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No. 19/20 Baylor Softball Finishes Sweep Over Iowa State

No. 19/20 Baylor Softball Finishes Sweep Over Iowa State
Posted at 3:08 PM, Apr 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-29 16:08:50-04

No. 19/20 Baylor softball (33-14, 10-6 Big 12) closed the weekend series sweep over Iowa State (22-28, 3-12 Big 12) with a 9-0 win in five innings on Sunday afternoon at Cyclone Sports Complex.

Gia Rodoni (20-9) was nearly untouchable, throwing 5.0 shutout innings and holding the cyclones to just two soft singles in the third. She retired the first seven before allowing the back-to-back singles, going on to retire the next eight in order.

The offense grabbed another early lead, with Jessie Scroggins leading off with a single to left, followed by an ISU error that allowed Scroggins to advance around to third and Kyla Walker to reach safely and move to second.

Shelby Friduenberg gave the Lady Bears the early lead with a record-breaking effort, driving a single to right center that scored both Scroggins and Walker to give Friudenberg 185 career RBIs. That mark passes Chelsi Lake (184, 2004-2007) for the most ever by a Lady Bear and gave BU the 2-0 lead after one.

Breaking the game open further in the second frame, Maddison Kettler led off with a double to left center, moving to third on a sac bunt by Hannah Thompson.

Taylor Ellis drove in Kettler on an RBI single, with Scroggins and Walker following up with two more singles to load the bases.

An RBI walk for Friudenberg would plate Ellis, keeping the bases loaded for Goose McGlaun.

McGlaun picked up an RBI sac fly to left, with the throw back into the infield ending up in the Cyclone dugout, allowing both Scroggins and Walker to score to push the BU lead to 6-0.

The Lady Bears kept the good times rolling into the third, with Nicky Dawson leading off with a single.

Maddison Kettler picked up a bizarre bunt single RBI, with Dawson racing around to third and coming home to score with the Cyclones leaving the plate open on the bunt defense.

Ellis followed with another RBI single, scoring Kettler. Walker would lace in another single, putting runners on the corners with two outs for Friudenberg.

The senior came through again, drilling a line drive back up the middle to score Ellis, giving BU the 9-0 advantage through three.

After allowing the only two baserunners on back-to-back singles, Rodoni settled in to retire the last eight in order to close out the run-rule victory for the Lady Bears.

HIGHLIGHTS

Baylor swept the Cyclones for the third-straight season and has won all seven series since the conference moved to the three-game series format in 2012.

Shelby Friudenberg (186 career RBI) passed Chelsi Lake (184, 2004-2007) set a new program record for career RBIs with a two-RBI single in the first inning.

Friudenberg (2-for-3, 4 RBI) helped pace a Baylor offense that posted nine runs and 14 hits, matching the team’s hit total from Friday night’s series opener.

Gia Rodoni made it six-straight seasons that a BU pitcher has posted 20 or more victories in the circle.

Five BU hitters posted multi-hit games, including Jessie Scroggins (3-for-4), Kyla Walker (3-for-4), Shelby Friudenberg (2-for-3), Maddison Kettler (2-for-3), and Taylor Ellis (2-for-3).

Scroggins, Walker, Kettler, and Ellis each scored two runs, with Nicky Dawson scoring the only other run.

Nicky Dawson pushed her season and career-high hitting streak up to seven games.

Baylor has won 21 of the last 22 meetings with the Cyclones and has won the last 11-straight games over ISU.

Baylor has won 10 or more Big 12 games for eight-straight seasons.

WHAT’S NEXT

Baylor will close the regular season next weekend, hosting Texas for the final two games of the split series, running May 5-6 at Getterman Stadium. The Lady Bears won the first game of the series in Austin on April 17 and will look to claim the series win over the Longhorns for the third-straight season.