By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Writer
Amber Toven stepped into the left-handed batter’s box up 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth. With bases loaded, she jumped on a second-pitch fastball and smashed it down the right-field line. The ball curled a few feet to the right for a foul ball, followed by groans from the Baylor crowd.
“You can tell when a hitter is right on it,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “If they get a pitch in that area again, they’re going to do some damage to it.”
Toven found her timing on the next pitch. She laced the ball over the fence in right-center field for a grand slam to swing the door open for the Bears in their seven-run fourth inning.
“We moved her up in the lineup after the first game for a reason, and she’s in the zone right now,” Moore said. “She’s always been fun to watch, but when she’s in her zone, she’s a threat.”
Toven added an run-scoring single to record her career-high fifth RBI. Her performance lifted Baylor (5-1) over South Dakota State (4-2) in a 10-2 victory. She finished the night going 2-for-4 with two runs.
The Bears started to gain traction in the bottom of the first inning when sophomore outfielder Karynton Dawson (2-for-3) laced a two-out triple that hit the top of the wall. A wide throw from Jackrabbit starting pitcher Amanda Vacanti drove Dawson in to score the first run.
The order created some traffic in the third. Senior outfielder Brooklyn Carter (2-for-2) and sophomore infielder Faith Piper singled to get on the corners. Junior infielder Leah Cran walked to load the bases with two outs, but freshman outfielder Gianna Gusman grounded out to the short stop to strand all three runners.
Baylor remained on the basepaths throughout the game, totaling 17 baserunners.
“We love the speed game … We have more speed this year, and a lot of it’s on the bench,” Moore said. “We’re going to put pressure on defenses and hopefully make them break.”
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Peyton Tanner cruised through the first three innings, not allowing a hit through those frames. Jackrabbit outfielder Akayla Barnard broke up Tanner’s no-hitter with a leadoff double in the top of the fourth. Barnard came around to score on a line drive down the left-field line to tie the game at 1-1.
Tanner threw four innings, allowing one run on two hits and a pair of strikeouts. This outing, along with her nine-strikeout performance against Northwestern State, mark a turnaround from her debut against No. 24 Mississippi State, when she allowed three runs in 2 1/3 innings.
“We had a good meeting yesterday with the pitchers, wanting more efficiency than we had this past weekend,” Moore said. “She had seven first-pitch strikes. And when you do that, you can control the game a little bit better.”
Sophomore right-hander Sadie Ross relieved Tanner in the fifth. Ross had a rough start, giving up a sacrifice fly behind two walks and a single. She was able to close out the inning with only one run allowed.
The Bears will travel to San Diego for the Campbell/Cartier Classic later this week, opening with San Diego State (3-1) at 8 p.m. Thursday at SDSU Softball Stadium. An audio broadcast will be available here.
