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Baylor Softball

Softball Records Pair of Walk-Off Victories

February 23, 2020
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WACO, Texas – Baylor softball won in dramatic fashion on a day that featured eight home events across Baylor Athletics. After a walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh vs. Texas State, senior Kyla Walker beat out the throw at home in the bottom of the eighth to give the Lady Bears a victory over No. 17 Minnesota.

That marked BU’s second win over a ranked opponent this season after Baylor opened the year with an 8-0 run-rule victory in five innings over then-ranked No. 23 Auburn in Clearwater, Fla.

Walker was responsible for three of the four runs scored by the Lady Bears on the day as she went 3-for-7 at the plate. In the circle, Baylor received back-to-back complete-game efforts in the circle by Aliyah Pritchett and Gia Rodoni as the two combined to give up two runs off 11 hits with 12 strikeouts.

GAME 1: BAYLOR 2, TEXAS STATE 1

Lou Gilbert’s walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Lady Bears their ninth win in a row.

Aliyah Pritchett led off the frame with a double and advanced to third off a single by Ana Watson. The winning run then crossed the plate when Gilbert dropped a hit into left field.

The game was knotted at 1 for most of the time after Texas State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Baylor answered in the bottom of the frame.

Kyla Walker got things started with a double and later scored off an RBI single from Josie Bower.

Defensively, the Lady Bears turned a pair of double plays in the game. The first came in the third inning when Gilbert fielded a grounder at third, threw to shortstop Taylor Ellis covering third who fired a shot down to first for the second out. Three innings later, Pritchett snagged a line drive in the circle and threw to first to get the runner out who failed to tag up.

Pritchett pitched the entire game and gave up one run off five hits with five strikeouts.

At the plate, Walker, Watson and Gilbert each finished 2-for-3.

GAME 2: BAYLOR 2, NO. 17 MINNESOTA 1 (8)

With one out and a runner on third, Emily Hott hit a grounder to the Minnesota shortstop. Kyla Walker, who was on third, took off toward home and slid into the plate before the tag could be applied to give Baylor the victory.

Aliyah Pritchett saved some runs from being scored by the Gophers earlier in the frame. With two on and two outs, Pritchett leapt to her right to snag a line drive and save what would have brought at least one run home for Minnesota.

Gia Rodoni went the distance for the Lady Bears in the circle and gave up one run off six hits with seven strikeouts.

After Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Baylor answered in the bottom of the frame to even the score. Walker led things off with a single and advanced to second off a sacrifice bunt by Maddison Kettler. Josie Bower then stepped to the plate and hit a double to bring Walker home.

Bower finished the day with a team-high two RBI and a 2-for-5 showing at the plate.

HIGHLIGHTS

For the second time this season, Baylor turned two double plays in a game (vs. Texas State).

Josie Bower recorded an RBI in the first inning of each game on Saturday.

Bower has a hit in four-straight games.

Lou Gilbert recorded her 10th career multi-hit game against Texas State.

Emily Hott has recorded a hit in four out of the last five games.

Aliyah Pritchett finished with her second career multi-hit game against Minnesota when she went 2-for-3 at the plate.

Pritchett matched her career high with five strikeouts vs. Texas State.

Gia Rodoni pitched her second complete game in two days. After throwing a no-hitter with nine strikeouts in seven innings vs. Tulsa, Rodoni gave up one run off six hits with seven strikeouts in eight innings of work vs. Minnesota.

Kyla Walker recorded her 66th career multi-hit game with a 2-for-3 showing vs. Texas State at the plate.

Ana Watson went 2-for-3 at the plate vs. Texas State for her 11th career multi-hit game.

STAT OF THE GAME
3 – Number of runs Kyla Walker scored on the day, which made up 75 percent of Baylor’s total runs.

TOP QUOTES
Glenn Moore on the wins…

“This team’s learning how to win. They’re starting to expect to win and that’s what you want to see. We have some great upperclassmen on this team and some great leadership. We just needed to start believing in ourselves a little bit more. To pull late games out like we’re doing, that grows a team tremendously. You start believing you’re supposed to win, you do the things that are necessary to win.”

Moore on Walker’s game-winning run vs Minnesota…

“Kyla has a green light from me to do a whole lot of stuff. They had the infield in, so I told her that we didn’t need to go on contact because they would have had her on a routine play. She’s smart enough to know that when the ball goes into the 5-6 hole and they have to go deep to get it and take a couple of steps she’s got a chance. … I always tell them if they miss a signal, it better work out good, and it worked out good so we’ll take it.”

Kyla Walker on her run…

“Coach Moore told me not to go if it was hit into the infield, but I saw it down immediately and knew my speed and knew I could get there. I trusted myself.”

Aliyah Pritchett on her catch in the eighth inning…

“It definitely was just instinct, but in my head I knew I had to stop anything for my pitcher (Gia Rodoni) because she was throwing a great game.”

Tags: Softball
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Softball Records Pair of Walk-Off Victories

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