By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
No. 16 Baylor softball’s weekend didn’t go quite like Feb. 19 did.
The Bears took down No. 1 University of Oklahoma, 4-3, on that day in Waco just over two months ago to give the Sooners their only loss in over a year. OU didn’t face much resistance in getting its payback, though, as it came right back to Getterman Stadium and swept Baylor in a conference series.
Oklahoma started with a 7-0 win Friday before winning a pair of contests on Saturday. The two teams decided to play a doubleheader with expected rain coming in on Sunday, and the Sooners booked the Bears with a 4-0 victory in the first game, followed by a 2-0 win in the finale.
Despite the two losses on Saturday, sophomore right-handed pitcher Kaci West and junior right-handed ace Dariana Orme had strong outings in their respective matches. West didn’t allow a run across five innings of action in the first game, and Orme limited the damage to just two solo homers in the nightcap.
All of this came against an OU (42-1, 12-0 Big 12) offense that led the nation with a .380 batting average coming into the series. The Sooners had also mashed 76 homers entering the weekend, which ranked second among Division I teams.
“I wasn’t happy with our game yesterday and I thought we came out here a little too uptight, and I thought today we were relaxed and competed,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “Obviously we didn’t put up runs but we threatened and we fought. I think we had one strikeout with a strikeout pitcher [in the circle]. I really thought we did well there but we did as well as we could against that powerful offense with our pitching and [I’m] really happy with Dari and happy with the way Kaci competed in game one today.”
Oklahoma is now on a 34-game winning streak following the loss to Baylor on Feb. 19. The program has also won 157 of its last 165 games (.951 win percentage) dating back to the start of the 2021 season. Of those 165 games, 97 have been run-rule victories (58%).
The odds of being run-ruled by the Sooners is high, but the Bears (34-13, 4-8 Big 12) have avoided that in four contests this season. Baylor joins Texas Tech University as the only other Big 12 program to avoid being run-ruled by OU in at least one contest of a three-game series this season.
“We talked about moral victories [and] while we’re not into them, you have to make sure you don’t come out of a weekend like this demoralized,” Moore said. “And I thought we competed. So, that’s what I ask them to do; put yourself in a position to have a chance to win and we went down fighting for it right here at the end. … The biggest thing of this is that we didn’t get demoralized.”
West twirled a strong game in Saturday’s first contest, but she allowed a four-spotted sixth inning to give Oklahoma the win. It started with an RBI triple and was capped off by a three-run home run over the left field wall.
Baylor had a chance to get on the board two innings prior when junior utility Emily Hott reached on a fielder’s choice. Hott laid a bunt down the third base line, which sent sophomore outfielder Ashlyn Wachtendorf to home plate. Wachtendorf, who was a pinch runner, was called out and junior outfielder Ana Watson got caught in a rundown between second and third base.
The inning ended on the double play, and the call at home plate was confirmed following a review.
The Bears couldn’t get anything going the rest of the way, and West (6-2) was given the loss in the circle despite the strong outing. West said “trusting my defense” is what allowed her to have success.
“I only had two strikeouts today, so that proves it was a defensive game,” West said. “My defense behind me was making plays, they were working, they were competing. That’s so important. McKenzie’s amazing catch in centerfield, that gives us momentum going into offense. Shay’s good catch at first shifts momentum and gives us a lot of energy.”
Orme threw 79 pitches in her start on Friday, but she rolled right back around and started the second game for Baylor. She totalled 115 more pitches in Saturday’s nightcap and only allowed a pair of solo homers. Orme (14-7) still wound up with the loss, as the Bears’ offense only strung together two hits.
Baylor had another opportunity to get a run on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Hott worked a leadoff walk and tried to reach third base on a bunt from West. It was mishandled by the Sooners at first, but Hott was called out at third base.
Moore challenged the call, but the ruling was confirmed and the runner in scoring position with no outs was not given his way. Baylor was only able to come up with 10 hits on the weekend thanks to Oklahoma’s stout pitching.
The Sooners boast sophomore right-handed pitcher Jordy Bahl (1.17 ERA), junior right-handed pitcher Nicole May (0.42) and redshirt senior pitcher Alex Storako (0.68), the top three ERA leaders in the conference. Those three pitchers are a combined 39-1 in the circle.
“That’s why they have those ERAs that are phenomenal and why everybody else is struggling to hit them as well,” Moore said. “They’re three of the best to ever play the game and they have them all on one ball club.”
The Bears will stick around for a midweek contest against Texas State University, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Getterman Stadium. Baylor’s next conference series will be at Iowa State University for a three-game set.
Moore said his group will be able to “compete with a lot of teams” if it plays the way it did against OU on Saturday.
“I’ve said it over and over, they’re No. 1 and there’s a big gap between No. 1 and No. 2 and that’s why they only have one loss,” Moore said.
