. Sophomore Maren Judisch was brought in to relieve for the final inning, and delivered a clean slate with a strikeout.
“Not a clean game, but a competitive game. They’re a great lineup, as we know, and I thought Dariana [Orme] got a lot of good results,” Moore said. “She had a little letdown when she walked back-to-back hitters, and put herself in a bind, but we made some mistakes early that we really didn’t recover from. We fought hard, but I thought her performance was pretty good considering the lineup we were facing.”
Oklahoma State (28-6, 6-0 Big 12) earned at least one run in four of seven innings to tally up for six, and the Bears only put up one in the second inning, losing 6-1. Sophomore outfielder Ana Watson went 2 for 2 with an RBI.
“We always fight, we never give up,” Watson said. “They were finding the holes offensively. We’re hitting the ball great, we’ve just got to find the holes as well.”
Game two was on Saturday night in what turned out to be a pitching and defensive showdown. The Cowgirls wound up snatching the second game by a score of 2-0. Runs earned in the 4th and 5th innings were enough for Oklahoma State to secure the series clinching win.
Sophomore Aliyah Binford was in the circle for game two where she dealt for seven innings, allowing just five hits and striking out seven. While Baylor was held to just three hits, Moore praised Binford after the tough loss.
“I don’t know if you can throw any better than she did against a great lineup,” Moore said. “I’m very pleased with her and I’m pleased with the whole team’s effort, we certainly kept them off-balance and had them frustrated. We had a lot better demeanor tonight, and she certainly gave us a chance.”
The Bears came out hot in the third game with a Binford 2-RBI double to right-center. It gave Baylor the 2-run advantage until the Cowgirls came roaring back.
The Orme-Judisch pair was back in game three’s 7-2 loss. Orme was strong until the fourth inning when the Cowgirls took advantage of Baylor fielding mistakes, putting up four in the frame, three unearned to Orme.
Orme allowed three more runs in the sixth before being pulled for Judisch. Judisch quieted down the Cowgirl bats, and pitched one and two-thirds innings, allowing just one player on base.
“I thought our pitching has given us a chance to compete with these top-level teams, but we’re just not good enough behind them,” Moore said. “We do have people playing out of position in some areas that we just can’t improve fast enough to make the routine plays to keep us in those games. I thought we started off the game really well, but you know a team like that is going to put runners on base and force you to make plays, and if you don’t make them, you’re in trouble. And we were in trouble today because we didn’t make routine plays.”
Hoping to pick up a win before hitting the road, Baylor welcomes Lamar University in a weekday matchup. First pitch is set for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT at Getterman. The Bears then head to Lawrence, Kan., to battle it out with the Jayhawks in an important Big 12 series.
