No. 21 Baylor Softball Takes Game Three Over Iowa State, 7-4

WACO, Texas – No. 21 Baylor Softball took down Iowa State, 7-4, Saturday afternoon at Getterman Stadium. 

THE RUNDOWN

Baylor fell behind in the top of the first after a fielding error and a single plated one unearned run for the Cyclones.

With the quick response, Emily Hott continued her hot hitting streak as she picked up her sixth home run of the year to leadoff inning and knot the game, 1-1. After a follow-up bunt single from Presleigh Pilon, who advanced to second on a fielding error, Shaylon Govan roped a single down the left-field line to plate the Bears' second run.

After sitting Iowa State down in order in the top of the second, the Bears tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Taylor Strain led off the inning with a double to left field before a one-out triple from Hott scored the Bears’ third run. Pilon then hit a sacrifice fly to center field that brought home Hott from third and made it a 4-1 ballgame.

The Bears found themselves in a tie game again in the third, when a two-out home run from Iowa State brought home three runs even the score at 4-4.

Sydney Collazos singled and stole second in the bottom half of the third but that would be all for the Bears in the inning.

Baylor capitalized in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out three-run rally. To get things started, Pilon reached on a fielding error and Govan was hit by a pitch to put two on for Shannon Vivoda. The third baseman then doubled down the right-field line to bring home a run and put the Bears back on top. Aliyah Binford followed it up with a double of her own, but a two-run shot that extended Baylor’s lead to 7-4.

Iowa State threatened in the top of the fifth with a runner on second and third with no one out, but pitcher RyLee Crandall sat the next three batters down in order with three straight strikeouts.

The Bears loaded the bases in the bottom half of the fifth but weren’t able to push any more runs across. That would do it for the offense in the game, as the Baylor defense secured the Bears’ series victory.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Four different Bears had a multi-hit game
• Emily Hott hit her sixth home run of the season, with a triple and two RBIs
• Aliyah Binford went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and two RBIs
• Taylor Strain and Shannon Vivoda also recorded doubels for the Bears
• RyLee Crandall pitched a complete game, allowing only three earned runs and striking out five
• The Bears totaled 12 hits on the day, off the bats of eight different people

QUOTABLE

Head Coach Glenn Moore on the game …

“We were trying to remember the last time we led off with a home run, and I think it would have to be in the Ashley Monceaux days. Typically you don’t have a home run hitter in that spot. So, I’m not sure we’ve done it since. It kind of accentuated the message that this team wanted to send, that we were tired of playing the kind of ball we’d played, inconsistent. We wanted to send a message early today, and I thought that did it.”

Shaylon Govan on the offense …

“Yeah, it was our goal today to come out strong. We usually are pretty good at coming out strong, but we wanted to stay strong throughout the game. So, our mindset was just not stopping, always keep going, even if we felt like we had the momentum, just to keep them down. I think that’s what we did pretty well today.”

Emily Hott on winning the series …

“I’d say it’s a good turning of the tides. We’ve gotten in trouble with ourselves as far as letting up in the sixth and seventh innings. It’s just good to reiterate, just to keep it on and go in there and finish it up through pitchers, defense and hitting. So, it’s really good going into this stretch where we play a lot of games with good competition. Tech’s going to come in and they’re going to be great. So, we’ve just got to get wins in the win column. So, the more the better.”

UP NEXT

The Bears will face Texas State in a midweek contest Wednesday, April 3, in San Marcos, before returning home to play a three-game series against Texas Tech, March 5-7, at Getterman Stadium.