By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Baylor softball can’t seem to get Iowa State University off its back.
Less than two weeks removed from losing a conference series to the Cyclones, Baylor came up short once again. The fourth-seeded Bears fell by a score of 8-1 to Iowa State in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship Thursday at the USA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
Baylor (36-15) only mustered two hits while the Cyclones (24-29) mashed a season-high 16. ISU’s mark came four shy of a Big 12 Tournament game record.
“They’re the toughest team we’ve played this year besides Oklahoma, probably,” head coach Glenn Moore said. “We’ve had more trouble figuring them out, and [I] certainly have to take my hat off to the way they played against us. … I thought we played poorly today.”
Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Iowa State senior utility Ellie Spelhaug tossed a two-hitter across all seven innings, only giving up the one earned run in the process. Spelhaug (8-8) struck out six Bears and only walked one, and she totaled 103 pitches.
“Today we couldn’t figure out Ellie,” Moore said. “She threw an outstanding game. We have a decent offense, and [for her] to shut us down completely more so than the great name pitchers have shut us down really this year says a lot for her and shows you what kind of game we had.”
Freshman right-handed pitcher RyLee Crandall started in the circle for Baylor and gave up two runs on five hits in almost a full three innings. Crandall (15-5) was coming off a strong weekend in which she scattered a powerful No. 5 University of Texas offense with her two starts.
After a scoreless two innings from both sides, ISU opened up the scoring with a two spot in the top of the third. It started with a leadoff walk before the Cyclones’ baserunner advanced to second on a fly out to left-center field. Then, sophomore infielder Angelina Allen ripped an RBI double to right center.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Kaci West entered the game for Crandall after the scored run, and she struck out the first batter she faced. But West gave up a single through the left side to plate Allen, which gave Iowa State the 2-0 lead.
The score stayed that way until the top of the fifth, when a Cyclones leadoff walk was brought home via a single to right field to make it 3-0. Baylor went three up, three down in the bottom side before a lightning delay halted play for 33 minutes.
Michael Haag | Sports Editor
Moore elected to turn to junior right-handed ace Dariana Orme to lead the Bears in the circle. Orme did not pitch against the Longhorns over the weekend, so it was her first appearance since the Iowa State series nearly two weeks ago.
The Cyclones jumped on Orme in a hurry as they connected on a leadoff double. A fly out to right field advanced the runner to third base, and Allen brought the runner home following her second double of the day. Allen finished 4-for-5 at the plate with two of the team’s seven RBI. Orme danced out of more trouble by forcing back-to-back groundouts, turning it over to the offense.
Sophomore infielder Presleigh Pilon busted Spelhaug’s no-hitter through five innings with a single up the middle. Then junior outfielder McKenzie Wilson dug in and reached on a fielder’s choice, causing Pilon to be out at second. Wilson advanced to second when junior utility Emily Hott was hit by a pitch, and sophomore first baseman Shaylon Govan doubled down the left field line to bring in Wilson, which was Baylor’s only run of the game. Both of the Bears’ hits came in that lone sixth inning, and they trailed 4-1.
ISU blew the game open with a five-hit, four-run top of the seventh. The scoring punch was capped off with a two-run home run by senior catcher Mikayla Ramos. Spelhaug reentered the circle for the bottom of the seventh and retired the side in order, securing the 8-1 first round win for Iowa State.
Moore said his batters “seemed to be out of rhythm constantly” when facing Spelhaug.
“[We were] not in the area that she was [throwing] in, and [it] never turned for us,” Moore said. “Usually if you have quality at bats early in the game, you’re going to see a pitcher that will throw more according to your swing pattern and your philosophy later in the game and struggle a little bit more, but we didn’t put enough pressure on her [or] wear down enough in the early innings.”
The Cyclones have now knocked Baylor out of the Big 12 Tournament for the second-straight season. The Bears also gave up the most hits (16) of the season Thursday.
The squad now waits for its destination in the NCAA Tournament following the results of the NCAA Selection Show. Baylor is hosting a Selection Show watch party that is open to the public on Sunday. Doors open at 5:15 p.m., with the show starting at 6 p.m. The event will be held in the Letterwinners Lounge at McLane Stadium.
For those interested in keeping up with the Selection Show elsewhere, the show will be broadcast on ESPN2.
