No. 18 Baylor Softball Bows Out of the NCAA Regional with 9-2 loss Against Ole Miss

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah. - No. 18 Baylor Softball fell against Ole Miss, 9-2, Saturday night at Dumke Family Softball Stadium.

The Bears (40-17) finished their season with 40 wins for the first time since 2017. BU defeated Southern Illinois, 13-9, earlier in the day to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament.

Freshman RyLee Crandall led the Bears in the circle on the day, pitching both games while tossing 267 pitches.

THE RUNDOWN

The Bears fell behind early, with the Rebels plating four two-out runs in the bottom of the first.

Baylor was able to get a couple of runners on in the top of the second after back-to-back singles from Zadie LaValley and Ashlyn Wachtendorf, but no runs were able to come home.

The Rebels added to their lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the third to give them the 5-0 lead.

BU held Ole Miss scoreless for the next two innings while getting a couple baserunners of their own but weren’t able to capitalize until the top of the sixth.

Sydney Collazos led off the sixth with a single before Emily Hott notched a two-out single to put runners on the corners for LaValley. The catcher then roped a double to right-center field, scoring both runners.

With the Rebels leading 5-2, they added insurance runs to their lead with another four-spot in the bottom of the sixth.

The Bears got a couple of runners on in the seventh, but the Rebels took the 9-2 victory.

HIGHLIGHTS

• 30 double plays on the season sets a new season high
• Bu recorded its first 40-win season since 2017
• This season marked the 12th 40-win season for head coach Glenn Moore
• Shaylon Govan set a new single-season record with 46 walks. She also tied a single-season sacrifice fly record (7) and is tied for third in single-season RBIs
• McKenzie Wilson recorded her second-straight season with 53 runs, which ties for fourth all-time
• Ashlyn Wachtendorf made back-to-back starts for the first time in her career. She had five hits in Saturday’s two games and going 6-for-8 in the regional
• Presleigh Pilon, Sydney Collazos and Zadie LaValley also had multi-hit games

QUOTABLE

Head coach Glenn Moore on the game: “It’s hard to get 40 wins. So, to me, that was a personal goal, to get 40 wins out of this team. It may just be a number, but it’s a big number between 39 and 40. It’s more than one game when you look at the grand scheme of things. That’s something we can really build on, I think, and excited about where this team can go.”