By Ben Everett | Sports Writer
No. 21-ranked Baylor softball picked up a 3-0 win over Texas Tuesday night in Austin to snap a four game losing streak.
The Lady Bears (26-13, 4-6) handed the Longhorns (26-16, 9-1) their first Big 12 loss behind a shutout performance from junior pitcher Gia Rodoni.
Senior center fielder Jessie Scroggins went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and senior catcher Carlee Wallace contributed two hits as well.
In the top of the first inning, junior left fielder Kyla Walker notched an infield single and advanced to second on a groundout by Wallace, but was left stranded after a fly out.
Rodoni finished off the first frame with a strikeout and two groundouts, retiring Texas’ batters to keep the score tied at zero.
The Lady Bears used the top of the second inning to build a lead. Sophomore second baseman Nicky Dawson reached first on a fielder’s choice, sophomore shortstop Taylor Ellis singled and freshman designated player Hannah Smith walked to load the bases for Baylor.
Sophomore right fielder Maddison Kettler notched an RBI groundout to score Dawson and give Baylor a 1-0 lead. Scroggins stepped to the plate and delivered a two-run single to score Ellis and Smith and give the Lady Bears a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
In the bottom of the second, Rodoni struck out two batters and surrendered only a fielder’s choice, preserving Baylor’s 3-0 lead.
Wallace picked up a single in the top of the third and reached second on a steal, but nothing more for the Lady Bears in the third frame.
Rodoni gave up her first hit of the game in the bottom of the third, but another strikeout, a pop-up and a groundout resulted in no runs for the Longhorns.
The two teams combined for no hits in a well-pitched fourth inning as the Lady Bears held on to a 3-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth, Scroggins put herself in scoring position with a single and advance to third on a pair of groundballs, but another groundout left her stranded and ended the inning for the Lady Bears.
After picking up two outs to start the bottom of the fifth, Rodoni gave up back-to-back singles before forcing a fly out to finish the fifth.
Sophomore third baseman Goose McGlaun made it to second on an error and a sac bunt, but the Lady Bears were unable to bring her home.
After a scoreless frame for Rodoni in the bottom of the sixth, Baylor looked to pad its lead in the seventh with Wallace and senior first baseman Shelby Friudenberg notching singles to put two on. With two outs already on the board, McGlaun grounded out to the shortstop to send it to the bottom of the seventh.
Rodoni came up with two clutch strikeouts in the final inning to secure a 3-0 win for the Lady Bears.
Rodoni moved to 15-9 on the season, pitching all seven innings with eight strikeouts while giving up just three hits and no runs.
Texas starting pitcher Paige von Sprecken also went the full seven innings, but surrendered eight hits and three runs to move to 10-7 on the season.
Baylor has won three straight and six of their last seven games against Texas to move to 20-29 all-time against the Longhorns after starting 14-28. The Lady Bears are now 8-1 against teams from the state of Texas during the 2018 season.
With two hits on the day, Scroggins now has 252 career hits, just one behind Lindsey Cargill for most in program history. Scroggins notched her 75th career multi-hit game and 21st of the season, as well as her seventh multi-RBI game of the season and 19th of her career.
Baylor looks to keep the momentum going as they face Kansas in a home series starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Getterman Stadium.
