By Nathan Keil | Sports Writer
No. 14 Baylor softball extended its winning streak to five games with a doubleheader sweep on Tuesday over Incarnate Word and the University of Texas-San Antonio.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Baylor blanked Incarnate Word 3-0. The Lady Bears rode a one-hit, complete game performance from freshman pitcher Shelby McGlaun.
Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said McGlaun’s performance was not only huge for her, but also for the entire pitching staff moving forward.
“Goose [McGlaun] pitches a one-hitter, very close to a no-hitter, so you can’t ask for much more out of that for her,” Moore said. “The biggest thing is we got to throw our pitchers. We got to get good work out of all three. We didn’t throw [Kelsee] Selman a whole lot, but she got to knock off some rust, too.”
The lone hit was off the bat of pinch hitter C. Trevino as she roped a leadoff double to left center to open the sixth frame. McGlaun then proceeded to retire the next three hitters to end the threat on base.
McGlaun picked up her fifth win of the season. She struck out five and walked none.
The Lady Bears struck first in the second inning. Freshman outfielder Maddison Kettler singled and stole second, and junior outfielder Jessie Scroggins‘ single with two outs brought Kettler in to score.
Baylor tacked on another run in the third inning when Kettler singled in senior infielder Lindsey Cargill, putting the Lady Bears up 2-0. The Lady Bears added their third run in the fifth following a sacrifice fly from freshman infielder Taylor Ellis that scored Cargill again.
Kettler, Cargill, Scroggins and sophomore outfielder Kyla Walker all collected two hits for the Lady Bears.
In the nightcap against UTSA, sophomore pitcher Gia Rodoni overcame a rocky start, and the Lady Bears used a seven-run fourth inning to take control en route to an 8-2 win.
The win was the third win for Baylor over UTSA this season, as the Lady Bears defeated the Roadrunners 5-0 on Feb. 16 and 7-6 on Feb. 19 as part of the Getterman Classic.
The Roadrunners took advantage of three hits and an error in scratching across two runs in the third inning. Rodoni pitched five innings to pick up her seventh win, giving up five hits and striking out three.
Senior pitcher Kelsee Selman came in to pitch the final two, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out three.
Following UTSA’s two-run third, the Lady Bears cut the deficit to 2-1 on Walker’s run-scoring single. But that one run opened up the floodgates for Baylor’s huge fourth inning, resulting in seven runs on six hits.
Cargill opened the frame with a single. One out later, Ellis, freshman outfielder Madi O’Neal and junior infielder Caitlin Charlton added consecutive singles, scoring two runs.
Charlton said she was just trying to stay with the pitch and not do too much with it.
“It felt really good,” Charlton said. “I knew I was just trying to get it to the right side, which is the best option for scoring runs. She came out with that outside pitch, and I just went with it and hit it to the right side. It felt really good driving in those runs and getting ahead in the game.”
Scroggins drew a walk and moved up on a passed ball. Walker then reached on a fielder’s choice, loading the bases and setting up junior infielder Shelby Friudenberg and McGlaun’s singles to plate two more. Cargill, batting for the second time in the frame, added the final run on a groundout.
Moore hopes that the rest over the weekend and the work tonight will help the Lady Bears heading into the weekend.
“We took a three-day weekend, which was needed. You’ve got to rest to stay hungry, but you can’t expect to come back looking like we looked in California after a three-day weekend,” Moore said. “So, I’m not surprised by that, but I’m glad we played two games and got as much work in as we did. I think we’ll get back in sync, and that’s just what we needed before we go to Florida.”
With the pair of wins, Baylor improved to 23-4 on the season. The Lady Bears will hit the road to Orlando, Fla., for a weekend series beginning at 6 p.m. Friday against the University of Central Florida.
