By Foster Nicholas | Sports Writer
Backed by a two-out fourth-inning rally and the second complete game of the year for senior right-handed pitcher Aliyah Binford, No. 14 Baylor softball willed its way past Penn State 4-1 on Wednesday evening at Getterman Stadium.
The Bears (13-3) extended their winning streak to 12 with the victory.
Head coach Glenn Moore saw pitching lead the way as Binford (6-2) earned the win. She tied her career high with 11 strikeouts, going all 7.0 innings and allowing just six hits, a walk and a run.
“We’ve [been] putting in the work as a team,” Binford said. “We know that we have a target and that we have a lot more work to do but we’ve been working extra hard.
“We’ve had the hardest schedule and we still come to practice every day, and we’re like, ‘We got this; this is going to be a great season. We’re going to work.’ We’re not going to give the other team an opportunity to beat us.”
The strong performance marks the fifth consecutive game in which Baylor held its opponent to one or fewer runs.
“You’re not going to win without good pitching and good defense,” Moore said. “And we’re in a position to score three or four runs a game with the pitching and defense that we have and we’re going to win a lot of games.”
After evading a first-inning jam unscathed, Baylor senior left fielder Emily Hott tripled down the left-field line and the Bears created a threat of their own. Senior first baseman Shaylon Govan walked right after, but the Nittany Lions (15-3) retired eight straight Bears after the walk and the game was scoreless heading to the bottom of the fourth.
Baylor found its offense again in the fourth as Govan led off the inning with a single. The next two batters were quickly retired before Baylor struck the board. Senior right fielder Ana Watson wore a pitch off her helmet and sophomore designated player Abi Flores worked a walk.
With the bases loaded, freshman second baseman Leah Cran pushed home the game’s first run after taking a pitch off her back. Junior shortstop Presleigh Pilon then appeared to have tucked a bases-clearing triple down the first-base line, but after review, the call was overturned and Pilon stepped back up the plate with a 2-2 count.
Pilon chopped the next pitch she saw to her counterpart at shortstop and Flores, who was standing at second, timed a jump over the bouncing ball and blocked the view of the shortstop, prompting a muffed ball and an error that scored another Baylor run.
Senior center fielder Taylor Strain capped off the big inning with an infield single that cascaded off the pitcher, allowing enough time for each runner to advance one base and put Baylor up 3-0.
“We need to get our rhythm back offensively to put more hits together,” Moore said. “But we are getting timely hits. I’d like to push a few more across. I’d like to hit a few more long balls, but we’re winning — finding a way to win.”
The visitors tallied a run in the fifth, and the Bears responded in the bottom of the inning when Flores walloped a two-out RBI single up the middle to score Govan, who finished the day 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a walk.
Binford finished out her complete game with back-to-back punchouts, and the Bears rolled to a 4-1 victory.
“Having a hard strength of schedule is something that I always like,” Pilot said. “You can’t be the best if you don’t play the best. So, having that mindset and playing all these teams with a hard schedule, we’re ready for anybody.”
Baylor will open conference play with a three-game series against No. 7 Oklahoma State (17-2). First pitch for game one is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Getterman Stadium.
