No. 24/25 Baylor softball (11-3) took back-to-back shutout wins on the opening day of the Baylor Invitational, posting a 4-0 win over SIUE (10-3) and an 8-0 win in six innings over UMass (2-5) on Friday afternoon at Getterman Stadium.
In the opening game with SIUE, the Lady Bears posted a four-spot in the bottom of the third, taking a 4-0 lead that would stand as the final score.
Maddison Kettler led off with a triple, scoring on an RBI single from Ari Hawkins. After Hawkins stole second and advanced to third on the next play, Jessie Scroggins hit a sac fly to center field, scoring Hawkins to extend the BU lead to 2-0.
Shelby McGlaun roped a single into left center, setting up for a two-run home run for Shelby Friudenberg, her first of the year and the 30th of her collegiate career.
Kelsee Selman (5-2) took the win in the circle, going 6.0 innings with just four hits, striking out six Cougar batters.
Kendall Potts closed out the final frame, keeping SIUE off the board and striking out one.
In the evening’s contest with UMass, the Lady Bears posted two runs in each of the final four innings, closing out a six inning, 8-0 win over the Minutewomen.
Scroggins was first to put BU on the board in the bottom of the third, reaching on a botched fielder’s choice play and drawing a rundown that scored both Taylor Ellis and Kyla Walker, pushing BU ahead 2-0.
Shelby Friudenberg led off in the bottom of the fourth, hitting her second home run of the day and the first in the game, bumping the lead to 3-0.
Ellis drilled a sac fly to left field, easily scoring Lindsey Cargill to put BU in front, 4-0.
After a one out single for Scroggins in the bottom of the fifth, Friudenberg struck again, drilling a two-run bomb to straight-away center, her third home run of the day and the 32nd of her college career.
The Lady Bears finished the game early in the home half of the sixth, with Cargill leading off with a triple. Ellis drove her in on the next play, reaching safely on an infield error.
With two outs and a runner on first, Riley Browder drove a line drive behind the UMass defense, legging out a stand up triple and scoring Ellis for the walk-off, 8-0 win.
Gia Rodoni (4-0) carried the workload in the circle, going 5.2 innings while allowing just two hits and striking out five.
Potts had a quick outing in relief, throwing just one pitch to force a pop fly out for the final out in the top of the sixth.
HIGHLIGHTS
Shelby Friudenberg finished the day hitting .667, going 4-for-6 at the plate with three runs scored, three home runs, and five RBI, racking up 13 total bases and posting an incredible 2.167 slugging percentage.
Friudenberg hit her 30th, 31st, and 32nd career home runs, becoming just the fifth Lady Bear in program history to hit 30+ career home runs.
Gia Rodoni extended an eight-game winning streak in the circle.
All four BU pitchers carry ERA’s below 3.00, with the team posting a stout 1.71 ERA on the season.
TOP QUOTES
“I liked our consistency, I thought we played two complete ball games. We felt really good after the first one, they were a very good team, and we played really well in that game. To put up another win after making some chess moves with our lineup a little bit, I was proud of the way they responded to what we tried to do.” – Baylor head coach Glenn Moore
“I felt like I was in a slump at the beginning of the season, so coming out and starting off this tournament like that felt really great. Doing it for the team when I’ve been in a slump and everyone else has been doing great, it feels great to come back like that. I’ve been having to get in with [Coach] Lumley recently and we’ve been working on staying in with the shoulder in and hitting, so that’s helped a lot and it felt more like a grapefruit today instead of a BB.” – Baylor infielder Shelby Friudenberg
WHAT’S NEXT
The Lady Bears close out the round-robin opening round of the Baylor Invitational, facing Saint Francis at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25. Bracket play kicks off at 3 p.m. with the 1 seed vs. the 4, followed by the 2 vs. 3 at 5:30 p.m.
