WACO, TX — Baylor (17-28) held the 14th-ranked offense in the country to nearly five runs below its average Friday night at Getterman Stadium. However, No. 10 LSU (39-11) was able to escape with a win to clinch the series opener.
For the fourth time in the last 14 games, the Lady Bears held their opponent scoreless in the first inning. Aliyah Andrews led things off for the Tigers with a single and advanced to third with one out in the frame but back-to-back flyouts in foul territory allowed Baylor to get out of the inning unscathed.
LSU didn’t score its first run until the second inning. With two outs, Taylor Ellis dove to stop a hard-hit grounder at shortstop. While one run scored for LSU, Ellis popped up and caught Amber Serrett in a rundown. Ellis threw to Nicky Dawson at second who chased Serrett toward third. Dawson then threw to Hannah Smith at third who tagged Serrett out to end the inning.
The Tigers added one more the next inning with a solo homer by Sunseri. That was all the damage the Tigers were able to do, however, as the Baylor defense stranded seven LSU runners.
Kassidy Krupit got the start for Baylor and gave up two runs off three hits through four innings of work. Sidney Holman came on in relief and gave up just one hit with two strikeouts in three innings.
Baylor finished with five hits, outhitting LSU by one on the night. Ana Watson led the Lady Bears at the plate with two hits. Her first was a single to left field in the second before she beat out the throw at first in the seventh.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Four of Baylor’s five hits came from freshmen – Ana Watson had two, while Lou Gilbert and Kassidy Krupit each had one. Madi O’Neal had the other hit. While Baylor leads the Big 12 with 43.4 percent of its at-bats by freshmen, BU is third when it comes to the RPI Top 60 in that category (Oregon, 53.8 percent; Northwestern 50.4 percent).
- Ana Watson now has eight multi-hit games this year. That ties her for second on the team this season – Goose McGlaun (10), Kassidy Krupit (8).
- Behind the pitching duo of Kassidy Krupit and Sidney Holman, the Baylor defense held LSU to less than five hits for the sixth time this season. BU also held the Tigers to two or fewer runs for the seventh time this year.
STAT OF THE GAME
16 – Number of times this season Baylor has outhit its opponent.
TOP QUOTES
Glenn Moore on the game…
"That is a great team over there, and we knew that coming in. We knew that it was going to be a big challenge, and I felt we found the team that we have been wanting to show up all year. I told the team after the game that this was the best I have seen them play the entire year, even when we knocked off two Top 10 teams early in the year. We played the best solid game we have all year. We forced them to make some great defensive plays to keep us off the scoreboard, and they did it. That is what good teams do, and they are a good team. I am happy with the way we showed up and played without any pressure where we played relaxed and played good, solid softball tonight."
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor and LSU will play a doubleheader Saturday. First pitch for Game 2 is scheduled for 5 p.m. Game 3 will begin 30 minutes after Game 2.
