Stearns One-Hits Texas as No. 16 Baylor Softball Cruises to 5-0 Win
Bears take two-game lead for second in the Big 12 standings in front of national TV audience
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – ESPN2 has been good to Baylor softball this season. The Bears, behind a one-hitter from Heather Stearns, shutout the Texas Longhorns in front of a national television audience and 1,387 fans at Getterman Stadium Wednesday night.
Baylor (38-13, 12-4) also blanked No. 5 Oklahoma in Norman April 16, 8-0 on ESPN2, and the Bears shined again in the limelight Wednesday. Stearns (19-9, 10-3 Big 12) has been a part of all four Baylor one-hitters this season with three coming on her own, and she also picked up her 500th career strikeout with her fifth of six against the Longhorns (35-15, 10-6).
Linsey Hays, who was just 2-for-9 on the season with the bases loaded, turned her fortune with a two-run, bases-loaded double off the rightfield wall in the bottom of the fifth to highlight the Bears' three-run inning. Hays finished with a pair of doubles while Lindsey Cargill, Jordan Strickland and Robin Landrith all added RBI singles for Bears.
Baylor takes a two-game lead over the Longhorns in the Big 12 standings with the win, and the Bears are looking to finish as the runner up to Oklahoma for the second-straight year.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Heather Stearns tossed her sixth shutout of the season, her fifth against the Big 12 this year, and the 11th of her career. Stearns tied Courtney Repka (11, 2010-13) for sixth all-time on the school's career list for shutouts.
• Stearns threw a one-hitter, the 33rd in program history, and she has been involved with five of them. She's thrown four on her own in her career and combined for one. Wednesday's one-hitter was her third of the season, and Baylor's fourth overall; she combined with Kendall Potts for BU's one-hit shutout win over Iowa State (4/26).
• Stearns picked up her 500th career strikeout with her fifth vs. the Longhorns. She carries 501 into Saturday's game in Austin.
• Stearns' scoreless innings streak reached 20.2 innings.
• Linsey Hays finished 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBI. It was her ninth multiple-hit game of the season and 11th game with at least two RBI.
• Kaitlyn Thumann finished 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored. It was her 15th multiple-hit game of the season.
• Thumann's triple was the seventh of her career and tied her for fifth all-time on the BU career list with Lyn Hill (1996-99), Kelly Levesque (2002-04) and Kelly Osburn (2003-06).
• Jordan Strickland finished 1-for-3 with an RBI; it was her 108th career RBI, which tied her for fifth all time with Holly Holl (2011-14) and Kelly Osburn (2003-2006).
• Shelby Friudenberg extended her on-base streak to 14 games with a hit-by-pitch.
• Ari Hawkins extended her on-base streak to nine games with a walk.
STAT OF THE GAME I
2 – Heather Stearns has thrown two shutouts in front of a national TV audience on ESPN2 this year with an 8-0 win at Oklahoma (April 16) and tonight's win over Texas. She has six shutouts on the season.
THEY SAID IT
Glenn Moore on Baylor's performance …
“We played another solid ballgame. I thought we played well all week at Kansas, and then to bring it back home where we haven't played that well and to play that well against a good team is nice to see, refreshing. Knowing that we're getting closer to the end of the season, when we need to be playing our best, I think we are right now.”
Glenn Moore on Heather Stearns' performance …
“Phenomenal. Heather Stearns is one of the best pitchers to ever wear a Baylor uniform. She's proven that against the top teams in the country. She hasn't thrown a no-hitter yet, but she's knocked on that door so often, and she's had hitters eating out of the palm of her hand. She gave credit to our defense, we made a couple good plays for her, but overall she had another dominating performance against a good team.”
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor heads to Austin Saturday and Sunday to conclude the Big 12 series with Texas at 6:30 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. Both games will be broadcast on The Longhorn Network.
